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Chase has launched a new transfer bonus that gives a 60% bonus when transferring Ultimate Rewards to IHG One Rewards. While that might sound good, for the vast majority of folks, this deal isn’t worth doing.
The Deal
- Get a 60% bonus when transferring IHG One Rewards
Key Terms
- Expires March 1, 2024 at 11:59pm ET.
- Minimum Transfer is 1,000 points.
Quick Thoughts
Don’t get me wrong – we love IHG One Rewards points and can’t get enough of them. But IHG sells their points for 0.5cpp approximately every other month. There’s therefore almost no reason to ever transfer points from Chase to IHG, even with a transfer bonus, because you’ll end up getting far less than 1cpp of value from your Ultimate Rewards.
If you were to transfer 20,000 Ultimate Rewards to IHG with this bonus, you’ll get 32,000 IHG One Rewards points. However, you could instead cash out those same 20,000 Ultimate Rewards for $200 and buy 40,000 IHG One Rewards points during when they’re offered at 0.5 cents each. That’s still not a great Ultimate Rewards redemption, since you’re only getting 1cpp of value from them, but it’s still better than transferring to IHG.
The only possible reason I can think of that you might want to take advantage of this transfer bonus is if you simply need 1,000-2,000 points for a redemption, because buying that small of an amount would cost you more than 1cpp, even during a sale. Otherwise, stay away.
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I’m deciding between two all inclusive resorts in Cancun – The Iberostar Grand Paraíso and the Hyatt Dreams Jade Resort. I have 89k Chase Points available right now.
I can stay at the Dreams resort for 4 nights for right at 89k points. I can stay at the Iberostar resort for 4 nights for 140k points. With the 60% bonus transfer, I’d have 142k IGH Rewards Points to spend on what I perceive to be a nicer property.
Am I missing something here? Totally get that the IGH Rewards Points aren’t worth as much on a point-by-point basis as they are with Hyatt, but with this transfer bonus and what I’m trying to do, it seems to make more sense.
If that’s what you’re set on doing with your Ultimate Rewards, using them for the property you want at the same cost is reasonable. I’m not sure whether or not the Iberostar that you’re looking at charges a resort fee, but be aware that IHG does not waive those on awards stays (unlike Hyatt).
That said, I’d think about whether or not using your UR for this trip is a good option. You can buy those 142,000 IHG points for $710, so you’d effectively be getting around 0.8 cents per point for your Ultimate Rewards. That’s not a great rate (which it sounds like you’re already aware of).
It would be worth seeing what the cost would be to book that Iberostar directly through the Chase Travel portal. Since you can transfer to IHG, I’m assuming that you have either the Ink Business Preferred, Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve. You can use UR on the travel portal at a rate of 1.5 cents each if you have the Reserve and 1.25 cents for the other two. You may find that it’s cheaper to go that route than to transfer the points to IHG first.
Appreciate the info here, Tim.
Just looked at the Chase travel portal route and I’d be looking at all 89k of my points + $2,100. Kinda crazy.
Ended up paying cash for the flights so am trying to essentially get the stay for “free”. Trip is scheduled for March, so I really should just buy the points and save my current Chase points for another trip.
Hey Bob, just to confirm…are you certain that the Iberostar that you’re looking at is 142,000 points for four nights and not per night? Given the cash price you’re seeing on Chase, that would be an amazing deal for 142,000 IHG points….especially the way IHG prices Iberostar. I took a look at four night stays in March and most properties were around 120K-150K per night.
Even still, I would rather just do a points plus cash booking and pay like $30 for 5000 points rather than transfer 1000 or 2000 Chase points. Opportunity cost.
Do they ever off more than 60%