Buy IHG Points for as low as 0.50 cents each (targeted)

IHG has again returned with a sale that’s giving up to a 100% bonus when buying their points. That means you can buy IHG Rewards points for as low as 0.5 cents per point (cpp).

It’s again labeled as a “mystery” bonus and appears to be targeted. My account is showing 100%, but my wife’s is showing 80%. In the past, that’s usually meant that most folks have the 100% bonus, but there could be some who have a lesser discount (like my wife).

Normally, members may only purchase a maximum of up to 150,000 points during a calendar year, but it has increased that to 250,000 during this promo.

The Deal

• Buy IHG Rewards points for as little as 0.50 cents per point when buying points with a 100% bonus.
  • Expires September 7th, 2024
• Direct link to offer (our affiliate link)

Key Terms

• This Offer is available for qualifying purchases of IHG One Rewards points made between 12:00 AM ET on July 25th, 2024 and 11:59 PM ET on September 7th, 2024 (“Offer Period”).
• Members will receive a bonus of up to 100% of the points purchased when they meet a minimum points purchase threshold on a per transaction basis.
• The percentage bonus amount will show for eligible members when they log into their IHG One Rewards account. (Please click through to access the landing page for the Offer.)
• The number of points a member may purchase, gift, or receive as a gift during the Offer Period is subject to annual limits under the IHG One Rewards Membership Terms and Conditions, which are available on www.ihg.com.
• Members may only purchase a maximum of up to 150,000 points during a calendar year, so the number of points a member can purchase will depend on how many points the member had already purchased during the same calendar year. However, during the Offer Period, members may purchase a maximum of up to 250,000 points. For example, if a member had previously purchased 50,000 points in 2024, then the member could only purchase up to a maximum of 200,000 points during the Offer Period and would be eligible to receive the applicable percentage of additional bonus points under this Offer based only on the amount of points purchased during the Offer Period.
• Similar limits apply to gifting points and receiving points as a gift: Members may purchase a maximum of 250,000 points during the promotional period only. Members may gift a maximum of 250,000 points or receive as a gift from another member a combined maximum of 250,000 points during the promotional period only. Points that have been already purchased, gifted or received as a gift in 2024 are included in the 250,000 points limit. If a member purchases points that exceed the 150,000 points threshold for 2024 then they cannot purchase points for the remainder of the calendar year.
• Purchased points, as well as any bonus points awarded under this Offer, do not count towards IHG One Rewards Elite status.
• This is an exclusive, non-transferable offer for intended recipients only and may not be forwarded. Offer is subject to change and cannot be combined with any other offer. Price includes all fees but subject to applicable taxes.
• Purchased Points are not refundable and are applicable toward all IHG One Rewards awards.

Best uses of IHG points

• 4th night free. Use points to book 4 nights for the price of 3. This benefit is valid on longer stays, so if staying 8 nights you’ll get both the 4th and 8th nights free. This benefit is available only to cardholders of the IHG Premier, Traveler and Business credit cards. Rather than reducing the total cost of the stay by 25%, the points required for every 4th night are deducted. Seeing as IHG uses dynamic pricing, that can be great if the 4th night is the most expensive, but not as good if that night is the cheapest. See this post for more about the possibilities.
• 10% points rebate. If you have the IHG Select credit card (no longer available for new applications), you’ll get a 10% points rebate when booking award stays. The points are credited back a few weeks after your stay, so you need to have the full number of points required for an award stay in your account. The 10% points rebate stacks with the 4th night free benefit if you have both an IHG Premier, Traveler or Business credit card and an IHG Select card, with the 4th night free being calculated first.
• Sweet spots with dynamic pricing. Although IHG uses dynamic pricing for award stays, award pricing isn’t always as high as the corresponding cash cost. For example, Stephen booked a stay at the Staybridge Suites Temecula-Wine Country in California. The average nightly cost was $258.81 with taxes and fees, but the points cost ranged from 19,000-23,000 points per night. Buying points at 0.5cpp would therefore enable you to stay for only $95-$115 per night at that award pricing – less than half the cost of a regular paid stay. Stacking the 4th night free and 10% points rebate reduced the cost of a 9 night stay there to only 14,500 points per night, or $72.50 per night when buying points at 0.5cpp. That was less than a third of the cost of a paid stay.

Things to know about IHG points

• When you book nights with points, you will not earn points for the stay unless IHG is running a promotion that awards bonus points per night/stay which includes award nights.
• Most hotel taxes are not charged on award stays, so this can make the value of buying points even better. Arguably, this factor and the one above roughly cancel each other out.
• IHG Rewards points purchases are made via Points.com. You can click through from a shopping portal to earn a little cashback on the purchase, thereby reducing your net cost for the points – you can find the current rates here.
• Points.com purchases don’t code as travel, so it’s best to pay with a card that earns at a higher rate for everyday spend or on a card where you’re working on a minimum spend requirement.

Past IHG points sales

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