Daily Getaways week 3

This week marks the third week of the U.S. Travel Association's Daily Getaways deals. For those of you who don't know this is an annual promotion that offers travel getaways across the United States at discounted prices every weekday at www.dailygetaways.com. Offers are sold at a fixed price in limited quantities and are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Offers are purchased on the site but booking can be done at a later date. Offers go on sale at 1:00pm ET each weekday and began April 4th, 2016.

Here is a list of this week's deals and a breakdown of each day.

Monday, April 18 - 5 Night Stay at a Diamond Property Worldwide

This deal is for 6-days, 5 nights at a participating Diamond Resorts International property for $525 (estimated retail value of $1,000). There are 71 properties that you can choose from mostly located in the US and Europe and the full list can be found at https://www.diamondresorts.com/discoveramerica. However, the offer is subject to high season, holiday and other blackout periods depending on the destination and the fine print also states that Diamond Resorts reserves the right to select alternative accommodations, such as hotel, motel or condominium so for these reasons I'll probably pass on this deal.

Tuesday, April 19 - A Luxurious Getaway in Las Vegas at The Cromwell for $590

This deal is for various 2-night hotel packages at different Caesar's properties including the Cromwell ($590), Harrah’s Las Vegas ($299), Caesars Palace ($450), your choice from multiple properties ($425), LINQ Hotel ($350), and Las Vegas at Bally’s ($315). These offers usually come paired with some sort of dinner credit, spa credit, entertainment tickets, and/or transportation and are roughly valued at a 50% savings. There is some value to be had with these package deals depending on your hotel preferences although I tend to stay at MGM Resorts properties when I go to Vegas for reasons I explained in this post. For this reason, I will probably pass on this deal and wait for the other Vegas deals being offered in later weeks.

Wednesday, April 20 - 100,000 Hilton HHonors Points Redeemable Toward a Free Stay

This deal is either for 100,000 Hilton HHonors points for $500, 150,000 points for $750, or 250,000 points for $1,250 which equates to a value of 0.5 cents per point. This is roughly what they are actually worth so you aren't really gaining or losing on this deal. However, as we all know you can find sweet spots where you can get much more value than 0.5 cent per point, especially when you take into account the 5th night free benefit when booking award nights. But I am never an advocate for speculatively buying points so unless you have a specific redemption planned I wouldn't buy this deal.

Thursday, April 21 - Spend Two Nights at The Palazzo for $608

This deal is either for a 2-night stay in a Siena Suite at The Palazzo Las Vegas for $608 (estimated value of $1,200) or a 2-night stay in a Piazza View Suite at The Venetian Las Vegas for $495 (estimated value of $1,000). This is just for the hotel room and does not include any other additional benefits so is not really that great of a deal unless you were already planning to stay here to begin with. There are also many blackout dates including but not limited to March 21-22, 2016, April 18-19, 2016, May 1-2, 2016, May 10-12, 2016, May 23-24, 2016, May 28, 2016, June 7-8, 2016, August 7-9, 2016, August 13-15, 2016, August 26-27, 2016, September 3, 2016, September 26-27, 2016, October 4-5, 2016, October 14-15, 2016, October 17-18, 2016, October 23-25, 2016, November 1-2, 2016, November 14-16, 2016, November 29-30, 2016, and December 30-31, 2016. Additional blackout dates may apply, subject to suite availability. For these reasons I again will probably pass on this deal.

Friday, April 22 - $250: 1-Week Hertz Standard Vehicle

This deal is actually for the purchase of Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points that can be redeemed for free rentals at your discretion so you aren't locked into redeeming a certificate for a one-time use. You also have no blackout dates and there is no expiration date to use these points (although your points do expire after 24 months of no activity). You have the option of purchasing 5,500 Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points for $250, 16,500 Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points for $698, or 13,200 Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points for $560. This equates to a value of over 4.2 cents per point which is a great value so will likely go quickly. Just remember you are only allowed to purchase one of these deals so choose carefully.