Buy IHG Rewards Points With Up To 60% Bonus Guaranteed (100% Bonus Targeted)

IHG Rewards has brought out a new public promotion which allows members to buy IHG Rewards Points with a bonus of up to 60% (depending on how many points you buy). It turns out, however, that IHG has also been targeting certain members with offers of up to a 100% bonus points when they buy IHG Rewards points.

Buy IHG Rewards Points – Public Offer

The public offer runs from now until 15 April 2016 and , like so many offers before it, has a tiered structure:

• Buy 1,000 – 19,000 points – Get a 20% Bonus
• Buy 20,000 – 29,000 points – Get a 30% Bonus
• Buy 30,000 – 39,000 points – Get a 40% Bonus
• Buy 40,000 – 59,000 points – Get a 50% Bonus
• Buy 60,000 points – Get a 60% Bonus

Due to the nature of the pricing in this offer the cost per point valuation doesn’t follow the same tiers:

• Buy 1,000 – 10,000 points at 1.13 cents/point
• Buy 11,000 – 19,000 points at 1.04 cents/point
• Buy 20,000 – 23,000 points at 0.96 cents/point
• Buy 26,000 – 29,000 points at 0.88 cents/point
• Buy 30,000 – 39,000 points at 0.82 cents/point
• Buy 40,000 – 59,000 points at 0.77 cents/point
• Buy 60,000 points at 0.72 cents/point

So, if you buy the full 60,000 points you’ll get a bonus of 36,000 for a total of 96,000 IHG Rewards Points at $690

There appears to be a small glitch in the IHG tiers as it’s not possible to purchase 24,000 or 25,000 points. The options jump from 23,000 straight to 26,000….

….but this shouldn’t exactly affect too many people.

Buy IHG Rewards Points – Targeted Offers

Different people seem to be getting targeted for different offers and, while I know of some IHG Rewards Club members who got targeted with a 100% bonus, Joanna only got offered the standard bonus of 60% and I got offered a maximum 75% Bonus.

Check here to see if you got targeted for a better offer.

The tiers for my bonus offer are as follows:

• Buy 1,000 – 19,000 points – Get a 30% Bonus
• Buy 20,000 – 29,000 points – Get a 40% Bonus
• Buy 30,000 – 39,000 points – Get a 50% Bonus
• Buy 40,000 – 59,000 points – Get a 60% Bonus
• Buy 60,000 points – Get a 75% Bonus

Once again, due to the way the pricing works, the cost/point doesn’t follow the same tier structure:

• Buy 1,000 – 10,000 points at 1.04 cents/point
• Buy 11,000 – 19,000 points at 0.96 cents/point
• Buy 20,000 – 23,000 points at 0.89 cents/point
• Buy 26,000 – 29,000 points at 0.82 cents/point
• Buy 30,000 – 39,000 points at 0.77 cents/point
• Buy 40,000 – 59,000 points at 0.72 cents/point
• Buy 60,000 points at 0.66 cents/point

So, with this increased maximum bonus, if you buy the full 60,000 points you’ll get a bonus of 45,000 for a total of 105,000 IHG Rewards Points at $690

Those lucky enough to get the 100% bonus should be offered the chance to buy 60,000 IHG Rewards Points with a further 60,000 bonus (totalling 120,000 points) at $690 which would equate to 0.578 cents/point.

Terms & Conditions

Per IHG Rewards:

Offer available for purchases made between 12:00 AM ET March 1, 2016 12:00 AM ET and 11:59 PM April 15, 2016 inclusive. This is an exclusive, non-transferable offer for intended recipient only and may not be forwarded. Bonus points will be awarded upon completion of the transaction. Bonus points will be awarded to the recipient of the points purchase. Offer is subject to change. Offer cannot be combined with any other offer. Only purchases made online are eligible for bonus.

Bottom Line

If you got offered the 60% bonus I would pass on this promotion. There are two reasons for this:

• On the last day of last year I discussed how, if you have 15,000 IHG Rewards points in your account, you can effectively buy points at 0.6 cents/point.
• Even if you don’t have 15,000 IHG rewards points, the 100% offers (or at least offers better than a max bonus of 60%) come around reasonably often so you may get luckier next time.

If you got the same bonus offer as me (75%) the opportunity to buy IHG Rewards points at 0.66 cents each without pulling any tricks could be tempting. But, before you buy any points, have a good idea what you’re buying them for.

While it’s true that IHG Rewards has just undergone a devaluation (so we should be safe from any further hits for a while) you still need to be sure that you’re getting value for money.

11 of the top InterContinental hotels will now set you back 60,000 points/night so, if you were buying points with a 75% bonus to book such a property, you would effectively be paying $396/night. At some of these properties this would be a good deal as rooms can go for a lot more than that (like at one of the Bora Bora properties) but that’s not always the case…so check room rates before you buy.

InterContinental Bora Bora – one of the more expensive IHG properties!

If you have been offered the 100% bonus then it’s hard to go wrong at that price – you would effectively be able to book the top InterContinental properties for $345/night. You’re unlikely to be able to buy IHG Rewards Points any lower than that so, providing you’re not just hoarding points (never a good idea even if a devaluation is unlikely) this would be a good time to buy.