There are a number of good deals out right now. Many of them are tempting and I’m sure many more will come with Daily Getaways kicking off. But sometimes I really wonder if I like the deal because it’s saving me money or if people just like “good deals”. Anyways, here are few great deals/promotions coming up that may be awesome for some and could be fools’ gold for others.
Ritz Carlton two complimentary nights
Right now Ritz Carlton is doing a promotion where if you complete two stays you get a free night certificate at tier 1-3 hotels. In some ways this is incredible. There are Ritz Carlton hotels that are consistently over $800 a night so the possible value of this certificate is without a doubt awesome.
The thing is that Ritz Carlton hotels are twice as expensive. So you’re getting twice the value at twice the cost. However there are a number of Ritz Carlton hotels that can be had for under $200 a night: Tyson Corner, Naples, Westchester, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Dove Mountain, etc…
Although I’m aware of one property that is consistently $100 a night. It’s in a land of cheap resorts: Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. I wrote an entire post on why I’m going to Egypt, and the hotels are just so stinking cheap. 5 star resorts for $50. Of course everyone is scared of going to Egypt but this is a resort town, not a revolt town, no worries, not that I would be anyways.
Club Carlson points on Daily Getaways
Daily Getaways is back and could be a great chance to buy points for cheap but right now the best option I see is Club Carlson points.
Here you can buy 50,000 Club Carlson points for $194. In the best use of Club Carlson points it talks about two things: 1) The credit card giving a free night per stay, which could mean buy one get one free. and 2) The value being in category 1 hotels that cost only 9,000 points.
If you have a plan for these Club Carlson points you could get plenty of value. At the lower level you could get 5 nights with those points and a free night per stay. As much as 10 free nights at hotels possibly worth $100 or more. $1,000 in value is certainly possible. At the high end you could surely get $800 in value as you’d have two free nights at a top tier Radisson Blu worth $400.
If you don’t have a plan, well, you could possibly get the points cheaper from paid stay promotions! Plus I say that it is possible to spend your points like that, but will you?
Daily Getaways
There are other “good deals” on Daily Getaways, but some of them just seem like good deals. Like buying a Marriott Gift card at 90% of the price, but there are other ways to get value with Marriott, like going through the Ultimate Rewards portal or using the Marriott card.
To sum up how I feel about Daily Getaways, good deals are not always good decisions. Kind of like timeshares. Yes, you do get a discount at the hotel. But you wouldn’t have paid for it normally. Plus 30 years in Acapulco is 30 too many. This is my shtick, First Class flights and Ritz Carltons may have lots of value, but after paying $1,000 in fuel surcharges… it doesn’t save you any money, which is what got us into this points thing anyways.
“You can go broke saving money.”
Agree? Disagree?
Quick question about the Ritz Carlton offer. Complete two stays and get a free night certificate. If I stay 2 consecutives nights, will I get the free night ?
No, that would be considered one stay. You could go to a different Ritz Carlton in town (if there is one), or give a 1 night gap in between. For certain promos I’ll have the first night in my name and the second night in my wife’s name – this way we each get 1 stay.
Yes, I agree that a lot of people including myself get caught up trying to get a good deal and in the end spend as much or more than I would have in the first place. That’s great marketing at work! What’s the point of some people going to a 5* hotel in Paris and then only eating in a hotel lounge? I prefer to selectively splurge. I’d prefer going to a really nice restaurant and staying in a simple hotel or taking low cost flights. Or booking a business class flight, but then going to SE Asia, where you can get great value luxury hotels and have great food for next to nothing. Sharm El Sheikh might be cheap, but it’s also full of drunken Russians on package tours… The diving is supposed to be great though.
I agree. It happens, we get caught up in the “game mechanics” marketing and the deal getting game and spend more money than we would have. And I agree, seeing the lounge is not the same as seeing that place and it’s culture.
I didn’t realize Sharm El Sheik was dumpy. But for me Egypt would be about seeing new places, the history and I would love to explore the waters there.
Sharm El Sheikh isn’t a dump and am sure the resorts are fine, but it’s a tourist enclave far removed from the historical sights. Because it’s so affordable it doesn’t attract the most sophisticated crowds… Egypt’s Cancun if you will.
Great site BTW, especially the United posts are very helpful. Being based in Japan can get to Fiji or even Tahiti for 20k return in C, but award space is limited. Haven’t had any luck trying for a NZ stop over either.