Rapid Travel Chai

Costco Travel’s online portal, recently receiving a big facelift,  gets little publicity but should be a key tool for travelers. Costco membership is required but those so inclined can find workarounds. Previous posts have covered the tremendous rental car deals on offer, often beating even Hotwire/Priceline, and the new portal removes the big headache of testing different discount codes by automatically searching all available.

Bookings at Hyatt brands receive 10% and a $25 daily credit, except for Summerfield Suites which only offers  the 10% discount but no daily credit, and Park Hyatt which offers bupkis. The current discount is valid through February 2012 but these discounts typically renew and are generally stable. The daily credit cannot be applied to the room rate:

$25 per room, per night hotel credit may be used at the property on eligible charges posted to your room bill, but credit may not be used on room rate, taxes, gratuities, alcohol, service charges, and resort fees. Charges must be posted to your room bill to use hotel credit. Eligible charges vary by property. Confirm eligible charges with front desk upon check-in. No refunds for any unused portions.

Costco executive members do not receive the 2% reward for any travel bookings.

To book, use Costco Travel or go directly to Hyatt and enter “COSTCO” for special offer code and “66267” for corporate/group #. The rates are typically a little higher than government, and roughly comparable to AAA and senior, but the $25 bonus is the sweetener.

The Rapid Traveler is a big fan of deals that do not require a huge amount of effort sifting through different offers. Not everyone is willing to invest large amounts of time on a travel booking nor dubiously pose as employees of certain companies with steep negotiated discounts. Costco is a good, easy option to try when considering Hyatt.

Costco’s other hotel partner is Best Western, offering 10-20% off.