IHG Rewards Club holds a few points sales throughout the year and just recently ended a points sale offering up to a 75% bonus on purchased points. From now till 11:59am 23 March 2018 Singapore Time, IHG is offering a new promotion with a 100% bonus on purchased points when purchasing 5,000 or more IHG Rewards Club points. Historically, a 100% bonus is the highest we see on IHG Rewards Club points sales.
As a reminder, your account is allowed to purchase a maximum of 60,000 IHG Points (pre-bonus) each calendar year (although you can receive a further 60,000 points as a gift from someone else). To trigger the 100% bonus, you need to buy at least 5,000 points. There is a “price break” at 25,000 points- if you buy above this amount you pay 0.5 US cents per point. If you buy 25,000 points and below, you pay 0.575 US cents each.
In the screenshot below I’ve maxed out this promotion with 120,000 IHG Club points (60,000 base + 60,000 bonus) at 0.5 US cents each.
Combine points sales and PointsBreak for extra savings
The current PointsBreak promotion runs until 30 April 2018, with hotels priced at 5,000, 10,000 and 15,000 points respectively, or US$25, US$50 and US$75 if you buy points through this promotion. These are all excellent nightly rates to be had should there still be PointsBreak availability at the selected hotels.Â
Here’s the list of properties available. Particular highlights for me would be the Crowne Plaza Abu Dhabi (US$75 a night) and the Holiday Inn Express Munich (US$75), although it really depends where you see yourself heading over the next few months. Remember that you can book a maximum of two PointsBreak reservations per hotel during the promotion. I don’t really see that as a restriction unless you intend to stay multiple times at the same property.
Buy IHG points for discounted stays at high end properties
The purchase of IHG Rewards Club points can also help to unlock cheaper nights at luxurious properties. Take the example of the InterContinental London O2 (one of the newest IHG properties in London) on the weekend of 10-11 August 2018. Paid non-refundable rates are going for around US$278 per night for a Superior Room. But should you pay for your stay with points purchased from this sale, your effective cost per night would be US$225 per night. Remember also that most hotels have a 24 hour cancellation policy for points reservations (although individual properties can impose more strict policies at their discretion, so be sure to read the fine print).
Closer to home, the InterContinental Bangkok is currently pricing at 40,000 IHG Reward Points a night as well. Paid rates are currently going for about US$205 for a Grande Deluxe Room over the period of 9 August 2018 to 11 August 2018, so you’re looking at a total of ~US$481 over this weekend. However, if you were to redeem two nights at a total cost of 80,000 IHG Reward Points, your effective cost for the two nights would only be US$400.
One more example- the InterContinental Osaka. Paid rates during the cherry blossom season hovers around US$378. By paying with points at a rate of 60,000 IHG Rewards Club points, you’ll be effectively paying US$300 a night, which saves you close to US$80 per night.
Should I be buying points?
The general advice still holds- do not purchase points speculatively. However, if you already have a use in mind then buying points can help you score some savings. Points purchases from IHG Rewards Club are processed by Points.com, so you can use the following cards to earn 4 mpd
- UOB Visa Signature (subject to minimum S$1,000 foreign currency spending, capped at maximum S$2,000 per statement cycle)
- DBS Woman’s World Card (maximum S$2,000 per month)
- Citibank Rewards Card (maximum S$12,000 per year)
If you don’t have any of those cards, the HSBC Revolution will also get 2 mpd.
A reminder that when you buy points through the links in this article, you support the site through affiliate commissions.
