The Daily Getaways are a set of travel deals available in limited quantities. Each day, for the next several weeks, a new deal becomes available at exactly 1 pm ET. The most popular deals will be sold out before you can finish saying “where’s my wallet?” The best way to grab these deals is to be at your computer minutes before the deal goes live and refresh your browser over and over like a raving lunatic until the option to “Buy” appears. Then, click the button and hope not to see the dreaded sold out message. There are often multiple deals available on the same day. To increase your chance of getting one you can try first for the deal that you think will be less popular than the rest.
Are any of these deals worth this craziness? In general the answer is… it depends. For most deals, you can save money by buying them if you were planning to spend more money on similar travel anyway. Many deals, though, will only encourage you to pre-pay for things you might never actually want to use.
To save you time, I’ve summarized each deal below and rated the ones I consider particularly deal-worthy with a thumbs up icon. As more deals are revealed, I’ll update this page.
NOTE: With any deal that you’re interested in, please read the deal’s terms carefully. Some have severe restrictions that are not obvious in the summary description.
| Date Available | Deal | Frequent Miler’s Review |
|---|---|---|
| Monday April 9 |
Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Express Ticket w/ Admission for $139 | Express tickets usually range from $179 to $259 (found here). If you know that you’ll go before these tickets expire on May 24th 2019, then this one may be worth pursuing. Watch out for blackout dates though! Blackout dates are: 6/29/18 through 8/13/18 and 12/21/18 through 1/4/19 |
| Tuesday April 10 |
Buy Choice Privileges points for as low as 0.48 cents each | The current Reasonable Redemption Value for Choice points is .81 cents each, so the ability to buy points for around half a cent each is terrific. Plus, this year they’ve significantly increased the number of point packages that are available. I still think they’ll sell out, but you should be able to snag some points if you start at 1pm ET. |
| Wednesday April 11 |
Buy IHG points for around 0.58 cents each | The current Reasonable Redemption Value for IHG points is .57 cents, so this isn’t really much of a deal. There’s no guarantee that IHG points will be worth .58 cents or more when redeeming them. So, go for this deal only if you have immediate plans for their use and know you’ll save money. If you need IHG points in the future, it’s always possible to buy IHG points cheaply by booking and cancelling Points & Cash stays as long as you have at least 5,000 points available. |
| Thursday April 12 |
SeaWorld ($50), Discovery Cove ($160), or 2-Park Ticket (SeaWorld + Busch Gardens for $75) | I expect that these offer a decent discount off regular prices. If (and only if) you know that you’ll go before the tickets expire, then it’s worth comparing to the prices you’d get elsewhere. |
| Friday April 13 |
Avis one day car rental $30, President’s Club membership $750 |
Some disadvantages: Rental must be completed by May 15, 2019; You will have to pay the usual extra taxes and fees (but % fees will be less); Your credit card won’t cover rental insurance (but your regular car insurance probably will); and there are only 800 available. I think these will sell out quickly. |
| Monday April 16 |
Buy Hilton points for 0.5 cents each | Given that the median value of Hilton points is now about .45 cents each, I wouldn’t recommend buying these points unless you need them for a very specific high value award. See: Hilton Honors results are in. Is that Hilton’s middle finger? |
| Tuesday April 17 |
15,000 Wyndham points for $175 | 15,000 Wyndham points can be used for a one night stay at any Wyndham property worldwide. While most Wyndham properties are low-end, there are properties that routinely go for $300 or more per night. If you know you’ll use the points for a property like that, then this is a good deal to go for. Or, you can buy the points and hope for another outrageous opportunity, such as when Wyndham offered Cottages.com mansions for just 15,000 points per night. I really doubt we’ll see that again though! |
| Wednesday April 18 |
Vegas deals ranging from $475 to $2000 | Only buy if you know you’ll use these packages and that you’ll save a lot of money over booking directly. |
| Thursday April 19 |
Buy Hertz points for as low as 4.23 cents each | Hertz points can be extremely valuable, so I would have marked this one as a great deal, but with only 130 available in total, it is not worth the trouble since it will sell out instantly. |
| Friday April 20 |
Omni hotel getaways from $160 to $335 | Only buy if you know you’ll use these packages and that you’ll save a lot of money over booking directly. |
| Monday April 23 |
Alamo $50 certificate for $25 | Certificates can be combined with Alamo Insiders 5% discount (sign up for free). Up to 3 certificates can be applied to one rental (but you’ll have to call to use more than one). Can maximize this deal and get nearly half off by using on rentals costing just over $50, $100, or $150. Savings can actually be even better than advertised since taxes and fees will be proportionally lower as well. |
| Tuesday April 24 |
Loew’s Hotel Deals from $275 to $1300 | Only buy if you know you’ll use these packages and that you’ll save a lot of money over booking directly. |
| Wednesday April 25 |
Caesars Vegas and Atlantic City deals from $315 to $1400 | Only buy if you know you’ll use these packages and that you’ll save a lot of money over booking directly. |
| Thursday April 26 |
10,000 Best Western points for $55 (.55 cents per point) | The current Reasonable Redemption Value for Best Western points is .58 cents, so this isn’t really much of a deal. That said, I don’t know of any other cheap ways to buy Best Western points so this deal is probably worth pursuing if you are planning Best Western stays where you’ll get significantly more than .55 cents value for your points. |
| Friday April 27 |
Universal Orlando packages from $569 to $2388 | Only buy if you know you’ll use these packages and that you’ll save a lot of money over booking directly. |
| Monday April 30 |
Two nights at the Fairmont Austin for $608 or four nights at the Fairmont San Diego for $2000 | Only buy if you know you’ll use these packages and that you’ll save a lot of money over booking directly. On the plus side, these certificates do not expire. With 30 total packages available, this one is extremely limited. |
| Tuesday May 1 |
MGM packages ranging from $150 to $1750 | Only buy if you know you’ll use these packages and that you’ll save a lot of money over booking directly. Note that these expire in December 2018 or January 2019 depending on the package. |
| Wednesday May 2 |
Orbitz $1,000 coupon code for $650 | With only 60 available, this will be hard to get. The coupon code requires a prepaid booking and cannot be reused even if you cancel or change your reservation. This one could be a good deal as long as you check the restrictions and won’t change your plans. |
| Thursday May 3 |
20% off Marriott gift cards: $100 for $80, $250 for $200, or $500 for $400. | This one is a definite buy if you pay for stays with Marriott. Further, these gift cards will likely work at current SPG properties either later this year or early next year. This deal will likely sell out quickly, but with over a thousand of the $100 gift cards available (and 200 or more each on the higher denomination cards), it should be impossible if you’re ready at go time. |
| Friday May 4 |
Three nights in a suite at Veneitan / Palazzo for $650 or $850 | Only buy if you know you’ll use these packages and that you’ll save a lot of money over booking directly |
| Monday May 7 |
Two nights at Caesar’s properties for $299 to $590 | Only buy if you know you’ll use these packages and that you’ll save a lot of money over booking directly. |
| Tuesday May 8 |
World of Hyatt points packages from 24K to 72K for $260 to $775 | These can be a good deal as they are just over 1 cent per point for Hyatt points, but the extremely limited quantity means they will likely sell out in seconds. |
| Wednesday May 9 |
TBD | |
| Thursday May 10 |
TBD | |
| Friday May 11 |
TBD |
