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Today begins the last of five weeks of discounted travel packages from the US Travel Association called Daily Getaways. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at 1 PM ET, discounted travel packages will go on sale and will sell out in a few minutes. This is the final preview I’ll write for 2015.
Here’s that overview of the last week of Daily Getaways that starts today. This week, there are only deals on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, when Daily Getaways abruptly ends. I see value each day, but I don’t plan to purchase anything.
What Cards to Use to Purchase Daily Getaways
- You can redeem Arrival miles from the Barclaycard Arrival PlusTM World Elite MasterCard® to eliminate the cost of your package.
- You can earn 3x ThankYou Points per dollar by purchasing the packages with a Citi ThankYou® Premier Card.
Monday April 20: Discounted Fairmont Hotels Nights on Maui, the Big Island of Hawaii, and in Scottsdale
There are two packages available. The Hawaii package offers six nights at either the The Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui or the The Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii for $1,780. You can use the six nights all at once or one at a time, so you can spend time at both hotels during redemption. The Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui is an all suites ocean front property in Wailea, Maui (where I stayed once at the Andaz.)
Each free night includes breakfast for two the next morning at the breakfast buffet or in room. This summer, the base room at the The Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui with buffet for two goes for $689 + taxes and resort fee.
A three night stay is actually over $800 per night all in, so getting it for under $300 per night is a huge discount. (No word in the terms whether your free night certificate gets you out of the $31.25 resort fee.)
If you want a luxury stay in Hawaii and don’t have the hotel points, this is a good deal. I’d probably angle to spend 3-4 days in Maui and 2-3 on the Big Island because I think 3-4 days is the perfect amount of time to get a good feel for a Hawaiian island, and the Maui property looks nicer.
I’ve been tempted by this Hawaii Fairmont deal in the past, but always stopped short of buying because $1,780 is a lot of money.
The Scottsdale package is three nights at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess for $610 also including breakfast for two each morning.
- 6 Night Hawaii Vacation for just $1,780 (10 available)
- Fairmont Scottsdale Princess 3 nights for just $610 (10 available)
Tuesday April 21: Bellagio, MGM, Aria, Circus Circus, and Luxor Stays in Las Vegas
Caesars has already had two days of Daily Getaways deals, and this is the second for its big rival MGM Resorts. The two companies take opposite approaches to Daily Getaways. Most of Caesars’ packages are fairly inexpensive, starting at $299. By contrast, 3 out of the 5 MGM packages on Tuesday are more than $1,500, and are luxury experiences.
Tuesday’s Circus Circus offer is a pretty good deal if you can handle staying at one of the worst properties on the strip that literally has a base rate as low as $25 a night midweek. For $150, you get three nights, a breakfast buffet for 2, a dinner buffet for 2, a $75 credit at a steakhouse, and two passes to the resort’s theme park. This package does NOT include a $15 resort fee per night, so the total will be closer to $200.
The Aria package DOES get you out of its $29 resort fee, but not all packages specify one way or the other whether you’ll also have to pay a resort fee.
Read the packages’ Terms & Conditions carefully, and put your own value on a $400 dining credit or $500 spa credit instead of the retail value.
- Stay and Play at Circus Circus for $150 (three nights)
- Experience the Magic of the Luxor for $500 (four nights)
- A Suite & a Show at Bellagio for $1,500 (three nights)
- Enjoy a Skyline Marquee Suite MGM Grand for $1,545 (two nights)
- Stay, Play and Relax at ARIA for $1,700 (three nights)
Wednesday April 22: $1,000 Expedia Hotel Coupon for $650 and Expedia Gold Status
For $650, you buy a $1,000 coupon that can be used at over 170,000 hotels. Unfortunately:
*Coupons can only be used once. Any leftover value is void.
So you need to plan a stay that costs at least $1,000 to get full value.
The deal also comes with Expedia +gold status through the end of February 2016. Here is a description of the benefits, none of which look particularly great. A lot of the best benefits are “subject to availability,” and hotels don’t like Expedia bookings much, so I wonder how often the benefits are “available.”
This deal makes sense if you have a $1,000+ hotel stay coming up AND don’t have hotel points AND getting the fourth night free with the Citi Prestige® Card isn’t cheaper than saving than this $350 savings.
- $1,000 Expedia+ hotel coupon & +gold status for just $650 (50 available)
Bottom Line for Week 5
All three deals for Fairmont stays in Hawaii and Scottsdale, MGM Resorts stays in Vegas, and a discounted Expedia coupon offer huge value to the right person. I expect all to sell out right at 1 PM ET.
Will you purchase any? Will you pay with your Barclaycard Arrival PlusTM World Elite MasterCard® redeem Arrival miles to eliminate the cost of your package or your Citi ThankYou® Premier Card to earn 3x on the purchase?
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
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