Update: While the hotels were live for booking just before/after noon Eastern time, IHG is experiencing an IT outage at the moment and we are unable to book or view bookings. When I try to bring up the bookings on made in the IHG app, I get the following error:
I am not yet aware of a timeline for fixing this. I would recommend continuously checking back on the individual hotel page or within the app. We will also update if and when we see a change. Original post follows.
On Friday, we wrote about the new IHG PointBreaks list — hotels at which you will be able to make a booking for just 5,000 IHG Points per night. That list is now live for booking. Note that IHG has made a few small changes, removing a few properties. See the link to the current list below.
The Deal
- IHG PointBreaks hotels available for 5,000 IHG points per night
- Click here to go to the full list (Note that this page may not have updated yet — bookings are working on individual hotel pages as of 11:55am Eastern time. See our post from Friday for links to individual hotels)
Key Terms
- Valid for travel from July 31 to October 31, 2017
- Each member can make no more than 2 bookings per hotel
- Capacity restricted — the best places sell out of PointBreaks rates quickly, so make your move
Quick Thoughts
As noted on Friday, there are a couple of interesting properties on the list, but I mostly view PointBreaks for a cheap place to stay on the way to where I’m going or an opportunity to discover a random town within a reasonable drive. As someone who just loves to travel, I enjoy spending a night or two in a town I wouldn’t otherwise visit and trying its restaurants and seeing its sites. If there is a place on the list that fits the bill for you, now is the time to book.
[…] We have written about past promotions to buy IHG points for less than half a penny each. It appears that a similar promotion is back, but it is targeted. A couple of days ago, reader Biggie F commented on a previous post to note that he had found a rate offering points as low as 0.46 cents per point. I proceeded to check that hotel for every single date in September and did not find the same rate (while also checking a number of other cities). However, this morning, Doctor of Credit is reporting the promotion as well for discounted cash copays on stays through 9/30/17. In the past, this promotion was targeted to Chase IHG credit card holders. However, neither Greg nor I are seeing these rates and we are both card holders — apparently, this one is more closely targeted than past promotions. But if you’re in the market for IHG points, it’s worth logging in to check for this offer as you can certainly get much more value out of the points with the right redemptions, such as IHG PointBreaks. […]
I finally was able to figure out that the dates were available, just not for a room with a 4 person occupancy. Only rooms left were for a maximum of two people.
I was able to make six Points Break reservations within the promotion dates for the same hotel. Will IHG cancel some since it’s more than two reservations?
Currently I am trying to book a reward night hotel. My query comes back reward night you have chosen is not available. Then it allows me to “choose from available reward night dates” and when I choose the ones in blue which are supposedly available, it still says unavailable. Does that just mean I can’t book one yet? Thank you for your help!
Just an update: I can now view my reservations in the app again. Worth trying again if you’ve had trouble attempting a booking.
Just a reminder, you can book and then cancel the reservation to extend the validity of your points by another 12 months.
I have updated the post as it seems that IHG is having a major IT systems failure. I recommend continuously checking back as it is likely that some hotels could become bookable at any time and perhaps not all at the same time.
Had trouble booking online around 12:15pm I had success 30 minutes ago calling into central reservations. After receiving a confirmation email for the reservation I decided to call the hotel to confirm verbally as well.
If your points disappear, I do believe that means it works. But I had it where it confirmed, then said there was an error too. But that happened three months ago and actually ended up booking. So who knows, I called the IHG and had them send an email to the hotel manager.
The link to hotels is showing the old list
The link to the list of hotels often shows the old list for a while after going live. That’s why I recommended that you go to the individual hotel page if the list is still showing the old hotels. The best hotels sometimes sell out before that page is updated. In this case, there is an IT issue that may prevent you from being able to book anyway (I’ve updated the post), but I recommend going to the individual hotel page for the hotel you want to book and trying until it works.
There is an IT outage right now… figures. Can’t book anything, although my points keep disappearing after I attempt to book.
Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately not working for me at multiple hotels, multiple dates. Have you had any further success?
I can’t book anything online and the reservation person couldn’t either, although after long wait for her to investigate, she just disconnected me!
Go to the individual hotel page and try to book there. I had already booked one before posting this and made a second reservation after posting this. Hotels do sell out of these rates quickly.