Deal has ended, view more IHG deals by clicking here.
Update 4/5/23: Deal is back and valid until April 11th.
The Offer
- IHG is offering a bonus of 100% when you buy points. If you buy more than 26,000 points then the price works out to be 0.5¢ per point.
The Fine Print
- Valid until June 20th, 2020
Our Verdict
Previous the cheapest time to buy points was when they held points & cash stay bookings, you could make a booking & cancel and you’d get points back for the cash portion of the stay. The price was 0.46¢ per point, under that promotion the best rate is now 0.575¢ per point. This means that these 100% bonuses are now the best time to buy IHG points. You should be able to go through a portal for an additional 2% cash back. If you have the Chase IHG card you also get a further 20% discount when buying points, but unfortunately this does not stack with the sale.
Hat tip to OMaaT
Post history:
- Update 11/17/22: Deal is back and valid until 12/29/22.
- Update 7/9/20: Extended until 7/31. Hat tip to Frequent Flyer Bonuses
- Update 6/17/20: Extended until 6/20.
Buying points is always a dumb unless you need to top off for a longer trip. Ihg has been ruthlessly devaluing and screwing its members with buy points and credit card offers. No goodwill here but exactly the opposite. Ihg is the worst hotel points program
Comparing points booking and cash booking. Points bookings with 10% back (select card) is still coming out much cheaper than cash booking.
I agree that infrequent travellers should not be buying and holding points. But if you travel frequently — and have credit card status with IHG — you are almost certain to be happy with your 50% off points purchase. There is always the risk of a devaluation, though, so I’d only buy what you’ll likely need for the next few months. Especially since they run this sale constantly.
Definitely, especially if you tend to travel to suburban or rural areas Holiday Inn Expresses are some of the few quality hotels out there, and you can get them for 20,000-25,000 points usually, with the points back it is 18,000-22,500 points and a cash price in the $100 range compared to $125-150 with taxes and fees. When Motel 6’s cost $75-90 out the door now many folks will rather pay $30-50 for free breakfast, a pool and gym, and a quality product.
Haha, angry much? The dollar devalued faster than IHG points. You buy points and spend them in Europe for big savings.
This one is tough…… I did the average of 9 hotels in each place id like to visit next year. The average per night was 32.1K points. To take advantage of IHG’s best deal you need to stay 3 to get the 4th night free. So that would make 96.3K points for 4 days. On this deal 98K points is $490. Which makes about $125/night (for 4 nights). The same study using the dollar cost with fees averages to $194 per night (for 4 nights). So if in that aspect it is a deal. My biggest hurdle is if I can get better with an Airbnb for $125/night.
Another way to look at it is on a normal day 50K points is $350. With the 20% discount its $280. This deal its $260…so you save $20. For 100K total you save $60.
We’re all tightwads looking for the best deals. Ill go ahead and snatch up some and see if im kicking myself in the babymaker in 2023 for not purchasing more lol
but airbnb you need to deal with shitty hosts.. hidden cameras.. bullshit rules and extra self-cleaning.. and other stupid bullshit.. source: I’ve done 200+ Airbnbs
Sunshine, so it looks like you’ve had no problem dealing with all that crap. Or are you saying as a host you’re the one hiding cameras?
I’ve ran into a few hidden cameras before in different Airbnbs
If I use a IHG Premier card, how does the points code? 10x for an IHG purchase, 5x for travel purchase, or 3x for all other purchases?
3x, it is unbonused.
I have always had good luck stocking up on points with the 100% bonus sale. For example, I’m staying 4 nights at a Holiday Inn (in the Midwest) next week over Thanksgiving. Total cost was 61,000 points x $0.005/point = $305 or $76.25 per night. Granted this includes the 4th night free, but taking that out of the equation it is still only $101.67 per night.
I see 80% more points when logged in
I’m also seeing this. Big banner that specifically says 80% more points.
any reason to not buy these points when offered? When offered at 100%, given the redemption values, is it always a good idea to buy these for booking vs cash booking?
No, sometimes it’s more expensive.
It’s a risk as a devaluation could happen at any time and make your purchased points worth much less.
Most of the time, the points booking at 50% off is cheaper than cash booking. There are some rare instances where the cash booking is cheaper than points. Another thing to consider is resort fee, taxes, etc that gets tacked on with a cash booking.
Has IHG ever had their points on sale for less than 0.5 cent/pt? Black Friday? Cyber Monday?
Remember that you can have Diamond Elite status until the end of the year for free. Extend to next year after purchases. https://www.ihg.com/rewardsclub/gb/en/offers/promoreg/?offerCode=70027
2K points for 2 nights or 10K points for 4 nights
What do you mean by extend to next year after purchasing? If I buy some points, it will extend the Diamond status?
Remember that Chase IHG Rewards credit card also has 10X and 5X for gas, grocery, and Amazon spending.
From Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, you’ll earn 10X total points at gas stations and 5X total points on Amazon.com and at grocery stores for every dollar you spend on up to $1,500 in combined purchases with your IHG® Rewards Traveler Credit Card.*
https://www.chase.com/mybonus
Keep in mind that the points are worth less though, so that 10X is more like 5X
Targeted offer only. Sadly, I didn’t get it.
Some may be seeing an 80% off sale instead now (the sale is dated using EST). The new rate is probably not terrible if you need the points right away for a specific redemption, but it’s likely worth holding out for the proper sale to return later otherwise.