Here are 2018’s USTA Daily Getaway deals

Great opportunity to buy hotel points and other deals...if you can get them.

Each year since 2011 the US Travel Association runs Daily Getaways, a promotion to get more visitors to come to the US. This promotion typically features discounted sales of hotel and car rental points, attraction tickets and hotel packages. You can check out my post from last year here.

Despite the name, you don’t have to be interested in traveling to the US in order to benefit from this deal. The hotel and car rental points you buy can be used pretty much anywhere, as can gift cards that often appear at a deep discount to face value. The problem is that the most popular deals are snapped up really fast, so if you want to take advantage of these deals you need to have your finger on the trigger ready to go.

The preview of the first two weeks of this year’s Daily Getaways has just been released, and I’ve taken the liberty of compiling all the deals here as well as their price. I’ll have some analysis after this long table.

DateProduct Qty Available Price (USD)
Week 1
Apr-09Universal Studios Hollywood 1-Day Express Ticket with Admission250139
Apr-1055,000 Choice Privileges Points800265
Apr-1042,000 Choice Privileges Points1,048205
Apr-1028,000 Choice Privileges Points1,571144
Apr-1014,000 Choice Privileges Points3,14380
Apr-11IHG Rewards Club 15,000 points2,21089
Apr-11IHG Rewards Club 100,000 points1,000580
Apr-11IHG Rewards Club 25,000 points999149
Apr-11IHG Rewards Club 130,000 points2,000749
Apr-11IHG Rewards Club 8,500 points2,25050
Apr-11IHG Rewards Club 50,000 points1,255290
Apr-12Discovery Cove Dolphin Swim Package200160
Apr-12Any SeaWorld Single Day Ticket1,65850
Apr-122-Park Ticket for any combination of: SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica Orlando, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Adventure Island Tampa Bay89475
Apr-131-Day Avis Car Rental80030
Apr-13Avis President’s Club Membership20750
Week 2
Apr-16100,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points275500
Apr-1630,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points450150
Apr-16250,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points2201250
Apr-171 Night at any Wyndham Rewards Property1,143175
Apr-184 Nights at Excalibur Hotel and Casino with a $400 dining credit7475
Apr-182 Nights in a spa suite at the New York-New York with dinner and a Cirque du Soleil show for two people8475
Apr-183 Nights at Mandalay Bay with dinner and a Cirque du Soleil show for two people81700
Apr-183 Nights in a suite at the Bellagio with tickets to Cirque du Soleil, dinner and spa for two people82000
Apr-184 Nights at the Luxor Hotel and Casino with a $400 dining credit7500
Apr-195,500 Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Points (Redeemable for a 1-Week Standard Rental)45280
Apr-1916,500 Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Points (Redeemable for a 1-Week Prestige Collection Rental)50698
Apr-1913,200 Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Points (Redeemable for a 4-Day Weekend Prestige Collection rental)35560
Apr-202 Nights at select Omni Hotels & Resorts41245
Apr-202 Nights at select Omni Hotels & Resorts30160
Apr-202 Nights at select Omni Hotels & Resorts38335
Apr-201 Night at select Omni Hotels & Resorts15235

Thoughts

All deals go live at 1 pm ET on the respective day. Keep in mind that’s 1 am in Singapore the following day, so what you see for sale on 9 April, for example, is available at 1 am Singapore time on 10 April.

April 11- IHG Points Packages

Crowne Plaza Changi Airport

IHG points are going on sale at an effective rate of 0.59 US cents each on average, slightly above the best public sale price we see of 0.5 US cents. If you have a stay in mind already, it’s worth seeing if the points rate is lower enough to justify buying point instead of paying cash. Remember that IHG has regular Pointsbreaks promotions where you can get hotels at a fraction of the usual cost.

April 16- Hilton Points Packages

Image result for conrad maldives
Conrad Maldives

The Hilton points packages all offer the chance to buy points at 0.5 US cents each, which is typically the price you get during the best public promotions. You’re normally limited to buying 80,000 points a year (pre-bonus), but buying points through these packages don’t count towards your yearly limit.

That said, there are plenty of ways to get around the Hilton annual points purchase limit, especially given that Hilton allows you to pool or transfer points to friends and family without charge. If you’d rather avoid the (very minor) hassle of that, you can consider grabbing one of these.

Remember that if you’re a Hilton Silver member or higher (which you can get instantly with the Krisflyer Ascend AMEX), you get the 5th night free when booking awards. In other words, I could book 5 nights at the Conrad Maldives (where Louis is currently “finding himself”…one assumes he will find a laptop soon and write a review) for 95,000 *4= 380,000 points or US$1,900 . Given that a night at this property starts upwards of US$1,100, I’d say that’s a pretty sweet deal.

April 19- Hertz Gold Rewards Packages

Image result for hertz adrenaline collection
Hertz Adrenaline Collection

We don’t talk a lot about rental car points on this site, but Hertz Gold Rewards points can be redeemed for rental days in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The cheapest package here sees points on sale for 4.2 US cents each, and if you take the US for example you can get the following rewards:

  • 1 free rental day (max Premium car)- 675 points (US$29)
  • 1 free rental week (max Premium car)- 2,750 points (US$116)
  • 1 free rental week (Adrenaline collection)- 8,250 points (US$349)

There are many more option, but you get the point. This can be great value in cities where car rental rates go through the roof at certain periods during the year.

Conclusion

As per Ben on OMAAT, the second half of the Daily Getaways will see Hyatt points go on sale. We don’t know at what price yet, but these are always the best buy of the entire sale. Last year they were sold at 1.07 US cents each, well below their best public sale of 1.71 US cents each. 1.07 is a rate that I would even buy them speculatively at…if I could. These packages are gone within seconds, and if you believe FT there are people who write scripts to grab them as soon as they appear. Try your luck!

I imagine all purchases here will count as online spend, so use your DBS WWMC or HSBC Revolution as you see fit.

Aaron Wong
Aaron Wong
Aaron founded The Milelion to help people travel better for less and impress chiobu. He was 50% successful.

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Felix

Will using the UOB PPV card give 4x rewards for this site as well?

Felix

Sorry. I meant the 4miles/$ bonus

Felix

Hi Aaron,
The website’s FAQ states that its only available for US and Canadian citizens. How do we get around doing this?
Thanks.

Felix

Just a heads up. I was able to purchase using a Singapore issued card and inputting vpost’s US address

Matthew Chong

Awesome thanks for the data point Felix!

DK

Hi, anyone knows if the uob ppv or citi rewards card will get 4miles/dollar?

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