(EXPIRED) Buy IHG Points for as low as 0.5 cents each

IHG has returned with another sale, offering a 100% bonus when buying points. That means you can buy IHG Rewards points for as low as 0.5. cents per point (cpp). This is a limited-time sale that ends June 12, 2026.

As always, this might be targeted, and sometimes members have different bonus amounts or tier thresholds.

Also of note is that while the maximum number of purchased points is ordinarily 200,000 before the bonus, it appears that the limit has been increased to 300,000 before the bonus this time (which would mean a total of 600,000 points at 0.5cpp with the bonus).

If you find that Points.com won’t accept your IHG login details, you should still be able to buy the points if you click through from an IHG email about this points sale, or by clicking through from the IHG app.

The Deal

• Buy IHG Rewards points for 0.5 cents per point when buying points with an 80% bonus.
  • Must purchase a minimum of 5,000 points to receive the bonus.
  • You must purchase at least 26,000 points to get the lowest cost of 0.5 cents per point.
• 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 May 18, 2026 and 11:59 PM ET on June 12, 2026 (“Offer Period”).
• Members will receive a bonus of 100% of the points purchased when they purchase a minimum 5,000 points purchase threshold on a per transaction basis.
• There is a minimum points purchase threshold on a per transaction basis to be eligible for a bonus. 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 purchase a maximum of up to 200,000 points during a calendar year, but it looks like the limit has been increased to 300K before the bonus for this sale (so up to 600K if you haven’t yet bought points this year). The number of points a member can purchase during the Offer Period will depend on how many points the member had already purchased during the same calendar year. For example, if a member had previously purchased 50,000 points in 2026, then the member could only purchase up to a maximum of 250,000 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 gift up to a maximum of 300,000 points, or receive as gifts from other members a combined maximum of up to 300,000 points, during the Offer Period, subject to reduction by the number of points that have been already gifted, or received as a gift, in the same calendar year. If a member purchases points that exceed the 300,000 points threshold for 2026 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.
• Please allow up to 72 hours for points to post and appear in the recipient’s account.

Best uses of IHG points

• 4th night free. Use points to book 4 nights for the price of 3. This benefit is valid for longer stays, so if you’re 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 to 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 a 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.
• A couple of readers report that some card-linked IHG spending offers are triggered by points purchases, despite payment being processed by Points.com rather than IHG. See the discussion thread here.

Past IHG points sales

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.