Daily Getaways and Choice Points. Are You Feeling Lucky?

This is the first week of Daily Getaways via American Express. The only deal that interests me personally is the option of Choice points purchase. You get 10 percent off with American Express card. See more details HERE

There are 4 options. I’ll quote the price without the Amex card:

1) 40,000 points for $165, at a cost of 0.41 cents per point ( 325 packages available).

2) 36,000 points for $175, at a cost of 0.49 cents per point (785 packages).

3) 32,000 points for $132, at a cost of 0.41 cents per point (655 packages).

4) 20,000 points for $108, at a cost of 0.54 cents per point ( 216 packages).

These packages will be extremely popular and will sell out fast, possibly within seconds. So, assuming you plan to buy, which one should you choose? Well, I would stay away from the option number 1 completely, because it only offers 325 packages, and competition will be steep.

So, it comes down to second and third option. Which one you will go for is up to you. Obviously, the third option will be more sought after. How lucky do you feel?

So, here are the reasons you should consider going after this deal, whichever option you choose:

1) Hotels in Niagara Falls area that cost only 8,000 points per night. I have written about my amazing redemption last week in this post. There is a good variety to choose from on both American and Canadian sides. Even if you paid 0.54 cents per point without the Amex discount, it would be an equivalent of $43 per room, potentially a suite.

2) Hotels in Orlando area, with some going for 6,000 or 8,000 points. Obviously, they are not fancy, but would give you a safe place to sleep. When going to the parks, you hardly spend any time in the hotel anyway.

I found this Clarion Inn Lake Buena Vista, not far from Disney, that got decent reviews. It has a small playground and a water play area. The award rate ranges from 6,000-8,000 points, depending on the season.

3) Hotels in the Caribbean. These are more costly than the first two options, but could provide good value if leveraged properly. For example:

Comfort Suites, Paradise Island in Nassau, Bahamas. The rate is 25,000 points per night and it goes for $269 per night, more during Spring Break. You get access to Atlantis facilities at no extra cost and your breakfast is included.

Comfort Suites Seven Mile Beach

The rate is 25,000 points per night. This could be a good deal during the winter, when rates are high.

Remember, you can fly to both Nassau and Grand Cayman for 9,000 Avios roundtrip from Miami.

4) Hotels in Europe and Asia. There are many hotels in Scandinavia, Italy and other countries in Europe that provide a very good deal on points. I didn’t realize this, but apparently Japan has quite a few Choice hotels as well, and they only cost 8,000 points (h/t Fishing4deals blog)

5) Possibility to transfer to Rapid Rewards points. Be very careful if buying for this reason, as Choice can devalue without any warning. That said, right now the transfer ratio is 6,000 Choice points to 1,800 Rapid Rewards points and it counts toward Companion pass.

With Amex discount, you would be looking at paying 1.375 cents per Rapid Rewards point. Currently, you can get 1.61-1.69 cents on Wanna Get Away fare, so it would be a fair discount.

I recommend this option if you are going after Companion pass and plan to transfer immediately. However, hotel redemptions will beat this option in most cases.

Make sure to sign up for an alert and be ready to buy at 1:00 PM Eastern this Wednesday, right when it goes on sale. Who is in?

Click here to view various credit cards and available sign-up bonuses

Author: Leana

Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.

Comments

Slade says

May 21, 2014 at 12:45 pm

I’m curious to see if the points deposited have limitations. For example the site says “can be used at any participating Comfort Inn hotel.” I’m betting the points can be used at any Choice brand hotel, but the site isn’t clear so it’ll be a small risk if you’re interested in using them elsewhere.

- milesforfamily says
  
  May 21, 2014 at 1:57 pm
  
  Slade, the points can absolutely be used for other hotels. It sounds confusing, but I know that for a fact, because I used it for another brand myself. You are buying a set of points. Where you use them is totally up to you. However, I do recommend you have some sort of a plan, since Choice isn’t very reliable. Hope it helps, let me know of any other concerns.