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Choice Privileges Rewards has launched its latest points sale in which it’s offering members a discount of up to 30% when they purchase points by the middle of February. This sale is offering Choice Privileges points at the cheapest rate that we usually see, but the number of points that you have to buy to lock-in the cheapest rate will probably vary from member to member.
The sale
This is the sale that I’m seeing in my account:
- Buy 1,000 – 14,000 points and get no bonus
- Buy 15,000 – 180,000 points and get a 30% discount on the regular price
Check what your targeted promotion looks like via this link.
Headline terms & conditions
- Transactions must be completed between 9 AM EST Jan 18, 2021 and 11:59 PM EST Feb 12, 2021 to be eligible for this bonus offer.
- Points will be posted to your Choice Privileges account within 24 hours after your transaction is complete.
- Purchased points do not count toward Elite Status or Lifetime Elite Gold Status.
- Transactions are final and non-refundable.
- Offer may not be valid for all members.
- There is a 15,000 point purchase minimum that applies.
- Purchased points are not refundable and are applicable towards all Choice Privileges rewards.
See full terms and conditions on the offer page via this link
The numbers
Unlike a number of other points/miles sales, in this Choice Privileges sale the cost per point doesn’t vary once you’re buying enough points to lock-in the 30% discount. This means that regardless of whether you buy as few as 15,000 points or as many as 180,000 points, you’ll be buying points at the cheapest rate available – approximately 0.69 cents/point.
Note: As this is a targeted promotion, some readers may be able to buy Choice Privileges points at 0.69 cents each with an even smaller purchase than 15,000 points.
Is this a good deal?
Whichever way you look at things, 0.69 cents/point is the cheapest rate at which we see Choice Privileges points being sold so if this sale doesn’t work for you, it’s unlikely that any other sale we see this year will work for you either.
Still, before there’s too much excitement about the apparently relatively low cost of points, there are a few things you need to know about Choice Privileges before you dive in.
If you don’t hold status with Choice hotels (and I suspect most people reading this don’t) there’s one critical restriction placed upon you when you come to redeem your points – you can only use points to make a reservation up to a maximum of 100 days ahead of check-in. That’s a lot better than the old restrictions used to be (30 days for North America and 60 days for the rest of the world) and, considering the volatile travel world we’re currently living in right now, a lot of people probably aren’t planning very far ahead anyway.
There’s definitely value to be had here if you pick your destination(s) carefully (most of the better Choice properties are in Europe). A lot of good properties cost between 12,000 and 20,000 points per night and include breakfast, so with points purchased in this sale that would equate to between $84 and $141 per night…which is pretty good going.
Use the right card
Choice Privileges points sales are processed by Points.com so that eliminates the scope to earn a travel/flight/airline bonus by using a credit card that offers bonus points for shopping in one of those categories (e.g. the card_name). This makes a points sale like this one a good opportunity to use a credit card on which you’re working towards a great welcome welcome bonus.
If you’re someone who prefers to earn cash back over miles and points, the card_name is a solid option to use.
Bottom line
If you’re in need of Choice points and have been targeted for a 30% discount this looks like a promotion you should be taking a look at to see if you can make it work.
If you’re not already a big fan of Choice Privileges there isn’t anything amazing to see here and you’re probably better of keeping your credit card in your wallet and moving on.
Featured image: Clarion Hotel Stockholm Arlanda Airport – Image courtesy of Choice
