IHG One Rewards members can buy up to 250,000 points (an increased cap from the usual 150,000 per year, pre-bonus) and get up to 500,000 points (100% bonus) from 5th July 2022 till 15th July 2022.
Under this promotion, the total cost of buying 500,000 points is USD 2,500, which works out to be USD 0.005 per point. You will need to purchase a minimum of 15,000 points to enjoy this offer.
The terms and conditions of the promotion are as follows:
General Information On IHG One Rewards Program
- IHG One Rewards points expire after 12 months without activity for Club level members and do not expire for elite members (Gold and above)
- Members can ordinarily purchase up to 150,000 points a year, at USD 0.01 per point
- IHG One Rewards points can be transferred from one member’s account to another at the cost of USD 5 per 1,000 points
- IHG One Rewards no longer have an award chart, award prices are dynamic
- There are no blackout dates for rewards nights, however, room inventory for reward nights is limited
- Luxury hotels brands under IHG where points can be used for reward nights include Regent, InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, and select Six Senses Hotels Resorts and Spas
In addition, IHG One Rewards was recently revamped which you can find out more here.
IHG One Rewards Points Sale History During The Past Year
Illustrative Examples Of Situations When IHG One Rewards Points Are Worth Buying
If you have an upcoming stay at an IHG property where the cash rates during your intended period of stay are high, and there happens to be a points sale, it is worth taking a look at the reward night prices and do the maths to find out if there will be any savings from buying points.
Let us use the Six Senses Laamu as an example since our focus is on luxury hotels:
As shown above, the lowest rate costs a total of USD 1,159.61 (taxes inclusive) for a one night stay in a Lagoon Water Villa. If you were to purchase points at USD 0.005 per point instead (rate of current IHG points sale) for a reward night during the same period; at 189,000 points per night, your total cost would be (189,000 X 0.005) USD 945 instead which represents a savings of USD 214.61 (18.5% savings).
To illustrate further, let’s use another example, this time the InterContinental London Park Lane:
The cheapest available rate for a one night stay over the selected period is the “Book Early & Save” rate, which costs a total of approximately USD 506. At a rate of 97,000 points a night, a reward night funded by points costing USD 0.005 each (rate of current IHG points sale) would cost a total of USD 485, a savings of USD 21 (4.2% savings) for a night.
Although the savings are modest in this case, you do have to consider the fact that you are getting more flexibility with a reward night as compared to the “Book Early & Save” rate as reward nights are usually cancellable up to a certain time whereas the “Book Early & Save” rate is not refundable.
If the best flexible rate is selected instead, the savings in this case, would rise to USD 96 per night (USD 581 – USD 485), a savings of 16.5% per night.
Conclusion
The current 100% bonus points promotion is the best offer by IHG One Rewards for its points sale. If you have plans to stay at an expensive IHG property, it might be worthwhile to do the math to find out if it is worth buying points during this promotion.
And before we conclude, as always, you should not buy points speculatively without an award redemption in mind. The cost of IHG One Rewards reward nights is based on dynamic pricing and can increase at any time without notice. The regular frequency in which IHG is offering a 100% bonus points promotion also makes it unnecessary to buy points speculatively.
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