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IHG Rewards has launched a promotion for anyone booking one or more stays at select Kimpton properties across the US in which it’s offering an amazing 10,000 bonus points/night. Yes, that’s 10,000 points per night and not per stay.
Headline terms & conditions
- Valid for stays from January 14, 2020 through March 31, 2020.
- Offer must be booked by January 28, 2020
- Bookings must be made via this Kimpton website
- Bonus points are 10,000 per night will be deposited into your account 2-4 weeks after you’ve checked out from your paid stay for this offer.
- You must book with your member number to receive the bonus points.
- Not valid for discounted or negotiated rates, groups or existing reservations.
- Certain restrictions and blackout dates may apply.
Full terms and conditions can be found on the promotion page.
Participating properties
There are 8 Kimpton properties participating in this promotion:
- Kimpton Canary Hotel – Santa Barbara
- Kimpton Epic Hotel – Miami
- Kimpton Gray Hotel – Chicago
- Kimpton Hotel Born – Denver
- Kimpton Hotel Eventi – NYC
- Kimpton Hotel Van Zandt – Austin
- Kimpton La Peer Hotel – West Hollywood
- Kimpton Nine Zero Hotel – Boston
Thoughts
I value IHG Rewards points at 0.4 cents each so the 10,000 points/night that is on offer in this promotion equates to an effective rebate of $40/night…which is pretty good going.
When it comes to promotions like this it’s very important to check what rates are on offer at the participating properties when you book through the regular booking channel (in this case IHG.com) rather than the promotion page (link) to see if you’re being asked to pay a higher nightly rate just to earn the bonus points….and in this case, you are.
The cheapest room rate at the Kimpton La Peer in West Hollywood on February 20th is $373.25 + taxes according to IHG.com…
…but if you check the room rates through the promotion page you’ll find that to earn the bonus points you have to pay $435 + taxes:
But this doesn’t actually tell the full story.
The “Life Is Good” promotion rate (which will earn a guest 10,000 bonus points per night) offers free cancellation up until 3 days before check-in while the cheapest rate on offer is non-refundable and requires payment upfront.
To make a fair comparison the promotion rate should be compared to the cheapest refundable rate on offer which, in this case, costs $413.25/night.
To see exactly how much a guest is being asked to pay for the privilege of earning 10,000 points the taxes and fees need to be added in before a comparison is made:
In this example, it would cost an additional $25.17/night to earn the 10,000 bonus points/night that this promotion offers.
So…
A guest booking this property needs to consider two things:
- Do they need a flexible reservation?
- Would they like to, effectively, buy IHG Rewards points at ~0.25 cents each (this figure will vary from booking to booking)
If a guest doesn’t really need a flexible reservation then it makes no sense to pay the extra $60+ per night just to earn the bonus points (you can buy IHG Rewards points for less in most sales).
If a guest needs a flexible reservation the only thing left to consider is if they think that the extra cost to lock in the bonus points is worth it.
Personally speaking, I’d be happy to effectively buy IHG Rewards points at ~0.25 cents each (the rate that this specific example offers) but that may not be the case for everyone.
Use the right credit card
Don’t forget that by being an IHG Rewards Club member and using the card_name you’ll earn 25 points/dollar when booking one of these Kimpton properties and 15 points/dollar if you use the card_name which doesn’t charge an annual fee.
If you don’t hold one of the IHG Rewards co-branded credit cards, then cards like the card_name and the card_name which both earn 3 points/dollar for all travel spending (in their respective currencies) are good alternatives to consider (terms apply).
Note: All information about the American Express® Green Card has been collected independently by Traveling For Miles. The American Express® Green Card is not currently available through Traveling For Miles.
Bottom line
The key to this promotion is to understand how it works – blindly booking the promotion rate may be a great way to overpay for a stay.
Decide if you need a flexible reservation or not, work out the math to find out how much extra you’re paying to earn the bonus points and then decide if you think it’s a good deal or not. For some it will be a great deal while for others, it won’t – which camp do you fall into?
Featured Image: Kimpton Canary Hotel Santa Barbara courtesy of IHG
[…] you book through a Kimpton stay through the regular webpage you should check out to see if the current Kimpton 10,000 bonus points per night offer would work for […]