IHG flash sale - up to 100% bonus

[RooFlyer]

I just got an offer to buy IHG points; 100% bonus kicks in at 11,000 points purchased for US$126.50. Buy 50,000, get 50,000 bonus for US$500.

100,000 purchased, 100,000 bonus for US$1,000.

Never looked at buying their points before. Does this look like good value?

Offer doesn't appear in the app, nor web site logged in ... but e-mail appears genuine.

 

[SYD]

I just got an offer to buy IHG points; 100% bonus kicks in at 11,000 points purchased for US$126.50. Buy 50,000, get 50,000 bonus for US$500.

100,000 purchased, 100,000 bonus for US$1,000.

Never looked at buying their points before. Does this look like good value?

Offer doesn't appear in the app, nor web site logged in ... but e-mail appears genuine.

If you have a stay in mind and need extra points, it’s as good as it gets (short of points from stays).

The next best is points + pay but you unfortunately need to cancel and have the total refunded as points.

Back in the Priority Club days, buying points counted to towards status recognition! Long, long gone now.

Edit: and my email went to Spam…

 

[drron]

In general buying points isn't that great.
You might get an extra 10% value on what you paid.

That said occasionally it can be very good value. During Covid we had a week at the IC Hayman island. the cost was over $1000 a night. They had a similiar flash sale so I bought the points as it was only 70000 points per night as an award. Now that was great value.
On the other hand I looked at a Tokyo IC. Using points from this sale would cost ~$A470 a night but you could buy the room for $510. Not a great saving. On top of that if you pay the flexible rate you can buy 1-5000 points at a reasonable rate that are qualifying points.

 

[Lost Redditor]

Buying points extends expiration period, right? I just got an email saying my points will expire next month but I have no travel booked until September

Edit: I bought 10k + 11k bonus. Expiry warning went away, and I get some cheapish points

 

[SYD]

In general buying points isn't that great.
You might get an extra 10% value on what you paid.

That said occasionally it can be very good value. During Covid we had a week at the IC Hayman island. the cost was over $1000 a night. They had a similiar flash sale so I bought the points as it was only 70000 points per night as an award. Now that was great value.
On the other hand I looked at a Tokyo IC. Using points from this sale would cost ~$A470 a night but you could buy the room for $510. Not a great saving. On top of that if you pay the flexible rate you can buy 1-5000 points at a reasonable rate that are qualifying points.

When the AUD is up against the USD, the 100% bonus promos can be compelling.

Buying points extends expiration period, right? I just got an email saying my points will expire next month but I have no travel booked until September

Edit: I bought 10k + 11k bonus. Expiry warning went away, and I get some cheapish points

Yep. Normally a last resort but works immediately.

e-Rewards is a good option to keep points alive if one doesn’t have IHG status.

 

[RooFlyer]

I just priced purchasing the number of points for a couple of random domestic stays - purchasing the points incl bonus was always more expensive than the cash for a stay.

So I'll pass - plus, per the Accor thread, I probably will focus on Accor for now, given the number of stays I am going to book in France and Germany over a couple of upcoming trips.

 

[levelnine]

They're great value when combined with IHG's 4th night free, but unfortunately that's only available to US IHG credit card holders.

Otherwise, you're generally going to break even at most because IHG regularly offers very generous cash back on paid stays (10+%) through the usual cash back portals.

 

[FishFood]

I priced up some domestic stays and it works out more expensive, the value I find can be in upper end hotels where the point cost is reasonable. Last year I stayed 4 nights at Regent Taipei for $280 per night, which was a discount on the cash cost

 

[SYD]

Yeah. As I mentioned earlier, the AUD to USD needs to be a lot better to make it more attractive.

 

[Lost Redditor]

I priced up some domestic stays and it works out more expensive, the value I find can be in upper end hotels where the point cost is reasonable. Last year I stayed 4 nights at Regent Taipei for $280 per night, which was a discount on the cash cost

Yeah I looked at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport and that ended up being only a minor saving when booking on points. More upscale is where there's value
, I agree

 

[RooFlyer]

Here's some commentary by Head for Points, for anyone interested

IHG hotel news: a European and Asian sale, targeted bonus points offers — Head for Points

Three bits of IHG One Rewards news in brief: Get a 100% bonus buying IHG points - one week only For the next seven days, IHG One Rewards is offering a 100% bonus for buying points. This offer runs to 29th June. For me, the maximum number of points I…

www.headforpoints.com

 

[SYD]

Here's some commentary by Head for Points, for anyone interested

IHG hotel news: a European and Asian sale, targeted bonus points offers — Head for Points

Three bits of IHG One Rewards news in brief: Get a 100% bonus buying IHG points - one week only For the next seven days, IHG One Rewards is offering a 100% bonus for buying points. This offer runs to 29th June. For me, the maximum number of points I…

www.headforpoints.com

I was reading that earlier.

Also, over on FT peeps mentioning that they’re buying the max - consistent with better value for us with a stringer Aussie Battler. Parity or better preferably!

 

[burmans]

I think all of these offers should come with the caveat to do your own research and have specific deals in mind. Sometimes it’s good value, sometimes it isn’t, not for those who don’t want to think much.