Daily Getaway For 05/23: Hilton

Never Miss Another Deal - Follow DansDeals on Facebook

Related: Highlights Of Daily Getaways 2014
——————————————————

Daily Getaways Linky

With Daily Getaways you can purchase discounted travel packages, but you have to be really quick.  At 1pm EDT every weekday from May 19 until June 20th there is a new offering.

The best ones will sell out in seconds, so you need to be waiting on the page at 12:59pm and refreshing the page.  Be sure to have a Hilton HHonors number handy.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the amount of DansDeals readers who reported being able to nab the prized Hertz package #2 that was offered on Tuesday. Good job guys!

There are 3 Hilton packages available (If you use an AMEX you will automatically get 10% off the listed price) :

1. 100,000 points for $495

2. 150,000 points for $742.50

3. 250,000 points for $1,237.50

Hilton points require activity every 12 months or else they’ll expire.

A Hilton member can buy 1 of each package.

Last year Hilton points were devalued like no other points in history. A night at the Bora Bora Nui or Conrad Koh Samui that used to be as little as 37,500 points skyrocketed to as much as 95,000 points per night.  However the Daily Getaways price is still the same, all packages still cost .495 cents per point.  While people would kill to be able to buy most point currencies for under half a cent per point, Hilton points are just awful and even at .495 cents it won’t generally be a good investment.  Especially because they eroded the trust that anyone had in their brand, and what is a loyalty program worth if loyalty and trust doesn’t run both ways?

A notable exception is the brand new Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem due to its stratospheric room rates.  A free night there (which includes free kosher breakfast) costs 80,000 points.  If you stay 5 nights you’ll need 320,00 points as the 5th night is free, bringing down the nightly cost to 68,000 points per night.
At .495 cents per point that’s like paying $396 per night or $336.60 per night on a 5 night stay.

Rates at the Waldorf Jerusalem can vary, but it does always seem to be a very good points value:
May 25th: $705+tax=$832
June 15th: $645+tax=$761
June 28th: $775+tax=$915
July 2nd: $750+tax=$885.
July 13th: $530+tax=$625

The hotel used to have very valuable cash and points awards, but they no longer have that available for any night.

Buy points for stays that you plan on taking this year, but don’t buy for the future.
The Waldorf can:
-Cost more points at any time
-Stop giving free breakfast on points stays
-Relabel standard rooms as deluxe rooms to avoid giving out 80K point rooms
-Leave the Hilton Chain. There have been a couple Hilton properties in Jerusalem over the years that have left Hilton. In the early 2000s the brand new Hilton Jerusalem left Hilton and successfully re-branded as the David Citdael.
Chain hotels never seem to stay long in Jerusalem. Hyatt used to have a Jerusalem hotel and of course Starwood had the Sheraton Plaza. I stayed at the Sheraton in 2007 for just 2,300 points+$45. In 2009 I was booked there when it left Starwood and Starwood re-accommodated us at the Mamilla. We all hoped that was a sign that the Mamilla might join Starwood, but of course that never materialized.

Point being: Caveat Emptor. Invest in Hilton points at your own risk.

Will you be a buyer today? What hotel redemption are you gunning for? Sound off in the comments!