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80% bonus when you buy IHG points

IHG has what I’d say is their 2nd best offer on purchasing points ( $0.0055 ) if you make your purchase by 06/10/22.

• The best ever deal is buy 250k get 250k maxing out at 500k points ( $0.005 per points)
• This deal maxes out at buy 250k get 200k = 450k points ( $0.0055 )

 

Buy IHG points is currently offering a 80% Bonus

• Must buy 5k+
• Max is 250k
• Price is $0.0055
• Until June 10th, 2022

Should I buy IHG points?

I think buying points is an excellent way to either shore up your balance, or buy a trip at a cheaper price than you’d pay to stay at a hotel with cash. HOWEVER – don’t do this speculatively. Always have an immediate, or at least near term, use for the points. I wouldn’t advise buying them for some trip down the road that you aren’t looking to book soon.

I just stayed at the Kimpton Sylvan – it was running $250 a night, but with points varied between 26k and 40k. That means I could have purchased points and stayed for between $130 and $200. Even less with and IHG Rewards Premier.

 

Is this the best price?

Yes, if you buy during the promo period with a 100% bonus, you’ll net out at 1/2 of one penny per point. This is the cheapest we’ve seen IHG offer points, but remember, you can always buy points using the Cash + Points trick for 6/10 of one penny.

If you don’t have enough points in your account for a booking, or you don’t wish to use all of your points at that property, IHG will allow you to book that hotel with Cash + Points – the price is usually around $0.006 per point – roughly 20% higher than this deal.

IHG points are dynamic – important

One of the reasons I want to stress that you have a redemption in mind to take advantage of in the immediate future is because IHG award rates fluctuate day to day based on demand and rack rate pricing. For instance, I reported on that Intercontinental Rome was pricing at 40k over Valentines Day 2022 … that didn’t happen, the opening has been pushed to 2023 and rates are well over 80k. Don’t buy on speculation.

What’s the max I can purchase

Usually IHG has a 100k max on the amount of points you can purchase in a year, but currently that has been raised to 250k. At the current 80% bonus…you’d buy 450,000 points for $2,500, or 0.0055 per point.

Can I have some examples of how to make use of this promo

Sure…the examples I’ll show are merely to illustrate the strategy, and the rates could fluctuate, but the strategy of seeking outsized return remains the same.

Shoring up your account for a traditional booking

Let’s look at the Kimpton Aertson in Nashville. Whenever you compare rates make sure the cancellation policies are the same. In this case, both the flexible rate and the point rate have the same 3 day cancellation policy. Notice all the taxes added on to the booking brining the total up top $312. You could buy the same 38k points for around $200.

If you had an IHG Premier card you’d get a 4th night free on award bookings. This makes the price reduction even more noticeable. A $1250 stay would drop could be had with 112k points, or $600 with this sale. That is amazing.

Buying points to use a free night certificate

The free night certificate earned from certain IHG credit cards is eligible for top up. What does this mean? In the past, the free night certificates were only valid at properties that priced a night at 40k or below. Now, you can add points to that free night certificate which makes it much more valuable.

If you don’t have the points in your account, it could be valuable to buy what you need to top up your free night to the needed amount of points for the redemption. This could really useful if you’re adding a 5th night for a 4 night reservation.

Let’s say you had 300k points in your account and wanted to go to the Six Senes Maldives like I did on my honeymoon which costs 100k a night.

If you had the IHG Premier, you’d have enough for 4 nights, since that 4th night is free. But, what if you wanted to stay 5 and you had your free night certificate sitting in your account? Well, you could purchase 60k IHG points and top it up, and with this deal you’d be paying just $330 for those points.

I use buying points to focus on Super high end properties to capture outsized value:

Currently these Six Senses are redeemable with IHG Rewards

• Six Senses Botanique (Brazil)
• Six Senses Fiji (Fiji)
• Six Senses Ibiza – coming later this year
• Six Senses Kaplankaya, Turkey
• Six Senses Laamu (Maldives)
• Six Senses Ninh Van Bay (Vietnam)
• Six Senses Uluwatu Bali (Indonesia)
• Six Senses Yao Noi (Thailand)
• Six Senses Zil Pasyon, Seychelles

Let’s look at the Six Senses Maldives where I stayed last year

The Six Senses was acquired by IHG a couple of years ago, and geeks like me have been anxiously awaiting an opportunity to take use points to stay at these aspirational properties.  I used points to book 5 nights for 400k points ( I got a 4th night free from the Chase IHG Rewards Premier ). If I were to do this again…I’d wait until I could top up my free night certificates and redeem that way.

Let’s search for a 4 night stay – it prices at almost $1200 a night.

However…It also prices at 100k per night. Buying points for a little over 1/2 of one penny would mean you could buy nights here for $500 to $550 a night. That’s well over 50% off – not cheap, but if you’re looking to have a special getaway…this may very well fall into budget. Don’t forget that food in the Maldives is super high and there is always an expensive transfer fee.

Can you make it better? Yes…with the IHG Rewards Premier credit card – this is how I booked

One of the benefits I value most with the IHG Rewards Premier credit card is the 4th night free when booking with points. That would drop a 4 night stay here down from 400k points to 300k, or $1650. That’s a little over $400 a night, almost 1/3 the price of the rack rate.

One of my TikToks highlights this technique at this very property

@zacharyburrabel5 star Maldives for less ##travel ##travelhacks ##maldives ##sixsenses♬ Sexual Healing – Kygo Remix – Marvin Gaye

Unlocking the IHG Premier

The IHG Rewards Premier comes with an annual anniversary award night as I mentioned earlier which you’ll be able to top-up. You can use this to stay at properties up to 40k in value. Having a stand alone night can often mean you have to pay for a night to accompany it since many of us won’t just do somewhere for a single night, but soon you’ll be able to pair it with any booking and top up the difference from 40k. Buying points can help offset cost and make better use of your night since you’re more apt to plan a longer stay if you can offset cost.

 Chase IHG PremierLearn More

Starting in late March it will include all of the following benefits:

• Automatic Platinum Status
• 4th night free when using points
• $50 United Travel Bank credit
• Global Entry/TSA Pre Fee credit every 4 years
• Free 40k night every year
  • this being on your first anniversary heading into your second year of cardmembership
• Spend your way to Diamond with $40k in annual purchases
• Get a 10k bonus points and $100 statement credit when you spend $20k + one additional purchase in a year
• Earning will be as such:
  • 10x at IHG Hotels & Resorts worldwide ( this is on top of the bonus you get as a IHG Rewards member )
  • 5x
    • travel
    • gas stations
    • dining/restaurants
    • social media and search engine advertising
    • office supply stores
  • 3x everywhere else

Recap

This is a very solid offer if you have reason to buy points and redeem. Crunch the numbers, do your own research, and make the right decision. If you decide to move forward we appreciate you using our links!