15% off Priority Club Retail/Restaurant Gift Cards to Nov 30

Priority Club is discounting the points price for retail and restaurant gift cards by 15% through November 30, 2010. Less than half the Priority Club shopping partners are participating retailers and restaurants offering 15% discounts. You can redeem online or call 1-800-272-9273.

Priority Club Retail Partners link

Priority Club Restaurant Partners link

There are two versions of gift cards at $50 and $100.

$50 cards cost 17,000 Priority Club points, 15% off the regular 20,000 points.

$100 are 32,300 Priority Club points, 15% off the regular 38,000 points.

Retailers offering 15% Discount Gift Cards

• Amazon
• Barnes& Noble
• AMC Theaters
• Bath & Body Works
• Bed, Bath & Beyond
• CVS Pharmacy
• Kohl’s
• Land’s End
• Macy’s
• Northern Tool + Equipment
• Pier 1 Imports
• Sears
• SpaFinder
• Sports Authority
• Target Giftcard
• The Home Depot
• Zales Jewelers

Restaurants offering 15% discount gift cards

• Applebee’s
• Bahama Breeze
• Chili’s
• Harry and David
• Macaroni Grill
• O’Charley’s
• Red Lobster

Loyalty Traveler promotion analysis 

In general you will get better value redeeming points for hotel rooms. 

The cost for a $50 gift card at 17,000 points, even with 15% savings, means you are exchanging sufficient points for any IHG Hotel in the world aside from the InterContinental Hotels brand. All Crowne Plaza and top-tier Holiday Inns are 25,000 points. Assuming you have a Points & Cash option the cost for a free night will be 15,000 points + $60. The $50 value of a gift card (17,000 points) + $60 in cash means you are better off saving points for any hotel room that will cost more than $110 per night after tax rather than spending points on gift cards. 

But if you are points rich and cash poor, the discounted gift cards are actually a decent value for your points. 

For example: 

Some members like me have high points, easy targets for the Priority Club “Crack the Case” promotion. I can earn 100,000 points fairly easily with just ten hotel nights by May 2011. Even though the Sweet Dilemma free night after every two stays offer restricts earning base points and elite bonus points for IHG hotel stays through December 31, there is no restriction to earning bonus points from other promotions. 

There are several Crowne Plaza Hotels in the San Francisco Bay Area with rates under $80 per night on weekends over the next two month.  I can spend say $1,000 or as little as $800 for ten hotel nights at InterContinental Hotels Group properties and earn 100,000 bonus points from Crack the Case promotion and earn bonus points from other Priority Club promotions during ten stays. 

100,000 points earned from completing the Crack the Case goals (10 nights; 2 IHG brands; 2 Saturdays; survey) is enough for three $100 gift cards at 96,600 points. $300 in gift card rebates, in addition to 5 free nights from the Priority Club Sweet Dilemma promotion after ten paid IHG hotel nights. 

Spend $800 to stay ten hotel nights in ten one-night stays and earn $300 in gift certificates and five free nights at any IHG hotel globally. 

That is 5-key value and a deal you will find hard to beat even on Priceline.

But I will save my Priority Club points for hotel reward stays. 30,000 points for a luxury hotel night is a much better value in my opinion than a $100 gift card.