Book one Bonus Points Package rate is one of seven IHG Rewards Club Accelerate 2017 tasks I received for an opportunity to earn 49,700 bonus points for as few as 5 hotel nights January 1 to April 15, 2017. The two most expensive tasks are stay 5 nights at IHG hotels Jan 1 – April 15 for 10,000 points or stay at least one night on an IHG Bonus Points package rate for 3,600 bonus points. I can earn over 40,000 IHG points during Accelerate 2017 with two IHG hotel nights at two Holiday Inn hotels, if I plan my bookings to include a Bonus Points Package rate for one of the nights. This article examines IHG Bonus Points Package Rates.
Loyalty Traveler – Accelerate 2017 IHG Rewards Club Jan 1–April 15 bonus points (Dec 12, 2016).
I already have two reservations at Holiday Inn hotels in London.
Average London hotel rates have dropped a couple times over the past two months since I first reserved hotel rooms for a February trip. But I learned today that London is not a good city for booking Bonus Points package rates compared to the deals available without a Bonus Points package rate.
Holiday Inn London King’s Cross – Bloomsbury
- $86.91 IHG member rate advance purchase, nonrefundable
- $114.67 IHG member rate best flexible
- $132.02 Best Flexible + 1,000 Bonus points package rate (no IHG member discount)
- $150.88 Best Flexible + 1,000 bonus points package + breakfast rate (no IHG member discount)
- rates shown include tax.
$86.91 for London, England !!!
February 5, 2017 advance purchase, nonrefundable rate
- $114.67 IHG member rate best flexible
- $132.02 Feb 5, 2017 Best Flexible + 1,000 Points rate (+ $17.35 more)
- $150.88 Feb 5, 2017 Best Flexible 1,000 Points + Breakfast rate (+ $36.21 more)
I need to pay $132.02 instead of a potential $86.91 rate to buy 1,000 bonus points, an extra $45 per night to buy 1,000 bonus points. And another $19 on top of that if I want breakfast in London at the Holiday Inn.
Compare this to a Holiday Inn Santa Maria, California Bonus Points Package rate for January 6
- $103.68 IHG member rate advance purchase, nonrefundable ($116.52 after tax).
- $114.24 IHG member rate best flexible
- $124.00 Best Flexible + 1,000 Bonus points package rate (no IHG member discount; $139.28 after tax).
- $139.00 Best Flexible + 5,000 bonus points package rate (no IHG member discount; $156.08 after tax).
- $139.00 Best Flexible + 1,000 bonus points package + breakfast rate (no IHG member discount; $156.08 after tax).
I need to pay an extra $36 per night to buy 1,000 bonus points and another $17 on top of that if I want breakfast in Santa Maria. That deal is not much different from London rates for the upsell. The more shocking aspect is a Holiday Inn hotel room in London has lower room rates than a hotel room in Santa Maria, California.
Final Thoughts
On IHG marketing’s side is this IHG Rewards Club Accelerate 2017 deal is about upselling members to higher hotel rates. $25 to $45 more per night over the lowest available rate is a high price to pay for 1,000 bonus points to complete an Accelerate 2017 task for 3,600 bonus points.
From my side, this analysis shows that even if I put out an extra $25 to $45, the 16,600 bonus points earned from completing the Bonus Points Package Rate task for 3,600 points and completing 5 of 6 tasks for 13,000 bonus points are worth the upsell room rate on one hotel night. Of course, if I find myself in need of 5 IHG hotel nights, I can simply skip the Bonus Points Package rate offer.
But a good Bonus Points Package rate can make the higher rate a hotel night bargain difference.
In Santa Maria, an extra $39.50 buys the 5,000 bonus points package rate + earns at a minimum 3,600 bonus points with my Accelerate 2017 and another 350 base points + 175 Platinum elite bonus points for $35 additional room spend. 9,000 total extra IHG points for a $40 upsell.
$39.50 for 9,000 IHG points is a worthwhile upsell I am willing to buy.
1 Comment
Comments are closed.