Buying extra IHG points with your booking

[Mattg]

View attachment 375384

For a 2 night stay, this will be 10k points for the $78 I'm being charged, right?

I haven't seen these being explicitly advertised as getting more "elite-qualifying" points before. Is this new or have I just missed this in the past? (As per an earlier post I believe they always were elite-qualifying, in any case.)

Based on the wording above it does sound like you'd get 10,000 bonus points for $78.

 

[drron]

They have been around for a while. It is how I now get to diamond status with far less than 70 nights. But I do try to get to 40 now for the annual lounge pass.

 

[Mattg]

They have been around for a while. It is how I now get to diamond status with far less than 70 nights. But I do try to get to 40 now for the annual lounge pass.

That seems like a reasonable strategy, especially if you’re buying those extra points at a reasonable price and you can redeem them for reward nights.

 

[drron]

Yes I generally buy them in Asia where a year ago it was ridiculously cheap. Less than $A10 for 5000 points. Has gone up a lot in 12 months though.

 

[Traveler999]

Bonus points can be really valuable to speed up getting IHG Diamond

I have just finished booking a mixed IHG/Accor trip to Japan for June 2024. For the 24 nights that are with IHG and spending $USD 4k including bonus points every night I will earn approx 140-150k points so enough for Diamond.

The Tokyo nights are pretty expensive (for me) at over $UDS300 each night and I would have gone cheaper elsewhere if not for the diamond plan and wanting to get 39 nights. However the rooms are very nice and I got a nice upgrade on my Ambassador free night booking to a lounge access room.

The downside is of course all my nights are best rate cancellable rather than cheaper non-cancellable rates, but I am ok with that to enable flexibility anyway.

Narita/Tokyo/Yokohama/Kyoto/Osaka/Okayama/Nagoya were all 5000/night a reasonable rates. The highest was $USD27/5000 pts

Hiroshima was cheaper to buy breakfast and 3000pts rather than $40USD for 5000pts

Nagasaki was the only one that only had 3000 pts as an option.

Since the current offer of 15 bonus night credits is on while I am away that should give me 39 nights so I will do one more before xmas to get a lounge pass in 2025.

Pretty happy the way it worked out, esp as it cost 40,000 American airlines miles each way on Fiji Airlines business class with an overnight in Nadi each way. Very happy with price and location of all the IHG hotels and as an added bonus I will almost spent enough at the Accor hotels to combine with my Accor signature membership to lock in platinum will one more cheap stay later in the year.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Welcome on board Traveler999.
---
One good thing, and I might read it wrong, but does/it does count as activity, doesnt it?
I mean like, to keep activity in the IHG account alive, if not staying in a hotel, but buying points, whether or not in a current booking, or not.
===
I calculated I would have 6000 IHG points after my last stay, but for some reason, the system gave me 3000 more IHG points, which I didnt ask/apply for.
So, its a great surprise.
ALL Accor does not allow buying of points, I dont think, other wise I would have bought points during Covid when we were all stuck and couldnt fly or stay in hotels, as they were used as Q facs.

 

[Traveler999]

Welcome on board Traveler999.
---
One good thing, and I might read it wrong, but does/it does count as activity, doesnt it?
I mean like, to keep activity in the IHG account alive, if not staying in a hotel, but buying points, whether or not in a current booking, or not.
===
I calculated I would have 6000 IHG points after my last stay, but for some reason, the system gave me 3000 more IHG points, which I didnt ask/apply for.
So, its a great surprise.
ALL Accor does not allow buying of points, I dont think, other wise I would have bought points during Covid when we were all stuck and couldnt fly or stay in hotels, as they were used as Q facs.

Have a look at ALL Signature, lots about it on google.

https://loyaltylobby.com/2023/11/27/accor-all-signature-subscription-15-off-through-november-30-2023-buy-all-points-at-29-off-earn-elite-points/

basically 12,000 status points and 75,000 reward points per year. So you still need to earn 2000 status points for platinum which equates to 800 Euro of additional spend. Of course you still need to spend the 75,000 points (1500 euro ).

 

[drron]

Welcome on board Traveler999.
---
One good thing, and I might read it wrong, but does/it does count as activity, doesnt it?
I mean like, to keep activity in the IHG account alive, if not staying in a hotel, but buying points, whether or not in a current booking, or not.
===
I calculated I would have 6000 IHG points after my last stay, but for some reason, the system gave me 3000 more IHG points, which I didnt ask/apply for.
So, its a great surprise.
ALL Accor does not allow buying of points, I dont think, other wise I would have bought points during Covid when we were all stuck and couldnt fly or stay in hotels, as they were used as Q facs.

These are points you can only buy with a booking.They are counted as qualifying points for status which is why they are attractive.
Buying points without a booking are not counted towards status and are more expensive.Nothing in the T&Cs seems to say they are actuvity but this from their website possibly says no.

 

[SYD]

These are points you can only buy with a booking.They are counted as qualifying points for status which is why they are attractive.
Buying points without a booking are not counted towards status and are more expensive.Nothing in the T&Cs seems to say they are actuvity but this from their website possibly says no.

View attachment 384266

Pretty sure buying IHG points does count as activity. Transferring points to someone is enough to keep their balance active for another 12 mths (have done that a couple of times). Similarly, something like e-Rewards transfer will also keep a balance active.

Re Accor, there’s no real point to “buying” points because they just equate to €40 discount for 2000 pts.

 

[oz_mark]

IHG lists buying points as a way of keeping them active.

https://www.ihg.com/onerewards/content/us/en/maintain-points

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Both All and IHG, they have both opened cheaper options than the CBD hotels in the their group, at Mawson Lakes and Clovelly Pk, in the northern and southern suburbs of Adelaide, quite cheap, and it was quite recent.
Before these 2, keeping points alive was hard, seeing usually how expensive both hotel groups are, in looking at CBD hotel prices.
Might pay each of these a visit before my 12 months points expiry in each.
And yes, for those of you who know, Mawsons and Clovelly Pk are not the ideal, ie, they have had some "troubles in the burbs/bad connotation", ...
Thanks for your replies tho.
Good to know of options.