Daily Getaways Start Today: First Up Priority Club Points

Daily Getaways is a travel promotion sponsored by American Express and U.S Travel Association, which sells travel packages and even points/miles at a discount. This time around, the promotion runs from April 9-May 11 and before you get too excited, the deals they've announced so far are somewhat boring. These deals will go live every Monday-Friday at 1:00 pm EDT, though some will have a pre-sale beginning at 12pm EDT that you can get access to by liking a particular offer on Facebook (more on that below).

In addition to the discounts on these deals, American Express cardmembers receive another 10% off when using an Amex card to purchase them, so be sure to use your American Express card for the most savings.

Week 1: April 9-13

Monday, April 9: 10,000 Priority Club Points for $67
The promotion begins on Monday with a few different Priority Club point sales:

-10,000 points for for $67 ($125 value)
-25,000 points for $167 promoted as 1-2 free nights at a Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express ($275 value)
-25,000 points for $167 promoted as a free night at a Crowne Plaza ($288 value)
-40,000 points promoted as an Intercontinental one-night stay for $267 ($460 value)

For all of these IHG hotels, they are basically selling the number of Priority Club Points needed to redeem at each particular brand of hotel (though only certain Crowne Plazas and Intercontinentals, since some properties require 10,000 more points than that) and I think the value they place on them to claim this as a 40% discount is rather high. But for the highest offer—the 40,000 points for $267—you’re paying about 0.67 cents per point (and 10% less if you use an Amex), so if you have a specific upcoming redemption, this could be a good discount for you. However, none of these are as exciting to me as last year’s Hyatt deals, where you could buy 36,000 Gold Passport points for $415—enough for 2 nights at many nice hotels including the Park Hyatt Buenos Aires. The most you can get with these is a night at a mid-tier Intercontinental. Priority Club sells points at .6 cents a piece via their Cash & Points redemption option, so if you use an Amex you are buying these at the same rates.

Tuesday, April 10: Avis Rentals
The two Avis options include:

-A one-day Car Rental for $33 which is valued at $50 (up to a Premium car class) or,
-A one-year Chairman’s Cub Membership for $1,115 (Estimated Value $2,000) Chairman’s Club Members receive meet and greet service, guaranteed car availability and free upgrades.

The Avis one-day car rentals could be a good deal if you have upcoming car rentals you need in expensive cities but I just can’t justify this Chairman’s Club Membership even with the discount unless you know you need certain cars and upgrades and don’t have any status with Avis yet.

Wednesday, April 11: Las Vegas Packages

-A 2-night getaway at New York-New York for $345 ($625 value) in a spa suite, dinner for two and tickets to a Cirque du Soleil show.
-A 2-night stay in a Bellagio Suite, tickets to O by Cirque du Soleil, dinner, spa and VIP upgrades for $1,375
-A 4-night stay at The Mirage including dinner for three nights and VIP seating to 2 shows for $1,510 ($2,750 value)
-A 3-night stay at Circus Circus for $140, ($250 value) with dining and a day at the Adventuredome for two
-A 3-night stay in a suite, dinner for 2, massages and tickets to Viva ELVIS at ARIA for $1,625 ($2,950 value)

Thursday, April 12: CityPass
CityPass offers a discounted admission price for numerous attractions in a city. They are offering a New York pass for $89 ($166 value), a Seattle pass for $69 ($133 value), a San Francisco pass for $69 ($132 value), a Chicago pass for $84 ($169 value), or a Atlanta pass for $69 ($126 value).

Friday, April 13: Discount Tickets to SeaWorld and Busch Gardens
Lastly on Friday, Daily Deals is offering discounted admission tickets to SeaWorld and Busch Gardens. SeaWorld tickets are $45 ($87 value) and Busch Gardens Park tickets are also $45 ($86 value).

Worth It?
Depending on the deal some of these may sell out in the first few minutes while others should be available the entire day. Chances are, if you’re excited about a discount, so are a lot of other people. If you know you want to take part in one of these deals, I recommend either going for the presale if they have one or being online right at 1pm EDT to have the best chance. As always, before you decide to buy, you should do your research and see just how much of a discount these sales really are, and whether you want all the extras that come along with the Vegas packages, for instance. Only then can you calculate the true worth of these deals.

If you don’t manage to snag your deal, don’t worry, there are four more weeks of offers coming your way and you might be able to get in on something even better.

Good luck and let us know if you were able to score any of these deals.

And just so you have it, here are the Terms & Conditions:

Who is eligible to participate?
Any resident of the U.S. who is 18 years or older may purchase an offer with any valid credit card.

When are offers available for purchase?
Offers are available for purchase each weekday from April 9 – May 11, 2012 at 1:00 pm EDT. Quantities for these items are extremely limited—usually just a few hundred each—and may sell out quickly. However, in the event that they do not sell out the day they go on sale, they will appear on the “All Available Offers” page. You may purchase offers featured on this page 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until the promotion ends, May 25, 2012, or until the offers sell out.

What is the presale?
Select merchants are offering a special presale with limited inventory that is occurring an hour before the regular sale starts. The way to get access to these presales is to go to the offer you want on the Daily Getaways page click the button to “like” it on Facebook. On the morning of the sale, a code will be posted on the wall of the entity offering the discount—so, for instance, for the Priority Club points it will be posted on the Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts Facebook page, and for the Avis discounts it will be posted on the Avis Facebook page—that can give you access to the presale.

When is the presale?
The presale occurs at 12pm EDT on certain days. You can see who is participating in the presale by visiting that specific offer before the sale starts. The presale will end at 1 PM EDT or until presale inventory sells out. Presale inventory is indicated with the offer details. Only a limited amount of total inventory is available during presale.

When will I see my 10% discount for using my American Express® Card?
The published retail value of the offer is pre-savings. In the e-commerce process, once you have entered your credit card information, if you use an American Express Card, you will see the 10% price deduction at checkout. The retail price minus 10% is what will be charged to your American Express Card.
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