Amex Daily Getaways Week 3: Hyatt, IHG, Loews, Omni & More
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
American Express and the US Travel Association (a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting US travel) have partnered to offer discounts and deals with various travel brands and loyalty programs during the next month, including hotel packages, points/miles purchase promos, rental car discounts and more. These deals are called the Daily Getaways.
Here is the list of daily deals that will be running May 19-June 20, 2014.
Each weekday, a new offer will be unveiled on the website at 1 pm EDT, and will be available to any US resident age 18 or older to purchase throughout the promotion period or until the limited inventory is sold out.
You can sign up for alert emails on the details page for any of the offers to inform you when individual offers go on sale.
The method behind this madness is hoping that these deals will encourage people to travel more, as the USTA believes travel promotes good health and relationships, all while giving a boost to the US economy.
Another benefit is that you will receive an additional 10% off if you purchase with an Amex card, like the Amex Platinum, Amex Premier Rewards Gold, or even co-brand airline cards like the Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express and Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express.
I'll be doing a weekly roundup of deals for each week ahead of time so you know what's coming and can plan in advance.
Are These Deals Worth It?
In addition to the weekly roundups, each day before the deals go live, I'll post specifically about the offer for that day with a guided analysis of whether I feel the deal is worth buying. Of course, points and miles hold different values for everyone, but I'll try to help summarize the upside and downside of each deal so that you can determine whether it suits your needs. For now, check out the roundup of deals below for the upcoming week.
List of Deals: June 2-6, 2014 (*Amex 10% discount not included unless otherwise specified)
Monday June 2, 2014: Omni Hotels & Resorts
- One night at an exclusive Omni Hotel for $265, 10 available
- Two nights at an Omni Premier Resort for $375, 33 available
- Two nights at select Omni Hotels for $270, 49 available
- Two nights at Omni for $180, 36 available
Each offer has 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 the price compared to other hotels in that specific city or area.
For example, the first deal costs $265 ($238.50 with Amex discount) for one night at an exclusive Omni, including The Omni Berkshire in New York City. Decent hotel rooms in New York rarely drop below this price, and rates online for June start at $279, so this deal definitely has value. Check out the list of properties available for each deal and decide whether they jibe with your travel plans. Note that there are not many of these deals available, so be ready to buy immediately when the sale begins if you're interested.
Tuesday June 3, 2014: Loews Hotels
- Two nights in a suite at Loews Regency in New York City for $1110, 10 available
- Two nights at a Four Diamond Loews Resort for $350, 20 available (resort options: Loews Miami Beach Resort, Miami Beach, FL; Loews Don Cesar Resort, St. Pete Beach, FL; Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando, FL; Loews Coronado Bay Resort, Coronado Bay, CA)
- Two nights at a luxury Loews Hotel for $275, 20 available (12 different resort options)
- Two nights in the Grand King Suite at Loews Santa Monica for $1110, 5 available
- Two nights in an ocean view suite at Loews Miami Beach $1110, 5 available
The best option is probably the the luxury Loews hotel deal with 20 available for $275 for two nights. This comes out to just $137.50 per night, or $123.50 with the Amex discount. This is a great opportunity especially if used in a bigger city where hotel rooms are pricey. For example, the Loews Regency in New York is one of the options, and rooms there in June start at $469 per night, saving you almost 75% if you purchase the Getaway package. However, there are very few of the these deals available, so be ready to click if you want one.
Wednesday June 4, 2014: Hyatt Hotels
- 24,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points for $260, 95 available
- 30,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points for $330, 35 available
- 40,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points for $415, 15 available
- 72,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points for $775, 15 available
The Hyatt offer is marketed as free hotel stays, but really it's just points packages. The prices for these points are between 1.0 and 1.1 cents per point, depending on whether you apply the American Express discount. This is much cheaper than their normal price of about 2.4 cents per point. This means you're getting almost half off if you buy the Getaway deal, though again note that there are very few packages available.
Thursday June 5, 2014: IHG Rewards Club (formerly Priority Club) Points
- 15,000 IHG Rewards points for $100, 2,500 available (.67 cents per point)
- 25,000 IHG Rewards points for $167, 2,000 available (.68 cents per point)
- 50,000 IHG Rewards points for $325, 1,250 available (.65 cents per point)
- 100,000 IHG Rewards points for $630, 1000 available (.63 cents per point)
Normally, the cost to purchase IHG Rewards points is:
- 1,000 – 10,000 points for $13.50 per 1,000 points
- 11,000 – 25,000 points for $12.50 per 1,000 points
- 26,000 – 60,000 points for $11.50 per 1,000 points
It would typically cost $187.50 to purchase 15,000 points, $312.50 to purchase 25,000 points, $575 to purchase 50,000 points, and $1,150 to purchase 100,000 points. So, if you already have a plan for IHG Rewards points, the Daily Getaway deal offers great value, because the discount on points is around 45% (or over 50% if you can also get the Amex discount). There are plenty of deals available, so your chances of snagging one are high. This exact same deal available was also available back on Monday, May 26, 2014 so if you didn't scoop one up then, this is your chance.
You can knock this deal out of the park by using your purchased points for hotels on the IHG PointBreaks list, which go for just 5,000 points per night! The new list for May 27 to July 31, 2014 just went live, and the best properties tend to go quickly, so book soon if you want to take advantage of the low redemption rates.
Friday June 6, 2014: Las Vegas Hotel Packages
- Two night getaway for four people at the Mandalay Bay for $1,700, 4 available
- Two nights in a suite at New York, New York for $525, 5 available
- Four nights in a suite at Excalibar for $525, 9 available
- VIP four night getaway at Hotel 32 for $1,150, 4 available
- Four nights in a suite at the Mirage for $1,975, 6 available
All of these packages also include other items like dinner vouchers, spa treatments or show tickets, adding considerable value to the deals, if you can manage to get one. Unfortunately, there are so few of these available that I probably wouldn't bother, since the chance of winning the mouse button lottery is low. I'd rather set my sights on a deal that's easier to come by, like the IHG Reward points.
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