Buy IHG Rewards Points With An 80% Bonus

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IHG Rewards has announced its latest “buy points” and get a bonus promotion which runs through 9 September 2016.

IHG is the rewards program for, amongst others, InterContinental Hotels and Holiday Inn and this is the first promotion it has run since late June where IHG Rewards members were offered bonuses of up to 100% – the promotion was targeted so the bonuses on offer varied from person to person while this promotion appears to be the same for all.

I’ve seen a number of people’s IHG accounts and all have had the same 80% bonus on offer so, either I’ve just been very unlucky, or this time the 80% is what everyone has been offered.

Log in here to see if you’ve got the 80% offer or if you’ve got something else (please post in the comments if you have a different offer and I’ll update this post).

The Rules

• The promotion runs to 11:59pm ET on 9 September 2016
• Maximum purchase in this promotion (excluding bonus) is 60,000 points
• Maximum purchase per account in a calendar year (excluding bonuses) is 60,000 points
• Transactions are handled by Points.com so there is no option for earning credit card category bonuses for hotel/travel spend.

The Tiers

If you’ve seen any hotel or airline “buy miles/points” promotions in the past you won’t be surprised to find out that this one is tiered although, to be fair to IHG, it’s a very basic tiering!

• Buy 1,000 – 9,000 points and get a 40% bonus
• Buy 10,000 – 60,000 points and get an 80% bonus

Within the tiers themselves it doesn’t matter how many points you buy, the price/point stays the same.

The Math

At the lower tier level (1,000 – 9,000 points) IHG is effectively selling points at 0.96 cents each:

And if you purchase any number of points that falls into the top tier (10,000 – 60,000) you’ll be purchasing points at 0.64 cents each.

As you can see from the screen shot above, the maximum purchase of 60,000 points will see you bank 108,000 points after the bonus at a cost of $690.

Should You Buy IHG Points At 0.63 Cents Each?

Hopefully it goes without saying that buying a number of points that falls into the lower tier is nonsensical – just buy 10,000 for $135 and be done with it if you only need a small number of points – so I’m just going to focus on the value to be had (or not) if you buy 10,000+ points in this promotion.

Firstly it’s worth recalling the past few IHG promotions:

• June 2016 – up to 100% Bonus – Targeted (0.575 cents per point)
• May 2016 – 100% Bonus for all – Flash Sale (0.575 cents per point)
• March 2016 – Up to 100% Bonus – Targeted (0.575 cents per point)

So this promotion isn’t particularly generous to those who were targeted for a 100% bonus in the past (like me).

Not only isn’t this the most generous of recent IHG promotions but it’s also slightly more expensive than the trick I’ve discussed in the past which allows you to buy IHG points for 0.6 cents each.

Still, if you haven’t been targeted for the 100% bonus in the recent past and if you’re not comfortable with the trick that lets you buy points for 0.6 cents then is this a promotion for you?

IHG Rewards devalued on 17 February and that’s when a number of the top InterContinental properties  jumped from costing 50,000 points per night to 55,000 and 60,000 points per night….so we’re probably safe from another devaluation any time soon.

The InterContinental Resort & Thalasso Spa now costs 60,000 points/night

If 60,000 points is how much the top InterContinental hotels around the world cost for an award night you need to as yourself if you think $384/£295 per night is good value for a night away from home (you can do the same calculation for IHG properties that cost fewer points as well).

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 and this doesn’t mean that there isn’t value to be had from this promotion.

If, for example, you had to be in New York on 20 September and wanted to stay at the InterContinental Times Square it would set you back a staggering $705.60 before tax.

Under those circumstances paying $384 for 60,000 points and then booking the room with those points would be a bargain!

Some may say that buying points in this promotion is a good deal if you want to stay at the InterContinental London Park Lane in October when, a randomly selected night, costs $416/£320…..

…but I’m not sure that would be such a good deal once you factor in the IHG rewards points and the status earnings that you wouldn’t get on the reward booking and would get if you paid for the room with cash/credit card.

More often than not, once you work out the math, buying points at 0.64 cents each is not going to be a great idea unless you have a specific plan in mind and you know that (a) reward availability is there and (b) that you’ll be getting value for money.

Bottom Line

Yes, you can get value out of this promotion but only in specific circumstances (like 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.

If you have any IHG points that are set to expire, buying 1,000 points (with an 400 point bonus) for $13.50/£10.40 will reset the expiration date on the points for another year. Not a great use of the promotion but not a terrible one either.

Note: You don’t have to buy points if you’ve been given a good Accelerate Promotion by IHG – Details of the fall promotion are out now.