Daily Getaways Week 2 — Wyndham, Omni, Caesars, $350 Off Expedia Hotels

April 11, 2016

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9 min read

Daily Getaways Week 2 — Wyndham, Omni, Caesars, $350 Off Expedia Hotels

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Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

Last week marked the return of the Daily Getaways — an assortment of daily discounts and deals with various travel brands and loyalty programs sponsored by the US Travel Association. Some deals sold out in seconds — like the Choice hotel points packages — while other deals were much less popular.

Each Monday, we're diving into the details of the week's deals to help you figure out which ones are worth pursuing. Note that each deal goes live at 1:00pm on the date below (be ready to purchase exactly at 1:00pm!). Let’s take a look at the deals for this week:

Daily Getaways 2016 Week 2 — Daily Getaways Week 2 offers

Monday, April 11 — Wyndham

(1) One night at any Wyndham Rewards hotel for $150 (1,333 available)

A standard King room at the TRYP by Wyndham Times Square. Image courtesy of Wyndham.

Similar to last week's Choice hotel offer, this isn't actually a one-night certificate but 15,000 Wyndham Rewards points. TPG's latest valuations peg Wyndham points at 1.2 cents each, and today's offer gives you the chance to buy points at 1 cent each. Definitely worth a closer look.

Since last May, a free night at any Wyndham hotel costs just 15,000 Wyndham points — a move that's resulted in millions of new Wyndham members and a spike in hotel redemptions. So, these 15,000 points can indeed be redeemed for any Wyndham Rewards hotel.

Don't want to just stay one night? Grab the Wyndham Rewards Visa Card and earn up to 30,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 within the first 90 days — good for two more free nights at any Wyndham property. Need any more convincing? Read what you can get from just one year of earning and burning with the Wyndham Rewards card.

Use 3,000 Wyndham points to save $112 per night — a savings of 3.73 cents per point!

However, you also could also stretch these points even further by using Wyndham's "Go Fast Award," where you pay part of the hotel with points and part with cash. The savings you can varies widely from property to property, but some have found up to 8.4 cents per point in value from the Go Fast Award option.

Verdict: Whether you use these 15,000 points for one night at a $300+/night property or spread them out over multiple redemptions using Wyndham's cash + points option, you can get solid value out of these points.

Tuesday, April 12 — Universal Studios

shutterstock_218298478 — Universal Studios Orlando. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

(1) Four 3-Day Tickets to Universal Orlando for $850 (34 available)

Four 3-Day "Park to Park admission tickets" for Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure and CityWalk.
Use the three-day passes anytime in a 14 day period anytime through May 26, 2017.
Must give 14 days advance notice prior to arriving at the park.
Max purchase: 1 package

Nothing special here. You can currently buy four adult three-day Park to Park tickets for $880 on Universal's website — even less if any of those four tickets are for children.

Verdict: I wouldn't make any travel plans to take advantage of this deal, but you might be able to save a few bucks if you're planning on visiting Universal anyways.

Get your own tour personal guide for you and up to 11 friends at Universal Studios. Photo courtesy of Universal Studios.

(2) Universal Orlando Private VIP Experience for $3,500 (1 available)

One-day experience for up to 12 people, for up to 8 hours in the park.
Breakfast, lunch and valet parking included.
Anytime through May 26, 2017, excluding "blockout dates."
Must give 30 days advance notice prior to arriving at the park.

Verdict: Have 11 people that you want to go to Universal with for the cost of ~$300 per person? Maybe this is for you. Don't worry if you miss this deal though; Universal has "VIP" packages available on its website, with multi-day and multi-park options.

(3) Universal Orlando Vacation Package for $2,397 (10 available)

Economy flights, ground transportation, hotel and Universal Studios tickets for four people
Three night hotel accommodations, but only one hotel room provided.
All four guests must depart the same airport.
Four 3-Day "Park to Park admission tickets" for Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.
Anytime through May 26, 2017, excluding "blockout dates" listed in the T&C.

Don't have time to plan a vacation yourself? This package will provide all the components for you: flight, hotel, ground transportation and tickets. Not a bad deal if you're going to use all four spots — and you don't mind sharing a hotel room with the other three people. Make sure that you'd get at least $300 of value per person out of the flight portion to make the deal cheaper than buying the parts separately.

Verdict: Pass, unless you're looking for an easily planned family getaway.

Wednesday, April 13 — Expedia

Expedia wants to entice you into buying this hotel deal with this photo of a dock.

(1) $1,000 Expedia+ Hotel Coupon and +gold Status for $650 (50 available)

This is identical to the offer that Daily Getaways offered last year — which sold out in seconds. We covered all aspects of the deal last year, so make sure to read through this article in detail if you're interested.

However, the limitations are worth repeating:

You must be an Expedia+ member to purchase this offer. Daily Getaways will likely require you to enter this number at purchase, so make sure to have the number ready.
Coupons can only be used to book a +VIP Access or Expedia Rate hotel.
Coupons can only be used once. Any leftover value is void.
Coupons can only be applied to one hotel room per booking.
Coupons can only be applied to the room rate — not to taxes and fees.
Once a coupon is used, it can’t be refunded.
Coupons can only be used on reservations paid for at the time of booking.
Coupon can't be applied to a booking previously made.
The coupon can't be used or combined with other coupons, promotions or special offers.

Purchase Limit: 1 per Expedia+ member.

Verdict: Far too many restrictions for such an expensive deal. Make sure you're wary of them all before paying $650 for one of these coupons. You wouldn't want it to end up being worthless! Also, you may find better value with the Citi Prestige card's 4th Night Free benefit if you're planning to book pricier hotels.

Thursday, April 14 — Omni

Stay two nights at the historic Omni Parker Hotel in Boston for just $335.

(1) One night at Exclusive Omni Hotels & Resorts for $235 (15 available)

(2) Two nights at Omni's Premier Hotels & Resorts for $335 (38 available)

(3) Two-night weekend escape at select Omni Hotels for $245 (41 available)

(4) Two-night Omni Hotel getaway for $160 (30 available)

These deals are also pretty similar to the ones from last year. Each offer comes with a short list of hotels where you can use the purchased certificate, so first decide whether you’ll be visiting any of those destinations soon. If so, consider whether you'd be better off using points at another hotel and the prices of other hotels in the area to make sure this deal is worth it.

For example, the first deal costs $235 for one night at an Exclusive Omni, including the Omni Berkshire Place in New York City. Fancy hotel rooms in New York rarely drop below this price, and prepaid rates at that property start at $260 for a weekend night in June. If you already have a preference for any of the listed properties, then these deals should offer you modest savings.

In case it factors into your decision, readers have reported that "you still get stay credit" with these deals.

Verdict: Check out the list of properties available for each deal and decide whether they fit with your travel plans and travel style. There aren’t many of these deals available, so be ready to buy immediately when the sale begins if you’re interested.

Friday, April 15 — Caesars

Caesar's Palace lobby in Las Vegas. Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

(1) Feel the Fame at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas for $500 (10 available)

(2) Beauty on the Marina At Harrah’s Atlantic City for $650 (5 available)

(3) Caesars Palace Luxury Getaway for Two in Las Vegas for $1,400 (10 available)

(4) Experience Luxury at Nobu Hotel in Las Vegas for $590 (5 available)

(5) Parisian Escape in Las Vegas for $350 (5 available)

(6) Rio Secco Golf Weekend in Las Vegas for $520 (5 available)

Missed out on last week's Las Vegas getaways — or want to head to Atlantic City instead? Here's another chance to grab a Vegas getaway.

The value propositions on all of these all about the same. You might get a good deal depending on when you plan to travel. However, it's problematic that they don't list the blackout dates in the Terms & Conditions for the deals.

Verdict: Pass

Stay Tuned for Next Week’s Getaways

Be on the lookout for my assessment of the Daily Getaways for April 18-22, including a Diamond Resorts package, discounted Hilton points, Hertz rental vouchers and more Caesars packages.

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.