Buying hotel points can feel like one of those things people do when they’ve lost the plot.
I get it — I even wrote about it a while back when I bought a pile of IHG points and had to ask the obvious question: “Am I crazy?” (Here’s that post.)
But after a bunch of real bookings, I’ve come around to this:
Buying IHG points can absolutely be worth it… as long as you’re doing it for a specific redemption and you’re stacking the right perks.
And the biggest “right perk” is one that turns a good deal into a great deal: The 4th Reward Night Free benefit on IHG award stays (when you have the right IHG credit card).
One timely note: IHG’s current points sale ends on 12/31/2025. I’m a bit bummed because neither my wife nor I was targeted for the best offer this time around. The good news? IHG runs points sales several times a year, so if you’re not seeing an 80–100% bonus (or you’re getting a weaker offer), it’s often worth waiting for the next round instead of forcing the math today.
The simple math: what buying points needs to beat
Forgive me. This post contains a lot of math.
When IHG runs a 100% bonus sale, you can often effectively buy points for around 0.5 cents each (depending on the offer and how many you buy).
That means you can use this quick rule of thumb:
- If your redemption is getting more than 0.5¢ per point, buying points might be a win.
- If it’s getting less than 0.5¢ per point, you’re usually better off paying cash (or saving points for a better use).
A real example: why the “average points per night” looks discounted
If you have an IHG Premier card, the award rate shows the average nightly rate, including the 4th night free. In this example, the average rate for 4 nights is 34,500 points, followed by a lower rate of 25,500 points.
That lower number isn’t a true nightly price drop. It’s IHG showing the average points per night because the 4th night is free.
Here’s what that means in plain English:
- Regular price: 34,500 points per night
- Length of stay: 4 nights
- With 4th night free: you pay points for only 3 nights
Without 4th night free:
34,500 × 4 = 138,000 points
With 4th night free:
34,500 × 3 = 103,500 points
So the “discount” is really just this:
You’re saving the cost of the fourth night simply by booking 4 award nights with the IHG card perk. (Depending on how the hotel prices each night, that “free” night may be above or below the average cost of the stay.)
Now convert that into real money (using bought points at ~0.5¢ each)
The cash cost for the same 4-night stay is:
- Total cash price: $789.17 (682.20 EUR)
If you bought points for ~0.5¢ each, here’s the comparison:
Buying points and booking WITHOUT 4th night free:
138,000 points × $0.005 = $690
Buying points and booking WITH 4th night free:
103,500 points × $0.005 = $517.50
That’s a savings of about $271.67 vs paying cash ($789.17 − $517.50), just by combining “buy points cheaply” + “4th night free.”
And here’s the part people miss:
The 4th night free benefit doesn’t just save points — it makes your purchased points go further.
At ~0.5¢ each, that “free” 34,500-point night is like saving $172.50 on the stay.
It gets even better if you also have the old IHG Select card (10% points rebate)
If you’re one of the people who still has the legacy IHG Select card, like us, you can stack another perk: a 10% rebate on points redeemed (up to the annual cap).
On this same 4-night redemption:
- Points redeemed: 103,500
- 10% rebate: 10,350 points back
- Net cost: 93,150 points
Now convert that net cost using the same 0.5¢ assumption:
93,150 × $0.005 = $465.75
So your “buy points + 4th night free” booking becomes:
- About $518 if you only have the 4th-night-free perk
- About $466 if you also get the 10% points rebate
Against a $789 cash stay, that’s a big swing — and it’s why this combo can be such a money saver.
But don’t ignore the annoying part: fees can still show up on award stays.
Even when the room rate is covered by points, some hotels still charge things like:
- destination/resort fees
- local city taxes (sometimes collected at check-in)
- extra person charges (depending on how the hotel prices occupancy)
That doesn’t automatically kill the deal — but it’s why I always check the final booking page before celebrating.
Our Recent Real-World Wins (Using Purchased Points)
These are the kinds of redemptions that make me comfortable buying IHG points when the price is right.
Kimpton Hotel Theta (NYC)
We booked four nights for 173,000 points (nightly rates were 55,000, 66,000, and 52,000 points, with the 4th night free thanks to the IHG card perk).
Standard cash rates were $300+ per night, so this was comfortably above 0.5¢ per point in value.
Note: Even on an award stay, we were charged a $47.04 nightly destination fee. (Annoying, but the redemption still penciled out.)
InterContinental Miami
Area hotels were running $250–$300+ a night. The IC was priced at 49,000 points per night (≈ $245 at 0.5¢/pt).
We used points bought in a previous 100% sale and received 10% of the redeemed points back from the legacy IHG Select card, which made the numbers even better.
So… is it worth buying IHG points?
It can be — but only under the right conditions.
Buying points tends to make the most sense when:
- You’re booking a stay during periods when cash rates are high (big cities, peak dates, events).
- You can buy points around 0.5¢ each (typically during an 80–100% bonus sale).
- You’re booking 4+ award nights, so the 4th night free kicks in.
- You (still!) have the IHG Select card and can stack the 10% rebate.
And it tends to be a bad idea when:
- You’re buying points “just because” with no immediate plan.
- Cash rates are already low.
- You’re booking only 1–2 nights and can’t use the 4th-night-free perk.
- You’re only being offered a weak bonus (or no meaningful bonus at all) — especially when this sale ends on 12/31/2025, and you’d just be forcing it.
Final Thought
Buying IHG points isn’t automatically a good deal — and it definitely isn’t something I’d do without running the math.
However, we’re usually able to get much more than 0.5 CPP value from IHG points.
When you can buy points cheaply, and you stack the right credit card perks (especially the 4th Reward Night Free… and even better with the old 10% rebate), it can turn into one of the easiest ways to cut the cost of a hotel stay.
And if you’re not targeted this time (we weren’t), don’t sweat it. IHG runs points sales several times a year — and it’s often better to wait for the next one than to buy points at a price that doesn’t make the numbers work.
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