IHG Rewards Club runs a quarterly promotion known asย PointBreaks where award nights at select hotels start from just 5,000 IHG Rewards Club points. IHG Rewards Club is back with its new PointBreaks which runs from now until 31 May 2019.ย All award nights under PointBreaks promotional rates must be booked before 31 May 2019 and your stays have to be by 31 May 2019 as well.
Under PointBreaks rules, each IHG Rewards Club member is only allowed to book two PointBreaks reservations per hotel in the PointBreaks list. This rule wonโt really affect you much unless you intend to return to the same property more than twice.
IHG Rewards Club has also made the PointBreaks list โliveโ and when a hotel runs out of PointBreaks award nights inventory, it will be removed from the list on their website.ย
How do I book PointBreaks rates?
PointBreaks rates, if available, are already loaded onto the hotelโs inventory and thus if the hotel is participating in the PointBreaks promotion you will be able to see the PointBreaks rate reflected. Hereโs an example showing the InterContinental Sofia showing that it still has rooms on the PointBreaks rate.
Rooms booked with points under the PointBreak rates are subjected to the same cancellation policies as rooms booked with points on normal rates. You will be able to cancel your bookings with no penalty up to 24 hours prior to check in. This policy might vary between properties so make sure you read the fine print when performing a PointBreak booking at the hotelโs website just to be sure of its exact cancellation policy.
You are also able to book PointBreaks hotels using Cash + Points but itย might be cheaper to purchase IHG Rewards Club points outright to make up for the shortfall of points. IHG is currently holding a points sale where you can purchase IHG Rewards Club points at a 75% bonus if you urgently need the points. However, I would strongly recommend holding off until IHG launches a campaign where it sells points at a 100% bonus instead. (which happens more often than not)
Mediocre PointBreaks hotels available for booking
Generally speaking, PointBreaks hotels are mainly hotels which are finding it difficult to fill up their rooms during this period which also means that the hotels can sometimes be located at inaccessible locations. The list comprises mainly of Holiday Inns and Holiday Inn Expresses but you will find a grand total ofย 5 InterContinental properties available for booking.
In this edition, the list of 5,000 points hotels is just extremely disappointing and we have seen better in the previous edition of PointBreaks. There are more options available at the 10,000 and 15,000 points level but many are located in North America.
Over in Asia, the best hotel I can pick out is the InterContinental Pattaya for 15,000 IHG Rewards Club points a night. Strangely, there is zero Rewards Night availability throughout the entire PointBreaks period as well as the entire year at the InterContinental Pattaya and the Hotel Indigo Bangkok Wireless Road so I’m not sure what is going on.
Elsewhere in the world, the Crowne Plaza Manchester – Oxford Road is available for booking at 15,000 points a night and if you purchase points with a 75% bonus, you are looking at a cost per night of about US$85 which works out to be close to 50% cheaper than paying the cash rate at this hotel. Of course, your mileage may vary (YMMV) so be sure to check the revenue rates before using points for your stay.
You can view the full PointBreaks list of hotels here.
Concluding Thoughts
While there are no noteworthy hotels in this edition of PointBreaks, there might be some hotels which might suit your travel plans. PointBreaks are a great way to stretch the use of your IHG Rewards Club points balance and if you have any upcoming travels approaching, I would recommend you take a look at the list to see if anything inspires you.
