Buy IHG Points For As Little As $0.00575/£0.00397 (Though 3 June)

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IHG Rewards promotion page

IHG Rewards Club have launched another “buy IHG Points & get a bonus” promotion and this one is an improvement on the last promotion the program ran back in March.

In this latest promotion IHG Rewards is offering a 100% bonus on any purchase of 1,000 points or more where the last promotion only offered the 100% bonus to a select, targeted few. The last promotion also only offered the maximum bonus if you bought the maximum 60,000 points while, in this promotion, the 100% is available at all levels.

Despite all of this, the important thing to realise, is that this doesn’t mean that you can buy points for the same cost/point regardless of how many points you buy – far from it.

Here’s how the promotion works:

• Buy 1,000 – 10,000 IHG Rewards Points with a 100% Bonus at 0.675 cents/0.466 pence each
• Buy 11,000 – 23,000 IHG Rewards Points with a 100% Bonus at 0.625 cents/0.431 pence each
• Buy 26,000 – 60,000 IHG Rewards Points with a 100% Bonus at 0.575 cents/0.397 pence each

The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that there doesn’t appear to be an option to buy 24,000 or 25,000 points in those bands….and that’s not a typo on my part. That’s exactly what comes up on the IHG Rewards promotion page:

No, I don’t know why they’ve done that either.

Important Info

• Offer available for purchases made between 12:00 AM EST May 31 and 11:59 PM EST June 3, 2016 inclusive.
• Purchases of IHG Rewards Points are processed by Points.com so they’re not eligible for a credit card category bonus.
• IHG Rewards members may purchase up to 60,000 points per calendar year (excluding bonuses).

Full Terms & Conditions may be found here

Should You Buy IHG Rewards Points In This Promotion?

If you were to purchase the full amount allowed you would receive 120,000 points  for $690/£476:

60,000 points is how much the top InterContinental hotels around the world will cost for an award night so you need to as yourself if you think $345/£238 per night is good value for a trip away.

Personally I don’t think that’s a great deal…but that’s because I wouldn’t (under most circumstances) pay that much for a night in a hotel – it’s not worth it to me. Others may see things differently.

If $345/£238 is in the range of prices you’re happy to pay for a top InterContinental Hotel then there may be value to be had….although you’ll have to look carefully.

For a randomly selected weekend in August, for example, how much value you get (or don’t get) will depend on which top property you visit.

If you’re set on visiting London then the points will save you money:

But, for the random dates selected, at a lot of the top IC hotels it’s a push at best (once you factor in the taxes).

Like in Paris:

Or in New York:

And at some, buying points to pay for the room is a losing proposition:

That’s not a bad rate for Hong Kong!

Of course there’s always the one outrageous example blogs like to point out…..

But, ignoring the fact that it’s VERY difficult to get award reservations at the IC Bora Bora Resort, who’s going to visit Bora Bora for just two nights?

The only way the cost of a night at the InterContinental Bora Bora Resort can be used to justify a points purchase is if its:

(a) Topping up an account to give the purchaser enough points to book a series of nights or

(b) Giving the purchaser enough points to tag on a couple of nights to an existing reservation.

Any other reasons you hear should probably be treated with extreme scepticism.

Bottom Line

Yes, you can get value out of this promotion but only in specific circumstances (topping off an account to reach an award) or if you already have a specific property and dates in mind and you can see that you’ll be saving money by buying the points now.

There is one other occasion where buying points may be of use…..but that’s a the lowest end of the spectrum. If you (or anyone you know) have any IHG points that are set to expire, buying 1,000 points (with a 1,000 point bonus) for $13.50/£9.30 will reset the expiration date on the points for another year. Not a great use of the promotion but not a terrible one either.