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Update: I got 2 x 36k in the first few seconds. I’m refreshing to try to get 40k, 32k, and 20k packages, which are all in others’ carts.

Get huge discounts on all Southwest flights, up to 35% off, with three simple steps today only by taking advantage of a Daily Getaway sale and a favorable points conversion rate.

Today is the fourth day of the third week of five weeks of discounted travel packages sponsored by the US Travel Association and American Express called Daily Getaways.

Every weekday at 1 PM ET, a discounted travel package or packages will go on sale and will usually sell out in a few minutes. Some of the offers will be awesome; some will be duds. Today’s deal is incredible if you know what to do.

Today’s deal is to buy Choice Privileges points in quantities of 20k, 32k, 36k, and 40k points for big discounts. These points can be converted to Southwest Rapid Rewards at a favorable rate.

How can you get up to 35% off all Southwest flights today?

All Daily Getaways packages are discounted. And you get an additional 10% off each sale price by paying with an American Express, so that’s a no-brainer, and I’ll always quote prices after the American Express discount.

Today’s deal is on Choice Privileges points–the loyalty points of several budget chains including Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, and several more.

  • 40,000 Choice Privileges points for $149.40, 0.37 cents per point
  • 32,000 Choice Privileges points for $120.60, 0.38 cents per point
  • 36,000 Choice Privileges points for $140.40, 0.39 cents per point
  • 20,000 Choice Privileges points for $91.80, 0.46 cents per point

There are between 190 and 795 of each package available. Each choice account is limited to two packages of each quantity of points, so you could buy eight packages.

Ignore the titles of the Daily Getaways like “Comfort Inn: Stay 3 Nights for $156.” The terms make it very clear that you are actually buying points: “By purchasing this 3-night Comfort Inn® reward, you will receive 36,000 points in the Choice Privileges® program. Points will be posted to the account number given at time of purchase within 10 business days of confirmation.”

Is buying Choice Privileges points for 0.37 cents a good deal?

It’s an incredible deal, and I haven’t even looked at the award chart for redeeming the points for hotels. I’ll be redeeming my Choice Privileges points for deeply discounted Southwest flights.

Choice Privileges points transfer to several airline programs. The best transfer option is Southwest at a 6,000 Choice Privileges points to 1,800 Rapid Rewards ratio.

Southwest points are very close to fixed in value at about 1.69 cents. (If you read they are worth 1.67 cents, the writer hasn’t done the math right. If you read they are worth 1.86 cents, the writer and I are using a different valuation method.)

If you buy Choice Privileges points at 0.37 cents and convert them to Southwest points at a 6,000:1,800 ratio, it’s like buying Southwest points at 1.25 cents or .44 cents less than they are worth!

If you aren’t familiar with Southwest points, they are nothing like old-school frequent flyer miles. Southwest points can be redeemed for any Southwest flight, any time with no blackouts. The number of points you need depends on the cash fare. The exact amount is 60 times the base Wanna Get Away? fare, plus $2.50 in taxes per segment.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of booking a Southwest award.

Let’s look at how much you can save with today’s deal by looking at an award you could book at southwest.com today.

A one way flight from Atlanta to Orlando in October costs $58.90 all in on Southwest.

The same exact flight costs 2,880 points + $2.50.

If you buy Choice Privileges points today and convert them to Southwest points, you can get Southwest points for as little as 1.25 cents each. That means 2,880 Southwest points cost $35.86. So you can get the flight for $38.36–$35.86 for the points and $2.50 in taxes.

That means you can save 35% on the flight by purchasing the discounted Choice Privileges points today!

Here’s a chart of today’s four packages.

Caveats

Before you attempt to do what I’m planning to do today, understand these caveats:

  1. This might not work. I don’t see any rules this breaks in the Choice Privileges program, but maybe there is one. Or maybe Choice Privileges moves the goalposts before the steps can be completed. I’m going to take the risk this doesn’t work because a cursory glance at the hotel award chart tells me I’d still get my money’s worth redeeming points that way even if plan A goes wrong.
  2. My numbers are fuzzy! All the numbers in this post conveniently ignore the fact that Choice Privileges points must be transferred to Southwest in increments of 6,000. Buying points through the Daily Getaways site in 6,000-point increments will be easy but will require an attention to detail.
  3. You will get a smaller discount on more expensive flights. The value of Southwest points is slightly lower on more expensive flights. I chose a cheap flight for my example, but if you book a $250 flight, you might only get a 30% discount or so.
  4. You are trading dollars for something less valuable. Your dollars can be spent on almost everything. If you buy Choice Privileges points and Rapid Rewards, those can only be used for a few things. So unless you are sure you will eventually use the points for travel, you are making a mistake.
  5. You won’t get the Southwest points for up to ten weeks. I expect them to come much sooner, but it could be up to ten weeks. You certainly won’t be buying Southwest points today to book a flight for next week.

Steps

Here are the steps to get in on the deal:

  1. Sign up for a Choice Privileges account here.
  2. Purchase Choice Privileges points during today’s Daily Getaways sale in increments of 6k. The 36k package works nicely on its own, since 36k is divisible by 6k. Or you can buy equal numbers of the 40k and 32k packages. Wait up to 10 business days for the points to show up in your Choice Privileges account.
  3. Transfer the points to Southwest in increments of 6,000 Choice Privileges points by phone or online. “Allow 6-8 weeks for Airline Rewards to be posted to your airline account when redeeming Choice Privileges points for Airline Rewards.

When the points post to your Rapid Rewards account, you’ll be able to use your new points as you normally would for deeply discounted Southwest flights.

Other Info on the Choice Privileges Program

Stays at Choice properties are as low as 8,000 points per night.

Stays at luxury hotels that are not one of the Choice brands cost 30,000 to 60,000 points per night.

Gift Card redemptions are 16,000 points for $50.

If you don’t want Southwest points, you can get United, American, Delta, and US Airways miles for about 1.85 cents through this promotion.

Purchasing the Packages

To maximize your chances of getting in on the deal, I recommend using a site like whattimeisit.com to figure out the official time. This year’s sales have all started on time to the second. Keep refreshing for the best chance.

This is what happens if you try to purchase something where all quantities are already in someone’s cart.

This doesn’t mean the deal is sold out. If someone doesn’t complete his purchase, that quantity will immediately become available for someone else. Keep checking until the dreaded “Sold Out” appears.

I will be by my computer at 1 PM EST / 10 AM PST / 7 AM HST / (2 PM in Buenos Aires) to check out how these deals are selling. Do you plan to buy them? Post your successful or failed attempt in the comments, so we can gauge how quick you had to be to snag a deal.

Daily Getaways home page

Daily Getaways Help

Daily Getaways FAQ

Full Terms and Conditions for 40k point package:

What You Receive: 40,000 points, valid for a 2-night stay, deposited into your Choice Privileges® account.
Dates of Travel: Anytime through December 31, two years from date of deposit.
Max. Quantity per Purchase: 2. No more than 2 sets of points purchased through this offer are allowed per loyalty number. A maximum of 8 sets of points is allowed per loyalty number across all Choice Hotels offers.

Stay 2 nights at a Cambria Suites hotel, designed for the way you live and work. This all-suites hotel has spacious rooms, offering a separate workspace and luxurious bath amenities and bedding. Enjoy contemporary dining, a 24/7 convenience store, and free high speed wireless internet. Other amenities include: two LCD flat-panel screens, microwave, plus a resort style swimming pool and state-of-the-art fitness center.

When you purchase this 2-night reward at any Cambria Suites, you will receive 40,000 points in the Choice Privilegesprogram, good toward a 2-night reward redemption, with no blackout dates, at the following locations throughout the U.S.:

  • Akron/Canton, OH
  • Appleton, WI
  • Aurora, CO
  • Columbus, OH
  • Dania Beach, FL
  • Denver, CO
  • Fort Collins, CO
  • Indianapolis, IN
  • Madison, WI
  • Miami, FL
  • Minneapolis, MN
  • Morrisville, NC
  • Oklahoma City, OK
  • Plainfield, IN
  • Raleigh/Durham, NC
  • Rapid City, SD
  • Savannah, GA
  • Traverse City, MI
  • Washington, PA
  • Pittsburgh, PA
  • Roanoke, VA

This 2-night reward can be used at any U.S. Cambria Suites hotel with a redemption level of 20,000 points or fewer per night for the desired arrival date. You may find the reward level for any participating hotel including Cambria Suites hotel at choiceprivileges.com or by calling the reservation program line at 1-800-521-2121.

In order to purchase this Cambria Suites reward, you must be a member of the Choice Privileges rewards program. If you are not a member, sign up today.

For further details, please refer to the “Redemption” and “Terms & Conditions” tabs.

  • Up to 2 sets of points may be purchased for this offer. Up to 8 sets of points may be purchased (2 per Comfort Inn®, Comfort Suites®, Sleep Inn and Cambria Suites®) in total for any Choice Hotels offer in this promotion per customer/account number. If more than 8 sets are purchased in total, then the first 8 sets purchased will be credited only.
  • In order to purchase this Cambria Suites reward you must be a member of the Choice Privileges® rewards program. If you are not a member, sign up today.
  • This two (2)-night reward can be used at any U.S. Cambria Suites hotel with a point-redemption level of 20,000 points or fewer per night for the desired arrival date. If redemption level is less than 20,000 points per night, unused points remain in your account. You may find the reward level for any participating hotel at choiceprivileges.com or by calling the reservation program line at 1-800-521-2121.
  • Once points are posted into a Choice Privileges account, they will expire on December 31, two (2) years after the year in which they were deposited into your account.
  • You must make your reward-night reservations personally through the Program Line or through your Choice Privileges online account no more than thirty (30) days prior to your planned arrival. However, Choice Privileges Elite members have expanded booking windows as follows:

– Elite Gold: eligible to book rewards within fifty (50) days of arrival

– Elite Platinum: eligible to book rewards within seventy-five (75) days of arrival

– Elite Diamond: eligible to book rewards within one hundred (100) days of arrival

  • Upon check-in, hotels are encouraged to ask guests to show positive ID for all reward-night stays.
  • Your reward night does not include incidental charges, resort fees, and taxes.
  • The hotel will hold your room reservation until 7:00 am on the day after your scheduled arrival.
  • You may cancel your reservations through the reservation program line or through your online account, and by the date and time specified by your reservation sales representative or online.
  • There are no blackout dates for reward night stays.
  • If you are unable to use your room and fail to cancel your reservation, or if you do not claim the room by the specified time, Choice Privileges will not credit your account with the points that you redeemed for that room.
  • You will not earn Choice Privileges points, Airline Rewards, or Amtrak Guest Reward points for reward-night stays.
  • You may not reserve reward-night stays through a travel agent and reward-night stays are not commissionable to travel agents.
  • All sales are final.
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