Almost at Platinum - worth me buying my way there?

[curtainbounce]

Hi all,

First time poster!

I'm currently on 53,158 points and I'm planning to book a paid one night stay at the Crowne Plaza Melbourne in November.

I know this stay combined with a bunch of bonus offers will push me into Platinum but I'm wondering whether it is worth doing the Points + Cash trick and then cancelling for $70 to go into Platinum before then.

Ie. would the extra points I would get for the stay plus any upgrades etc be worth me spending that $70?

I am trying to accumulate points for a trip to NYC next year where I plan to redeem them for my stay there however I don't get the opportunity to travel much so this may be my only PC stay before then.

Any advice is much appreciated, cheers!

 

[Bundy Bear]

Priority Club isn't worth the extra money to get you over the line to Platinum.

 

[TonyHancock]

Priority Club isn't worth the extra money to get you over the line to Platinum.

I'm inclined to agree. You get a 50% points bonus, but unlike Hilton there are no clearly defined benefits. I do maintain IHG platinum status and the real benefit in Australia for me is the 4 x points when I pay with my Citibank Business Gold Visa (Thanks for the advice Markis10!)

Some IHG properties will give you a better room/wine/chocolate etc etc but it is very hit and miss.

The burn rate, for me, is not bad though so I do find the points useful.

 

[whatmeworry]

If you sign up for a topguest account and link it to a foursquare account and "checkin" into a IHG hotel everyday you will get 50 PC a day. It won't get you to platinum by November (About 3700~ points) but it will get you to Platinum by the end of the year without staying at a IHG property. Plus its not much, but 50 points does add up. If you checked in everyday it would get you 3 5000 point break stays a year.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Priority Club isn't worth the extra money to get you over the line to Platinum.

Agree. Unless all your business is with IHG which woud be extremely limiting.

 

[gibspmuh]

Just to confirm, the points you buy from Points + Cash won't contribute to the 60,000 points needed for Platinum qualification. You would need to buy the points from the Points.com portal for them to count (and at a significantly higher price). Given it's only a one night stay that you'll have to get you over the threshold it's probably not worth it (as the 50% bonus is only on the base points, not on the bonus).

 

[curtainbounce]

Thanks all for the advise it is much appreciated!

I think I'll just wait and get Platinum through this next stay, sounds like it's not worth trying to get it before then

I've signed up for Topguest and starting getting my 50 pts a day so thanks for that tip!

 

[casanovawa]

If you sign up for a topguest account and link it to a foursquare account and "checkin" into a IHG hotel everyday you will get 50 PC a day. It won't get you to platinum by November (About 3700~ points) but it will get you to Platinum by the end of the year without staying at a IHG property. Plus its not much, but 50 points does add up. If you checked in everyday it would get you 3 5000 point break stays a year.

Sorry to go off tangent, but looked for which IHG hotels are in Perth and it came back with the Holiday Inn in Hay Street in the city, does that hotel offer this check in thing?

 

[Cyberon]

If you sign up for a topguest account and link it to a foursquare account and "checkin" into a IHG hotel everyday you will get 50 PC a day. ...

how does it work? GPS?