GHA Discovery is selling their rewards currency at a discount through August 31. The size of your discount depends on whether and what status you have in the program.

Purchases are processed by Points.com, can take up to 2 business days to credit, and purchased points expire after 24 months.

Discovery Dollars are like cash to be used at checkout at participating hotels. So this is prepaid spend at hotels that you can buy at up to 15% off. That’s potentially a great deal if you stay at their hotels, but there are tradeoffs to consider.

• You don’t earn Discovery Dollars on amounts paid with Discovery Dollars. So you’re giving up as much as 7% back on that amount.

• You’re also not earning credit card bonuses on the purchased Discovery Dollars, since they’re processed by Points.com rather than being a hotel charge. If it was hotel spend I’d be earning 3 Chase points per dollar, so giving up 2 Chase points on the purchase I’d be giving up at least 3% in value versus paying directly on-property.

• Discovery Dollars can’t be used against prepaid charges, since you redeem them on property. For some that means paying a higher rate – although this is a non-issue for hotel stays, such as resorts, where you’d be spending money on things other than room rate and using the Discovery Dollars to pay for those.

Kempinski Cancun

If you usually book prepaid rates, which can be cheaper, and you don’t spend on food, beverage, spa, etc. then this deal doesn’t make sense for you. For instance you might give up 10% savings on the prepaid rate and 7% rebate in order to buy Discovery Dollars at a 15% discount.

On the other hand, if you book non-prepaid discounted rates such as a corporate rate, AAA rate, or otherwise or if you just book the member rate because you – like me – are allergic to prepaid hotel rates since your plans change, then this has real value… especially if you already have GHA status which gives you both the biggest rebate.

GHA Discovery has by far my favorite hotel promotion right now allowing up to 94% back on stays for hardcore guests (and one that will even walk away with $200,000 to spend on future stays). They’ve been adding benefits like breakfast to their elite program. And they have myriad really interesting hotels in their portfolio.

I’m not sure that the Discovery Dollars purchase discount makes sense for everyone, but I love seeing the option to buy points and to see them beginning to offer these at promotional pricing. That just speaks to the growing vitality of the program, and another reason I want to pay attention to them.

(HT: Loyalty Lobby)