GHA Discovery is once again offering members the opportunity to purchase Discovery Dollars (aka D$) at a 15% discount. The current offer is available now through to 26 March 2025.
D$ have a fixed value of US$1. As a result, under this offer you will be able to get each D$ for US85cents. Given these fixed values, you can think of buying D$ at a discount as similar to buying a discount gift card.
Key Details
- Offer:
- Buy D$ at a 15% discount
- When:
- The discount offer is available until 26 March 2025
- Limits:
- There are some overall limits to keep in mind
- There is a minimum purchase of D$10
- The maximum you can purchase in one transaction is D$1,000
- The overall annual purchase limit is D$3,000
- There is a maximum of three transactions per day
- There are some overall limits to keep in mind
Value of the D$
Under the GHA Discovery a program, a D$ is pegged to the US Dollar. As such one D$ has the same value as 1 US Dollar. With the discounts outlined above, members will be paying US85 cents for each D$.
As with many points programs, points.com is used to facilitate the sale of D$. You can only purchase amounts from 10 D$, and then in increments of 10 D$.
Any D$ you purchase will appear in your account within two business days. They will then be valid for 24 months from the date of issue.
Is it worth it?
When converting cash into a loyalty program you need to consider whether there is value in it. On the surface, a 15% discount sounds like it would give you a 15% discount on your hotels stays. However, you need to consider a few things:
- In most cases, they can only be used to pay for hotel rooms at the hotel. This may prevent you from taking advantage of cheaper prepaid rates. Depending on your hotel booking style, this may or may not be an issue. The good news is that GHA Discovery are rolling out the ability to use D$ on prepaid rates, and this option is now available at select hotels.
- In addition, you do not earn D$ on amounts that you pay with D$ at the hotel. This results in a reduction in the effective discount.
The reality is that you will need to do your own assessment of whether this offer has value.
Final Words
D$ have a fixed rate of 1 US Dollar. As a result, being able to buy them at a discount is similar to buying discounted gift vouchers. Thus, there can be some benefit in buying them at a discounted rate.
However, as with gift vouchers, they come with a set of terms and conditions. In the case of D$ it is worth keeping in mind that they have an expiry date 24 months after they are issued. On top of that, you can only use them for rates that are paid at the hotel, not for the cheaper prepaid rates that might be on offer. You also need to factor in the loss of D$ earnings that you will have.
