hotel and travel deals 2015-Q2 IHG One Rewards InterContinental Hotels Group

The market has spoken. IHG Rewards Club points do not sell out at Daily Getaways 2015 price

by Ric Garrido
March 24, 2015
11 Comments
4564 Views

The market has spoken. I spoke before the market when I wrote last week that IHG Rewards Club points generally do not sell out quickly in the annual Daily Getaways sales at the purchase price of $6.00 per 1,000 points.

Apparently, out of 50 million or 80 million members there are not 7,500 buyers typing in credit card numbers to buy 100,000 points. Or even 15,000 points. IHG membership number grows like the old McDonald’s sign used to update – in millions, before reaching billions.

Doesn’t everyone want to have 15,000 points for at least three PointBreaks reward nights?

Honestly, I can’t recall my last PointBreaks 5,000 points hotel reward night. In 2013, I scored three consecutive PointBreaks nights driving from Monterey, California to Denver, Colorado. Have I redeemed any IHG points for PointBreaks since 2013?

Daily Getaways IHG Rewards Club points still widely available

In the past few minutes, two hours after the Daily Getaways sale launched for today’s offer of discount IHG Rewards Club points, I was able to set up a purchase for the maximum amount of points an IHG Rewards Club member can buy today in the U.S. Travel Association Daily Getaways offers.

I did not buy points. I have a six-figure IHG Rewards Club points balance already.

But, you can still buy hotel points at a discount price.

Daily Getaways – IHG Rewards Club 15,000 points for $90

Purchase limit: Maximum 5 sets of points per member ($450).

Daily Getaways – IHG Rewards Club 25,000 points for $150

Purchase limit: Maximum 4 sets of points per member ($600).

Daily Getaways – IHG Rewards Club 50,000 points for $293

Purchase limit: Maximum 4 sets of points per member ($879).

Daily Getaways – IHG Rewards Club 100,000 points for $565

Purchase limit: Maximum 3 sets of points per member ($1,695).

An IHG Rewards Club member can buy up to 675,000 points with these Daily Getaways offers for $3,624. That is 135 nights in PointBreaks hotels or as few as 13 nights in InterContinental Hotels. A 5,000 points PointBreaks reward night will cost only $30 per night at this price. That is a bargain. Spending $293 for 50,000 points and one free InterContinental San Francisco hotel night is not such a great bargain.

With more than 4,800 hotels around the world, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) gives you a world of choice whatever the reason for your trip. Our family of nine trusted brands offers hotels in nearly 100 countries. From an award-winning InterContinental® Resort to a city-center Holiday Inn® hotel, IHG has the right choice for all your travel needs. IHG brands include InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, HUALUXE® Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, EVEN® Hotels, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®, and Candlewood Suites®.

Truth is, at least for me, I am more likely to want to spend IHG points on a hotel at 25,000 to 50,000 points per night. InterContinental San Francisco at 50,000 points is still a $300 hotel room when paid with points from this sale. My hotel stay strategy is keep my IHG points and wait for a deep discount rate at the hotel.

Personally, Kelley and I earned four free nights for any IHG hotel in the world on about $600 in spend last November and December with IHG Into the Nights promotion. That is a value equivalent to 200,000 points or about $1,200 based on the price of these Daily Getaways points.

I find better value staying in IHG hotels on paid stays and earning points through the lucrative IHG Rewards Club promotions rather than buying points.

Bottom line is I think this is a decent deal to buy IHG points if you redeem for good value reward nights. For certain, I would get more value from IHG hotel reward stays using points than the cost of IHG points. But, I don’t need IHG points at present with four free nights anywhere still to burn in 2015.

Apparently not too many of the other millions upon millions of IHG Rewards Club members in the USA are buyers of IHG Rewards Club points at these prices. 7,350 buyers would have bought these points out.

The market has spoken.

Tags:

11 Comments

Ray March 24, 2015

I buy 300k every yr from this sale. 90% of the time it is cheaper to book an award than to book a cash rate (pt valued at 0.00565). Having the ihg cc gives you 10% pts back and having renewed my Ambassador, i picked the 10% pts back option… I basically get back 20% pts for every award up to 100k for each 10% which ill probably never hit anyways. And the targeted promotions i have been receiving are unrealistic to accomplish!
Michael March 24, 2015

Excellent point Ray re: being ambassador and getting 10 percent points back, which really brings the purchase price down to .05

I just need to figure out if I want to buy points when I have 400K in the account…
JZ March 24, 2015

As a newbie to IHG, I found those points come handy. I bought 300k for myself and 200k for my wife. I am now Platinum Ambassador. Can someone tell me how to get the extra 10% back as an Ambassador? Is it by default as an Ambassador member or do I have to make certain elections and how? Thank you.
Raffles March 24, 2015

It is an option when you renew, you can’t do it in your first year. For a higher fee you get more points back (I got 15k, forgot what I paid) and a 10 per cent rebate on points used. Some cancelled redemptions also trigger the 10 per cent!
Ray March 24, 2015

You get 3 options to choose from when you RENEW your ambassador membership, in which one of them is the 10% back option on awards. This 10% stacks with the 10% from the IHG CC so it is 20%, which brings down the cost of 0.00565 down to 0.00452, which wil beat any cash rate IMO (and usually award availability is pretty good) Also, the cost of applying/renewing the ambassador membership is well worth the BOGO weekend night certificate (which is like the only time I book a cash rate!)
Charlotte March 24, 2015

I bought a few points so I would have a few nights in case a Pointsbreak hotel worked for me. Now the Carlson points on the other hand…
PSL March 24, 2015

When you consider the 10 percent points rebate for IHG credit card holders, the $565 spent on 100,000 points can get you three nights at the Staybridge Suites Times Square with 5,500 points left over or two nights at the IC Times Square with 10,000 points left over. Rates often exceed $300 plus tax for the Staybridge and $400 plus tax for the IC, so this can be a great deal!
Ric Garrido March 24, 2015

I would buy IHG points during this sale if I did not already have a decent number of points to redeem. My main purchase is planned for Choice Privileges points.

I wiped out my account balance in Norway September 2014 and I want to more Choice points to take Kelley to some of the great Nordic Choice Hotels in Norway and Sweden this summer.
JACK March 24, 2015

I buy these each year as I do find value in redemption.

Based on today’s rates, a night in the Caribbean for President’s week would be $233/25000 or 932/10000 for four nights. 932 vs 565 is ok in my life. As we get closer, the $ rates rise. I am happy.
Charlotte March 25, 2015

I wonder if or when we will be able to use these points for Kimpton?
Hawaii March 25, 2015

THe IHG points deals are pretty terrible. The one I wanted was 50,000 for $293. I thought it would be cheaper than paying for the Venetian (50k/night)in Vegas. But the night I’m looking for is only $135.15 per night (before taxes), so this is not a good value. Even the holiday inn resort in Honolulu is cheaper when you pay instead of purchasing these points and then using them (with the exception of late December/early January or around those months)