We’ve written in the past about the IHG points and cash trick. Essentially, if you book an IHG points and cash reward stay, IHG sells you the points to make up the difference between the full points cost and the number of points you are contributing. If your plans later change and you cancel the stay, you will not receive a refund in cash, but rather in the points you purchased for the award.
Typically, points and cash awards allow you to buy points at the rate of about 0.57 cents per point. Recently, there has been some fluctuation in the cost of the cash portion. First, there was a specific promotion for IHG Rewards Credit Card holders for 15% off the cash portion of such an award, though that promotion required bookings to be made by February 12th for stays through March 31st. Currently, pricing has gotten even better — there are opportunities to buy IHG points for as little as 0.506 cents each.
Looking at the Holiday Inn Express Union Square, we can see a lot of fluctuation in the cash portion of the points and cash rate depending on the dates of stay:
But then we see the winner — April 1-2 at this property produced a cash rate of just $101 for 20,000 points — just 0.506 cents per point:
This phenomenon is not limited to a single property. Here is the Hotel Indigo Chicago Downtown Gold Coast for April 8-9th:
These rates appear available through April 30th. I see several Chicago properties at this rate on April 30th, but starting on May 1st the discounted cash portion disappears:
Judging from how widespread the discounts seem to be, it should be possible to find a number of other properties and dates. I’m also seeing points for sale at other price points between 0.506-0.55.
Best of luck searching!
HT: Reader Tom
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I know this older post, but how to you find these deals to buy the needed points at such a low rate? Is it hit or miss, do you have to just keep searching or ???
Thanks~
I am trying to get 3 nights @ 50k a night for June 2018.
I just signed up for 80k bonus credit card and my husband did too. I realized we can’t combine points but thought if I could find a deal like this, I would get the 15k I’ll need to book 2nd night [with 5k UA on acct] at a reasonable price and he can book the 3rd night with his points.
The nightly room rate is 531€ so it’s a great deal.
[…] per point — though we have occasionally posted about opportunities to buy them for closer to half a cent each. That makes the 85K signup bonus worth at least $425 — though you can certainly do better […]
[…] reported last month about some properties where it was possible to use this method to buy points from just .506 cents […]
[…] just 5,000 IHG points per night. Considering the fact that points can often be purchased for about a half a cent each (or in large quantity via Daily Getaways for a bit more), you could buy your way into a PointBreaks […]
[…] and cancelling Points & Cash stays as long as you have at least 5,000 points available. We recently described how it is sometimes possible to buy points for as little as 0.506 cents each t… That’s much better and easier than competing for Daily […]
Can you explain how you go,about this better? On your first holiday inn example with reduced rates, normally it is 40k per night. Points + cash is 20k points plus $101.20. So are you saying that you are essentially buying the 20k points to make it 40k points for 101.2? If so, where do you get the .57 cents per point to buy?
Sorry maybe I’m just a little confused…if you cancel the room and get the 101.2 back in points (the 20k difference) isn’t that essentially buying the points for roughly .005 cents per point…
Thanks
Careful with your decimals:
1 cent = $0.01
.5 cents = $0.005 (not the same as .005 cents)
.57 cents = $0.0057
.506 cents = $0.00506
The .57 cents rate is the usual rate. Normally, the cash portion in the example at the top is $115 ($115 / 20,000 = .57 cents per point). You can see that rate crossed out in the picture at the top of the post.
The reason we posted this deal is because of the $101.20 cash rates. Otherwise, you understood it — you’re buying 20k for $101.20.
$101.20 / 20,000 = $0.00506 — in other words, just over half a cent a point (.506 cents)
[…] of year, but if you hit dates with high prices and you are low on hotel points, you could check out this post on buying IHG points for just over half a penny each (or perhaps less for Spire Elite members). That won’t amount to much savings on the dates I […]
Discounts seem to depend on status: Gold will get 10% off, Platinum 12% and Spire 15%.
0.489 cents per point is not a bad deal if you are Spire
Nick:
Does the points purchase classify as “Hotel” or “Travel” when purchased with a Chase UR card? I am under the impression that using the IHG card will qualify for 5X, but I am wondering if receiving 2X or 3X UR points might be better. BTW, the charge appears as “IHG Rewards Club.”
Wrong post 🙂
On my screen the first cost has a red line through it
IHG® Rewards Club Reward Nights
35,000 Points
30,000 Points + $30.00 $25.50 USD
25,000 Points + $60.00 $51.00 USD
20,000 Points + $89.00 $75.65 USD
15,000 Points + $115.00 $97.75 USD
might be my status (spire elite – ambassador), not sure. I know I bought 20k for $97.5 * 6 so now my room in Moorea will cost me less than $200 per night with no taxes.
I’m just not sure how long to wait until I cancel the reservations. Any data points on that?
I have cancelled mine a day or two later and have never heard a peep from IHG.
Did you use a Chase UR card or the IHG card? Just wanted to know if Chase classifies the points purchase as 2X/3X (hotels or travel).
[…] 80% Bonus entspricht $6.39 / 1,000 Punkte. IHG rabattierte derzeit aber die Zuzahlungen bei points & cash – Raten, so kann man 20,000 Punkte für nur $103.50 erwerben ($5.18 / 1,000 Punkte). Das ist sogar besser als die 100% Promo (entspricht $5.75 / 1,000 Punkte). HT: Buy IHG points for 0.506 cents each! – Frequent Miler […]
Hotel Indigo Chicago dropped to $97.75 for 20k points
Which dates?
check in 4/8, out 4/9
Interesting. I checked both when you replied and now and I still see $101.20.
Will this extend my IHG points expiration? There’s no shopping portal so am wondering if I could use this instead. Thanks!
If you are interested they have dining portal.