IHG Brings Back The Rewards Club Points Sale

by joeheg

Buying IHG points can be a great way to get a discount on your vacation. With this current offer, you get a 100% bonus on points purchased for anything over 30,000 points. Points are being sold at 1 cent each, meaning the cost would be 0.5 cents each

I went over the math the last time IHG had one of these sales and showed the savings possible. I don’t like to recommend buying points when you have no use for them. However at this price and the number of hotels in the IHG family, you have to work hard to lose money at this price (but it is possible).

Points purchases are run through Points.com so you don’t get any bonus for hotel purchases with your credit cards. IHG also limits points purchases to 100,000 points a year (not including the bonus points).  Here’s the LINK to the promotion. You can purchase points with this promotion from anytime after signing up until October 31, 2018.

Here are some examples of uses for IHG points.

Intercontinental Le Moana Bora Bora

intercontinental-bora-bora-4009866384-4x3

Rooms cost 70,000 Rewards Club points a night. That’s a $350 purchase if buying points. If paying for the room, I’m finding rates from $700 – $900 a night.

Candlewood Suites, New Braunfels, TX

a building with cars parked in front of it

Award nights here cost 20,000 points a night. During the summer, Friday and Saturday night rates at this hotel can go up to almost $200 a night. Since you can buy 20,000 points for $100, you’re saving 50% of the regular price. However, weekday prices can drop as low as $80 a night. Redeeming an award night you purchased for $100 to get an $80 room is a horrible deal. I booked our rooms for Wednesday and Thursday night with the AAA rate and used reward points for Friday and Saturday night, thereby getting the best value for both reservations.

Final Thoughts

These are just a few examples showing how you can find value from buying IHG Rewards Club points during one of these sales. There are also examples where it’s a HORRIBLE idea to use points to book a room. Before buying points, remember you are essentially pre-paying for a hotel room. Don’t buy points and end up looking at your account in a year and wonder what are you going to use these points for.

Just a final reminder that IHG points become even more valuable if you have one of the IHG credit cards If you still have the IHG Select card, you get 10% of your points back on every stay booked with points. If you have the new IHG Rewards Club Premier card, you get one night free for all reward stays four nights or longer.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

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