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I’m not sure if I’m just imagining this but IHG Rewards seems to be having a lot more “flash sales” of late but, as they seem to be offering to sell points at a pretty reasonable rate, I’m not going to complain!
The latest IHG flash sale is now on but this one is slightly different from the others we have seen recently. The maximum bonus you can earn will vary from account to account (this is a targeted promotion) and some IHG Rewards Club members are seeing their purchase limits increased to allow them to buy more points if they’ve already maxed out their annual allowance.
IHG Flash Sale – The Details
- The flash sale is available for IHG Rewards points purchases made by 11:59 PM on 21 December 2017.
- IHG Rewards members may purchase up to 60,000 points per calendar year (excluding bonuses) unless their purchase limits have been raised in this promotion.
- Purchases of IHG Rewards Points are processed by Points.com so they’re not eligible for a credit card category bonus
There are a variety of offers available in this promotion depending on what you’ve been targeted for…and there are some contradictions too.
The email I received read “when you purchase a minimum of 20,000 points, we’ll match it with a 100% bonus!” but, when I log in, I’m offered the 100% bonus when I buy a minimum of 25,000 points.
Not a huge discrepancy…but it’s a discrepancy none the less.
I have already purchased 60,000 IHG rewards points this year (back when I was offered them at 0.5 cents each) and that would normally see me maxed out for 2017….but IHG has added something new to my offer this time around:
We know points are important to you, so we’ve increased the amount you can buy each year from 60,000 to 120,000 — now through December 21
Technically my account has been reset so, should I want to, I could end up buying a huge 240,000 IHG points this year (including bonuses).
Here are the two promotions I’ve seen so far:
Maximum Bonus of 80% (Joanna was targeted for this one)
- Buy 1,000 – 4,000 points and get no bonus
- Buy 5,000 – 14,000 points and get a 60% bonus
- Buy 15,000 – 60,000 points and get an 80% bonus
Maximum Bonus of 100% (this is what I’ve been offered)
- Buy 1,000 – 24,000 points and get no bonus
- Buy 25,000 – 60,000 points and get a 100% bonus
Warning: Don’t assume that the cost per point is the same within a single band
IHG Flash Sale – The Math
This isn’t mentioned anywhere in the terms and conditions but, as with previous IHG points sales, there’s a threshold above which the best cost per point is attained.
For my promotion I’m told that as long as I buy 25,000 or more Points I’ll get a 100% bonus….and that’s true.
But, if I purchase the minimum number of points to get the 100% bonus…..
…..the net result is that you I end up with 50,000 points at a total cost of $312.50 which is equivalent to 0.675 cents per point.
If, however, I purchase just 1,000 more points the cost/point improves significantly:
52,000 points at a cost of $299 which is equivalent to 0.575 cents per point.
The same is the case for Joanna’s 80% promotion so, if you’re going to buy points in this promotion make sure you buy over 25,000 to get the best cost/point.
Is This Flash Sale A Good Deal?
This isn’t the best rate we’ve seen IHG offer points this year (we’ve seen one targeted offer at 0.5 cents/point) but offers better than this are rare.
If you’re considering buying points this time around this is what the value proposition looks like.
Buying the maximum number of points would see you net a total of 120,000 points at a cost of $690:
That’s a cost of 0.575 cents per point.
Most of the top IHG properties around the world cost between 50,000 and 60,000 points per night so this promotion effectively buys 2 nights at a very good InterContinental for between $288 and $345/night….and that’s inclusive of all taxes and fees and gets you a flexible reservation.
That can be a very good deal when you consider how expensive some InterContinental hotels can be….but it can also be a good deal at lesser-ranked properties.
Take the Holiday Inn Old Sydney as an example.
Image credit IHG
The property has a fantastic location near the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera house and costs 20,000 points per night less than the equally well located InterContinental.
For all that convenience you can often pay a price as the property isn’t exactly cheap.
For a randomly selected visit the cheapest nightly rate is AU$392.90 (~$250)…
….but the same room can be booked for the same night for 40,000 points:
40,000 points in this promotion would cost $230 (assuming you were targeted for the 100% bonus) so, buying points in this promotion and using them on this booking, would see you save $20 per night and would get you a flexible (refundable) reservation….which the cheapest nightly rate does not.
In this example the saving may not appear to be huge but, if I was to compare the points redemption to an equivalent flexible cash rate (AU$436/$277), then on a like-for-like comparison it starts to look significant – $47/night soon adds up.
Note: I could have easily shown this property selling nights for over $300 meaning the nightly savings would have been fantastic but, for the sake of balance, I decided to stick with the random night I’ve shown….so just be aware that savings can be significant.
Bottom Line
Here’s how you decide if you should be buying points:
- Explore various locations you’d like to visit and see if there’s a good IHG property there
- Check what award availability is like for the dates you’re thinking of visiting
- Check how much rooms are selling for on the dates you want to visit
- Work out the math – will buying points and booking a room save you cash?
If you can see award availability at a hotel you’d like to visit and the math works in your favor then go ahead and buy some points in this sale…if not, you should probably give this promotion a miss. There’s no point in stockpiling points “just in case” you find something that works – there will always be another sale.
