Over the weekend, I was perusing the gift cards offered on eBay. I came across this offer. It is a $5,000 certificate for food and beverages at the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty Six at a “buy it now” price of $1,700. I would be a little skeptical because it is from a relatively new seller on eBay. That being said, it is still a good thought opportunity of what could be done if you think “outside the box.”
Based off the picture from the credit, it looks like it was issued to a wedding planning type of company. My initial thoughts for this would be from all of the events the company planned at the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty Six and the hotel issued the certificate as a “thank you for bring all the business here.”
I certainly hope the company did not do this:
FOR YOUR COMPANY
If you prefer, you can also use your points for credits on future events at Hyatt hotels.
Future Meeting Credit Points Required $200 Event Credit 15,000 Points $400 Event Credit 30,000 Points $600 Event Credit 45,000 Points $800 Event Credit 60,000 Points $1,000 Event Credit 75,000 Points
For a $5,000 event credit, they would have burned 375,000 points and that makes me cringe at that thought.
Arbitrage Opportunity?
If you could gather all of your travel hacking buddies together for a quick get together before October 2015, there could be a great #DO of some kind. You’ll be paying for 34% of the value of the gift certificate and extra points for organizing an event at the Hyatt. $5,000 in food and drinks is nothing to sneeze at. Suppose you were to recoup the $1,700 cost outlay by requesting $25/person, you would be able to accommodate 68 people and they would have a little bit over $70 go towards food and beverage. For spending $5,000, at the very least you would earn 25,000 Gold Passport points.
Or maybe someone could use it at a family reunion. (I would be afraid the certificate would not be transferable and therefore not honored).
That’s a lovely idea, too! My friend from work does something at a hotel every year during the holidays
Hmm… Wondering if this would actually earn Gold Passport points or if it would be applied like a discount. When I eat at a hotel with a rate that includes breakfast I usually get a “up to $xx” voucher and then just see a $0 receipt with nothing applied to my room other than the gratuity.
That’s a good question. I never came across a gift certificate like that or knew of its existence