The Daily Getaways promotion from the U.S. Travel Association starts on July 18th. I was excited when this year’s promotion was announced because I thought we might see some deals from programs that were usually ignored. We’ve now got a glimpse of what’s for offer during the first two weeks (the promotion offers new deals every weekday thru August 12th) and the offers so far have garnered a collective “Meh!”
It looks like the offers fall into three categories:
- Widely available deals that match the best available prices during the year
- Great deals but with extremely limited inventory
- Offers that have no value or are useful to a very limited number of people
While many people remember when the deals offered from Daily Getaways were orders of magnitude better than anything you’d find anywhere else. For example, in 2019 we purchased 1/2 price tickets to Sea World and used them to visit over the Christmas holiday season. In addition, points from hotel loyalty programs were often on sale for a fraction of the usual prices.
Look at the offer this year for IHG points. 
Packages for 2,500 to 100,000 points are on sale for 0.5 CPP. That’s the exact same price that IHG has sold points during three different promotions so far in 2022.
If the price isn’t any better than you’ll see elsewhere, why haven’t I given up on Daily Getaways?
Volume.
Usually, IHG limits members to purchase 150,000 points per calendar year (before bonuses). Since many of their promotions double your points, that means the most points you’ll be able to get during a year is 300,000. (However, IHG upped the purchase to 250,000 for this last promo.)
With Daily Getaways, here are the terms of the 100,000-point offer.
- What You Receive: 100,000 points deposited into your IHG One Rewards account.
- Dates of Travel: Anytime, subject to hotel availability.
- Max. Quantity per Purchase: Five (5). No more than five (5) packages of points purchased through this offer are allowed per loyalty number. A maximum of (16) packages of points is allowed per loyalty number across all IHG offers.
You’re able to purchase 500,000 IHG points if you so desire. That would be on top of the 500,000 points you’re able to purchase directly from IHG. That’s not all. If packages are still available, you can also purchase 5 of the 50,000-point deals netting you a total of 750,000 points for $3,750.
I’m sure you’re asking what anyone would do with 3/4 of a million IHG points.
There’s plenty you could do. Maybe you’d like to stay a few nights at a Kimpton in Manhattan and then a long weekend in Key West. Both of those hotels will cost $400+ a night but you’ll be able to book for 60-70K points. If you have an IHG co-brand card with either a 10% rebate on redeemed points or a fourth-night free benefit, your points are worth even more.
Here’s the hidden benefit of Daily Getaways. You’re able to accumulate a large number of points in a short amount of time. Of course, you’re paying for those points but if you know you’ll be able to use them before a devaluation, it’s a good deal.
Of course, if you’re feeling lucky, you could try to get one of the World of Hyatt packages.
I’m sure there are only 8 people looking to purchase 80,000 WoH points for $960.
Even back in the heyday of Daily Getaways, not every day was a slam dunk. Some offers were layups and others were airballs. However, it was much easier to get value from these offers.
I’m not of a mindset that the Daily Getaways offers have gotten worse. Instead, I feel that because of this promotion, programs saw there was a demand to purchase points if the price was right. As travel hackers, we know what a point is worth to us. Programs also know how much each point costs for them to issue. As long as there’s some space between the two, programs will continue to sell points and we’ll keep buying.
For some Daily Getaways offers, you’re able to get something not usually available when buying points. Volume.
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