Priority Club PointBreaks Updated Through January 31

PointBreaks hotels are one of the best deals available for award nights.  Just 5,000 Priority Club points will get you a free night at one of their featured properties.  Considering you can easily earn 5,000 points after just 1-3 paid nights, this is one of the fastest ways to rack up a free night’s stay!

Pointbreaks hotels are select properties that have been reduced from their usual award levels of 10,000-50,000 points.  The list of participating properties is quite limited, though, taking away from some of the potential value.  The current list of hotels is up for stays through January 31 and features roughly 50 properties worldwide.

As I see it, there are a few ways to use this to your advantage:

• Use the list as inspiration for a getaway.  While some of the participating properties are uninspriring (Candlewood Suites Syracuse Airport, for example), others such as the Holiday Inn Fiji or the Intercontinental Jakarta may make a fun stay if you otherwise didn’t have ideas on where to go!
• Check any existing award reservations you have through January 31 to see if they are participating properties that you can rebook at the lower price.  Cancellation policies are usually pretty lenient, so as long as you have 1-2 days notice, you should be able to cancel at no penalty for a PointBreaks hotel (assuming there is one that fits your existing plans).
• Book now for hotel stays you think you might need, but are not positive.  The lenient cancellation plan allows you to book now even if you are uncertain of your plans, and cancel later if needed, potentially saving you lots of points “just in case”.

Pointbreaks hotels are such a value that this redemption is one of the few where buying points might make sense if you don’t already have enough and one of the listed hotels works for you.  Using the Points + Cash technique to accumulate points, it will cost $35 out-of-pocket for the 5,000 points you need for a free night.  I think most anyone would be happy to pay $35 for these hotels.

Previously, lists have been valid for an entire quarter, so it’s interesting to me to see a list only through January 31.  Is Priority Club switching to only feature more last-minute stays?  Possibly – and that’s okay by me.