This week's Daily Getaways deals

Last week marked the return 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 11 - 1 Night at any Wyndham Rewards hotel for only $150

This deal is actually for 15,000 Wyndham Rewards points which is enough for a one-night stay at any Wyndham Rewards hotel (Dolce Hotels and Resorts, Wyndham Grand, etc), however, you can stretch these points even further if you elect to use them for a "GO FAST" Award redemption. You are buying these points for 1 cent per point which is slightly lower than their estimated value of roughly 1.2 cents per point although you can find much greater value depending on how you spend them.

Here is just an example of a random search I pulled up for dates in June. As you can see you could use these 15,000 points to redeem a room at the Ramada Downtown Dubai which is currently going for 999 AED = $273 USD giving you a value of at least 1.82 cents per point although there are many more examples which provide even more value. I am usually not one to speculatively buy points in advance unless I have a specific redemption in mind so unless you know you can make use of these I would probably hold off.

Tuesday, April 12 - Universal Orlando Resort

There are 3 options for this day. You could choose either four (4) 3-day Park to Park tickets to both Universal Orlando theme parks for $850 (estimated value $1,000), Universal Orlando 1-day Resort Private VIP Experience for $3,500 (estimated value $6,619), or Universal Orlando 4-day Resort Vacation Package including airfare, hotel, and park admission for 4 people for $2,397 (estimated value $3,425). This deal is probably more geared towards families who don't have time to plan a vacation and want an easy option. However, the reported estimated values are slightly overstated and if you go to their website at https://www.universalorlando.com/Theme-Park-Tickets/General-Admission.aspx you can see that you are only saving a small amount so unless you were already planning to go here its probably not worth going out of your way to buy this deal.

Wednesday, April 13 - $1,000 Expedia+ Hotel Coupon & +gold status for just $650

This option is for a $1,000 credit towards a hotel booking made on Expedia and also for Expedia +gold status through February 28, 2017. The $1,000 credit can only be used for one booking and if any leftover value is void so make sure your booking is for at least $1,000 if you plan to take advantage of this offer. It can only be applied to the room rate before any applicable taxes, fees, or additional costs and can't be combined with any other offers. You also can't use this credit for packages such as flights+hotel so beware of all these restrictions before purchasing. If you are going to be spending $1,000 on a single hotel reservation there are many other opportunities to take advantage of such as with AMEX's Fine Hotels & Resorts or with Citi Prestige's 4th night free so you may not be saving that much. Here is what you get with Expedia +gold status:

I personally don't use Expedia very often so I'm not sure how much use I would get out of +gold status. If you do use them often then this might be worth taking into consideration.

Thursday, April 14 - Omni Hotels & Resorts

Omni Orlando Resort at Champions Gate Resort

This deal also offers multiple options for either 1- or 2-nights at select Omni Hotels & Resorts. These certificates are good until December 30, 2016 excluding blackout dates so beware of these before purchasing. Each offer is only valid for certain properties which are usually located in the larger metropolitan cities and there are other restrictions that apply such as a minimum 14-day advance reservation. Again, unless you have a preference for Omni hotels and already have specific plans in mind then I wouldn't speculatively buy these certificates. There is some value to be had if the former does apply to you though so it may be worth checking out.

Friday, April 15 - Caesars Entertainment

This deal is for various 2- and 3-night hotel packages at various Caesar's properties including Planet Hollywood ($500), Harrah's Resort Atlantic City ($650), Caesars Palace ($1,400), Nobu Hotel ($590), and Paris Las Vegas ($350). These offers usually come paired with some sort of dinner credit and/or spa credit and are roughly valued at a 50% savings. There is some value to be had with these package deals depending on your 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.