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The preview of the third week of Daily Getaways have now been released. From a cursory glance, it seems like there isn’t anything spectacular, but the IHG points sale are back. I am still waiting for Hyatt points and SPG points to be on sale. No luck so far, but hopefully they’ll be something nicer for the week after.
June 24: Universal Studio Tickets
June 25: Loews Hotel Packages
June 26: Best Western Points
June 27: Choice Privileges Points
June 28: IHG Points
Week 3
If you want to see details (and if the image above is too small), check the daily getaways site here.
This might be useful for some people, but the only deal that I might consider getting into is the IHG points.
For me, the universal studio tickets aren’t really relevant, the Loews Hotels deals are too pricy, the Best Western Rewards points might be of use to some people, but I convert them into airline miles and that means each airline mile is over 3 cents because Best Western Points convert to several airline partners (Alaska, American, Aeroplan, etc.) at a 5:1 ratio. The nights at Comfort Inns might be useful to purchasers because  you are actually buying points. I’ll have to look into that. Finally, buying IHG rewards come back on the 28th.
You can buy:
15,000 points for $100 (2,500 available)
25,000 points for $167 (2,000 available)
50,000 points for $325 (1,250 available)
100,000 points for $630 (1,000 available)
You are buying an IHG point at roughly 0.63 cents – 0.68 cents each, which is slightly better than using cash and points to get them for 0.7 cents. However, I do believe that these purchases do not qualify you for elite status so keep that in mind, although it is fairly easy to status match so I don’t consider that a big issue. Also remember that paying with an AMEX card gives you an additional 10% off so the deals if you like them become even better.
This week I think is certainly better than the first two weeks, but hopefully the fourth week will be even better!
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Hi Jeff, I can not use my canadian amex to buy these points on the first day. r u going to use us amex ?
If my Canadian Amex doesn’t work I’m going to my cousin’s US AMEX. 🙂
Rewards points do count towards elite status. See here: http://www.ihg.com/hotels/us/en/global/offers/offers/ihgrewardsclub?cm_mmc=domains-_-MM-_-0313-_-ihgrewardsclub.com
Nope, I think they changed it this year as PC got rebranded to IHG rewards.
From the T&C http://www.ihg.com/priorityclub/hotels/us/en/global/tc/member-terms#elite:
Points for Elite Status – For purposes of determining Elite Status, Priority Club points are classified as either Elite Qualifying Points or Non-Elite Qualifying Points. Base points earned from Qualifying Rates paid for hotel stays, points collected from partner transactions, PCR Bonus Points Packages and Meeting Rewards are considered Elite Qualifying Points and counted towards membership elite status. A Qualifying Rate includes the following: non-discounted rate, standard corporate rate, worldwide sales negotiated rate, national/regional/local government rate and specified leisure rates as confirmed by the IHG HOLIDEX® Plus reservation system. All other point earning transactions, including promotional points, points vouchers, points purchase, points transfers, and points deposits, will be considered Non-Elite Qualifying Points and will not be counted towards elite status.
Are U.S. credit cards only accepted for this promotion? For Canadians, any way around it ?
That is a good question. Reader above says that Canadian AMEX doesn’t work. I have access to a US Amex so that isn’t an issued. I haven’t actually tried as none of the deals have been particularly spectacular…
@Jeff, Just so you know I have tried a Chinese Amex card and it worked. So I guess there will be no problem for canadian Amex cards
It would seem you need a U.S. Billing Address – how did you get around this ?
That is a good question. If I do decide to go for one of the packages I will report back with what happens.
How about one of those Visa or Mastercard gift cards to you see preloaded for $50 or $100 – not sure what billing address you can use for those?
Exactly. There are lots of options, but getting the packages aren’t critical for me. So I’ll just use whatever I have and if I get a package, that’s great. If I don’t, then that’s fine as well.