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The brand new PointBreaks list allows us to book hotel rooms beginning tomorrow morning, Monday, October 30, for stays through January 31st, 2018 for $30 per night.

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InterContinental Mendoza (Argentina wine country): on a previous list

This post will tell you how to book any hotel on the list of IHG Reward Club’s PointBreaks hotels for $30 per night, even the ones that ordinarily cost $200 or more per night.

  • What’s my strategy to make the most of PointBreaks?
  • What are the top properties on the newest PointBreaks list?

IHG Rewards Club Pointbreaks

IHG Rewards Club is the loyalty program for InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Candlewood Suites, and Staybridge Suites.

IHG Rewards Club normally charges 10,000 to 60,000 points for a free night depending on the property. But every few months, IHG Rewards Club releases a list of a select few hotels where you can stay for 5,000 points per night. That’s a 90% discount on some hotels!

The new list of PointBreaks hotels is good for stays October 31, 2017, through January 31st, 2018.

Crowne Plaza Bandung (Indonesia), on the current PointBreaks list.
Crowne Plaza Bandung, Indonesia, on the current PointBreaks list.

We can stay at any hotel on the PointBreaks list for $30 per night!.

Problem #1: Not every hotel is on the PointBreaks list.

Solution: There is no solution for this problem.

When a new list comes out, I check its end date then consult my travel schedule to figure out where I’ll be between now and then that I might want a hotel. I also consider trips I haven’t planned, but have been mulling. And finally I look for the incredible properties that normally cost 50,000 miles to see if I want to take an impromptu trip.

I note all the hotels that I might want to stay at.

Problem #2: Not every night is available at hotels that are on the list–and what availability there is can disappear quickly.

Solution: Book award space as soon as it becomes available on Monday.

This leads to Problem #3.

Problem #3: I may want to change my plans later, but I may have to cancel the entire award to do that, costing me the chance at 5,000 point ($30) nights.

“Due to the limited availability, each member may only book two PointBreaks® Reward Nights reservations per hotel during the special offer time period.”

You have to make your best guess for when you’ll want to stay at a hotel. Or you can always make two reservations each from multiple accounts.

If you book more nights than you need, I also think it’s possible that by calling IHG or the hotel, you can trim some dates off a previous booking, but I can’t say for sure that would work.

Problem #4: I don’t have any IHG Rewards Club points.

Solutions to this problem:

You can buy IHG points for .6 cents each all the time by following these steps (that would make a 5,000 point PointBreak hotel night $30).

Caveats

  • Not all hotels are on the PointBreaks list. Not all nights are available as 5,000 point award nights at the hotels that are on the list. Check availability before buying points.
  • Make sure your account has 5,000 more points than you need for your speculative bookings. For this reason, you always want a balance of 5,000 points at the end for your next round of buying points.

Holiday Inn Melaka, Malaysia, on the current PointBreaks list
Holiday Inn Melaka, Malaysia, on the current PointBreaks list

Best Hotels on the List

As usual, the list is mostly Holiday Inns and Holiday Inn Expresses abroad plus Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites in the United States.

At $30, even those are steals of course.

Here are some international properties that caught my eye because of location or just looking nice:

Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Osoyoos, British Columbia, Canada, on the current PointBreaks list
Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Osoyoos, British Columbia, Canada, on the current PointBreaks list

Examples of PointBreaks Stays

Scott’s Example from Summer 2013

I scoured that summer’s PointBreaks list to see if any of my travel plans coincided with any of the hotels, and they did in one case: I was in South Africa in August and there was a Holiday Inn Express in Pretoria and a Holiday Inn in Sandton (Johannesburg) on the list.

I booked three consecutive one night stays at the Holiday Inn in Sandton and three consecutive one night stays at the Holiday Inn Express in Pretoria.

The Sandton Holiday Inn goes for $117 per night, but I got the rooms for $28.

I used three of the six nights, and I canceled the ones I didn’t need within a few days of check in when I finally knew my plans. (Check the cancellation policy when you book as it varies by hotel, but you always have until the last few days at a minimum.)

Neither hotel was luxurious, but both had free internet and the Holiday Inn Express had a free hot breakfast buffet that saved me the cost of a meal.

Both hotels were clean and comfortable, so I was very happy with my stays as I reported in my post about saving 88% on my hotel bill in Stockholm.

Holiday Inn Guadalajara Expo, Mexico, on the current PointBreaks list
Holiday Inn Guadalajara Expo, Mexico, on the current PointBreaks list

Scott’s Example from Summer 2012

I checked that summer’s PointBreaks list to see if any of my travel plans coincided with any of the hotels, and they did in one case: I would be in Krakow, Poland and the Holiday Inn Krakow City Centre was on the list.

I was in Krakow June 6 – 9, and I didn’t have a hotel booked. While the Krakow Holiday Inn was hardly the nicest property on the PointBreaks list, its cheapest room June 6 was 531 Polish Zloty, which was $153.

The first thing I did was search availability, and I found space June 6 and 8, but not June 7. I decided to book June 6 and 8, so I needed 10,000 IHG Rewards Club points.

I had zero IHG Rewards Club points in my account, so I transferred in 5,000 points from Ultimate Rewards. I bought 10,000 more points for $70 exactly how I outlined above leaving me with 15,000 points after I cancelled my dummy booking.

With my new points, I made two one-night bookings on June 6 and 8.

I noted the cancellation policy, which varies by hotel, in case I had to cancel. At the Holiday Inn Krakow, I just had to cancel by 4 PM the day of arrival.

I ended up very much enjoying the stay at the Holiday Inn Krakow, and I wrote about it in my Krakow, Poland Hotel Guide.

Crowne Plaza Puebla, Mexico, on the current PointBreaks list
Crowne Plaza Puebla, Mexico, on the current PointBreaks list

IHG Card Angle

If you have the IHG Rewards Club Select Card from Chase, you will earn an automatic 10% rebate on all point redemptions, making these 5,000 point a night hotel rooms only 4,500 points a night.

You’ll also earn Platinum status at IHG Properties and a free night at ANY IHG hotel each year after your card member anniversary. For an annual fee of only $49, that’s stellar. And yea–the card is issued by Chase. But the 5/24 rule is known not to apply. Read more about why the IHG Card is worth consideration. Right now the card has 60k point public sign up offer.

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.

Bottom Line

The new PointBreaks list is out from IHG Rewards Club, and beginning this Monday you can book stays for through July 31st, 2018.

This is a list of hotels you can book for 5,000 points or $30 per night. The best way to take advantage of the list is to be active ASAP.

Which hotel will you stay at for $30?