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IHG Rewards is offering all its members a 100% bonus when they purchase 5,000 or more IHG Rewards points between today (26 September 2016) and the end of Friday this week (30 September 2016). This offer is almost the same as the offer we saw from IHG at the beginning of June in that, apart from a small minimum point purchase, there are no barriers to getting the bonus – you don’t have to have status and you don’t have to have been targeted.
Buying IHG Points With A 100% Bonus
Not everybody has been given exactly the same offer…but the differences I’ve seen are pretty immaterial.
I was offered this:
While Joanna has been offered this:
The subtle difference being that I have to purchase at least 5,000 points to qualify for the 100% bonus while Joanna has no such restriction (let me know in the comments if anyone has been offered anything different).
The Terms and Conditions are pretty straightforward:
- Offer available for purchases made between 12:00 AM ET September 26, 2016 12:00 AM ET and 11:59 PM September 30, 2016 inclusive.
- Members may purchase a maximum of 60,000 points per calendar year (excluding bonuses)
- Members may receive as a gift a maximum of 60,000 points per calendar year (excluding bonuses)
Here’s how the promotion works (if you have no minimum purchase requirement):
- Buy 1,000 – 10,000 IHG Rewards Points with a 100% Bonus at 0.675 cents/0.521 pence each
- Buy 11,000 – 25,000 IHG Rewards Points with a 100% Bonus at 0.625 cents/0.483 pence each
- Buy 26,000 – 60,000 IHG Rewards Points with a 100% Bonus at 0.575 cents/0.444 pence each
If you’re based in the UK the exchange rate is killing you and has made this considerably more expensive than the last time this promotion ran.
Should You Buy IHG Rewards Points In This Promotion?
If you were to purchase the full amount allowed you would receive 120,000 points for $690/£533:
60,000 points is what you have to pay if you want to stay at most of the top InterContinental hotels around the world so the question you need to ask is:
“Would I be happy paying $345/£266 for a night at a top InterContinental Property?“
Because that’s effectively what you would be doing if you purchased points in this promotion and then booked a 60,000 point/night InterContinental.
There are some pretty good InterContinental properties that don’t cost the full 60,000 points – like the InterContinental Grand Stanford in Hong Kong that costs just 50,000 points…..
…which would be the same as paying $288/£222 if you bought points in this promotion.
That may not seem too bad until I reveal that the cash rate for that particular night is just $203.63 + taxes or $224/£173 all in!
Purchasing points in this promotion and using them on this particular night would see you overpay by over 28%.
There will be occasions where the opposite is true and this usually happens during peak times at very popular locations…like New York City.
The InterContinental Times Square costs 60,000 IHG Rewards points…..
…but can cost, for the exact same night, over $400 before taxes….
…and that’s $500/night once the taxes and fees are included:
In this instance you should definitely be buying IHG Rewards points in this promotion as it would save you $155/night.
Bottom Line
The moral of all of this is quite simple – if you have a plan for any points you purchase in this promotion then you can do the math and quite quickly see if it’s a good idea or not. If you have no real idea what you’ll do with the points after you’ve bought them (i.e you just like the sound of “100% bonus”) then stay away as you’re most probably going to be on to a losing proposition.
Lastly, don’t forget that Points.com processes all of IHG Rewards Club’s points sales meaning that you won’t get a travel/hotel bonus from your credit cards – so be selective when deciding how to pay (I’d use my Amex SPG card if I was buying….but I’m not 🙂 ).
