MileValue is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Note: Some of the offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer be available. You can view current offers here.
IHG Rewards Club, the loyalty program of Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental, and more is selling points with targeted 25% to 100% bonuses.
Check your email for the subject line “Reveal your mystery bonus” or click this link.
After typing in my account information, I was offered a 100% bonus on points purchases through April 21, 2014.
At what levels of this promotion would I consider it a good deal to buy IHG points?
The normal prices of IHG points range from 1.15 to 1.35 cents each depending on how many you buy.
With my 100% bonus, I can get points for 0.575 cents each when I buy 52,000 or more (26k + 26k bonus).
After typing in my information and initiating a purchase for 26k points + 26k bonus points, I was given a price of $299.
Is 0.575 cents per IHG point a good deal?
That depends on how you use them. IHG’s standard chart offers free nights for between 10k and 50k points per night. Buying points for 0.575 cents each, that would mean $57.50 for a free night at the bottom tier and $287.50 for a top tier free night.
Honestly those prices don’t intrigue me much. I’m sure you can find bottom tier IHG hotels on Priceline for less than $57.50, and I can imagine very few situations where I’d fork out $287.50 for one night.
But the key to the IHG program is the PointBreaks list. The PointBreaks list changes every 2-3 months and features hotels that only cost 5k points per night. At 0.575 cents per point, that means hotel nights for $28.75 That is a price that intrigues me!
Find out more about PointBreaks and the current PointBreaks list here.
Should you buy for 0.575 cents each?
I would not buy IHG points speculatively at this price. If I had a redemption in mind, I would buy. Otherwise I would sit on the sidelines.
Should you buy if you got less than a 100% bonus as your mystery bonus?
If after your mystery bonus, IHG points are more than 0.7 cents, do not buy them under any circumstances. You can always buy IHG points for 0.7 cents as described in this article.
What was your mystery bonus? Will you be buying points?
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠ and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.
The comments section below is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all questions are answered.