There are several deals available during Week 5 of the Daily Getaways promotion that are worth looking into. However, two of them really piqued my attention. I’ve become a big Hyatt fan lately, so any opportunity to earn more Hyatt points at a cheap rate seems worthwhile. But there’s also a great deal on two Fairmont hotels in Hawaii that I can really see myself purchasing despite the high upfront cost.
Fairmont Hotels on Tuesday, May 8th
- Weekend at The Plaza for $950 ($855 with Amex; 15 available)
- Six-night Hawaii Vacation for $1,750 ($1,575 with Amex; 10 available)
These prices are a little high, but they can be worthwhile depending on your perspective. Hotel rates in New York City are typically outrageous, so paying a little over $400 a night at The Plaza seems fare more plausible than becoming a contestant on Ding, Dang, Dong. After all, when the alternative is paying $400 a night for a mid-rate Hilton, this sounds like a great deal!
Six nights I can use in any combination at only $262.50 each!
But I’m far more interested in the Hawaiian vacation. Megan and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Hyatt Regency Maui during our last visit to Hawaii, and I’m not likely to start staying at Fairmont hotels often enough to earn any kind of elite status with them. Still, six nights at a Fairmont resort property for only $262.50 a night is an excellent deal. It’s even better when that price includes breakfast and taxes. Plus there are NO blackout dates, NO expiration dates, and the package is actually six one-night certificates that can be used at either the Fairmont Kea Lani on Maui or the Fairmont Orchid on Hawaii separately or in any combination.
Although you can find rates this low during a deep-discount sale in the off season, or by using opaque booking site like Priceline or Hotwire, I’ve never heard of such low prices with no restrictions. If you have any plans to visit Hawaii during the rest of your life (and I know I will 
) then you should consider trying to get in on this offer.
Hyatt Gold Passport on Wednesday, May 9th
- 24,000 points for $260 ($234 with Amex; 0.975 cents per point)
- 30,000 points for $330 ($297 with Amex; 0.99 cents per point)
- 36,000 points for $415 ($373.50 with Amex; 1.034 cents per point)
- 69,000 points for $775 ($697.50 with Amex; 1.011 cents per point)
The strangest thing about these offers is that the price actually increases as you purchase more points. However, all of them a still a good deal. For example, it takes 22,000 points to stay at any top-tier Hyatt hotel in the world, some of which cost much more than $227.48 (using the peak price of 1.034 cents). I personally value them somewhere between 1.5 and 2 cents each, so I would be getting an effective discount of about 30-50%. I’m not sure I will go for the top package since $700 is a lot to part with, but one of the smaller ones might be nice just to pad my balance a bit and help meet the minimum spend requirement on my new Hilton Amex.
About Scott Mackenzie
