The 10th anniversary of the US Travel Association’s Daily Getaways deals kicked off last week with a bang. On the first day, 100 million IHG points were up for sale for 0.5 cents each, and those got scooped up by the end of the day. Similarly, Vegas packages, Alamo car rental certificates and Universal Express tickets have all flown off of the shelf.
But, there's one day that many of us have had circled on our calendars: May 15 -- the day that Choice Privileges points would go on sale at up to 56% off. And now, today's the day! At 1pm ET, you can buy packages of Choice points at a rate starting at just 0.48 cents per point. In total, there's almost 176 million Choice points up for grabs. And, based on how quickly Choice points sell through Daily Getaways, these will all be sold out within an hour.
Offers:
- 14,000 Choice Privilege points for $80
- 28,000 Choice Privileges points for $144
- 42,000 Choice Privileges points for $205
- 55,000 Choice Privileges points for $265
| Points | Cost | Cents per Point | Available Deals | Maximum Packages Per Account |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14,000 | $80 | 0.571 | 1,150 | 2 |
| 28,000 | $144 | 0.514 | 1,571 | 2 |
| 42,000 | $205 | 0.488 | 1,049 | 2 |
| 55,000 | $265 | 0.482 | 1,306 | 2 |
Valuation: TPG values Choice points at 0.6 cents each. So, buying points for under 0.5 cents each is excellent deal if you know how to use Choice points.
Choice award nights start at just 6,000 points per night, so buying points at 0.48 cents each means you can get hotel nights for just $29 each. While there are only a few 6,000-point properties, there's many more at 8,000 points per night -- like in Japan and Europe where I've gotten excellent value out of my Choice points. And you just can't beat $38 per night in an expensive city like Tokyo.
The tough part of redeeming Choice points is that the redemption rate can -- and does -- change often. For example, Katie and I booked a top-floor suite at the Gowanus Inn in Brooklyn NYC for an average of just 6,500 points per night.
Now that property costs 30,000 points per night through at least September 15 2019. Meanwhile, other sweet spots have opened up elsewhere.
Maximum purchase: Each Choice account can purchase a maximum of 8 points packages, limited to 2 packages per offer. If you’re looking to go all out with this promotion, each member can get 278,000 total points by buying the maximum 8 packages. This will cost a total of $1,388 at a cost of almost exactly 0.5 cents per point.
Note that buying points through Daily Getaways doesn’t count against the standard limit of buying 50,000 Choice points (before bonuses) through Points.com.
Expiration policy: Choice points purchased through Daily Getaways will be subject to Choice's expiration policy, which requires some earn or redeem activity within 18 months to keep points active.
Speaking of expiration dates, buying a $80 package of points through Daily Getaways can be an easy way of keeping your Choice account active if your points are expiring soon. Just don’t cut it too close; Daily Getaways says that the points will be deposited “within ten (10) business days of purchase.”
Likelihood of selling out: There aren't many good ways of stocking up on Choice points. While you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to Choice, there are much more valuable uses for MR points. And the Choice card doesn't offer a compelling return on spending. So, for those of us that love Choice points, this is our time to stock up. Based on prior years, this offer will likely sell out within an hour, with the largest packages going within minutes.
Credit card to use: Daily Getaways purchases have coded as general travel for me in past years, and we have been able to confirm that it's coding as travel again this year. So, you’ll want to use a credit card that has a category bonus for general travel such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve or Ink Business Preferred Credit Card (3x Ultimate Rewards points on the first $150,000 spent in combined category purchases each account anniversary year), Citi Premier® Card (3x Citi ThankYou Points) or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x points).
Other sources of Choice points: Rather than buying points at 0.5 cents each, you can generate them by signing up for the Choice Privileges Visa Signature Card which is offering a 32,000-point sign-up bonus for spending $1,000 in the first 90 days of account opening.
Choice isn't currently running a buy points promotion, but you can buy Choice points at anytime at a rate of 0.99 cents each through Points.com.
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