IHG Rewards Club ‘Free Nights. Faster.’ promotion Jan 15-Apr 30, 2019

The new 2019 ‘Free Nights. Faster.’ IHG Rewards Club promotion from Jan 15-April 30, 2019 offers 40,000 or more points to members for completing targeted tasks. Register for this IHG offer by March 15, 2019.

My tasks require a minimum 5 nights to complete to earn 50,550 bonus points with an extra 2,000 bonus points if one of those nights is in February for 52,550 bonus points.

• 5,600 bonus points with two weekend 2-night stays including a Saturday night = 4 paid nights.
• 14,400 bonus points with stays at 3 different brands = book weekends in two different IHG brands and stay 1 night in a third IHG brand = 1 paid night (5 total paid nights).
• 5,600 bonus points with 2 IHG hotel stays (these nights covered in two weekend stays task).
• 6,600 bonus points for two bonus points package rates. (This task means either booking a weekend bonus rate for one of the 2-night stays or booking a sixth paid night). Bonus points package means paying at least Best Flexible Rate.
• 1,500 bonus points with IHG Rewards Club MasterCard payment. (This should be an easy task to incorporate in one of the other stays, but I failed this task and missed out on 30,000+ points in a 2017 IHG promotion offer when I forgot to take my IHG credit card to Europe.)
• 16,850 bonus points upon completion of all 5 tasks for a total 50,550 bonus points.
• 2,000 bonus points for a February stay.

For me, the two-night weekend stays are the deal breaker. Most places in California where I would want to stay a weekend are places where rates are far higher than weekdays.

I have a feeling that I will pick and choose a limited number of tasks from my offer during this period rather than trying to meet the two weekends requirement.

• 2 nights as 2 stays in different brands paid with IHG credit card = 7,100 bonus points.
• 2 nights as 2 stays in different brands booked as bonus points packages = 13,700 bonus points.
• 3 nights as 3 stays in 3 different brands = 21,500 bonus points (most likely best value for me).
• 3 nights as 3 stays in 3 different brands with 2 nights booked as bonus package rates and one stay paid with IHG credit card = 28,100 bonus points. (This is the best value I can probably get for about $250 to $300 in spend without committing to four weekend nights).

Kelley has 3 weekends in her tasks. Not going there.

IHG Free Nights. Faster. January 15 – April 30

I like IHG’s promotions and I fulfill most of them, but this is not a promotion that currently fits into my travel plans. 28,000 bonus points is an estimated $140 value to me and I would definitely spend $250 to $300 to earn these bonus points if I am in need of hotel rooms.

In November, I used the Fall 2018 IHG promotion to stay 3 nights in 3 different brands and earned 40,000 bonus points on a road trip to Disneyland. I then redeemed those 40,000 points for two nights at the new Holiday Inn Express Amsterdam City Hall, a location I absolutely loved staying last week. The two nights in Amsterdam would have cost more than the $255 I paid for 3 nights in California in November.

As I expected, the introductory reward rate for Holiday Inn Express Amsterdam City Hall recently changed to 35,000 points per night.. That reward rate increase takes the hotel from the best deal I found in Amsterdam to not a deal most of the time.