IHG One Rewards has launched another sale on the cash portion of its Points & Cash rates, this time for 20% across all brands. This not only provides an ok discount if you need a stay, but also could create an opportunity to buy IHG points for less than 0.5 cents per point.
The Deal
- Save 20% on the cash portion of Points & Cash bookings with IHG.
- Book by August 21st
- Stay through September
Key Terms
- This discount offer (“Offer”) is available to those IHG One Rewards members granted access to the discount when booking a Reward Night at a participating hotel through an official IHG online reservations site while signed into their IHG One Rewards account.
- To qualify for this Offer, Points & Cash bookings must be booked from August 7, 2025, to August 21, 2025, (the “Booking Window”) for stays from August 7, 2025, through September 26, 2025. A member must be logged in to their IHG One Rewards account at the time of booking to access the discount.
- The Offer is for a 20% discount on the cash portion of Points & Cash bookings. This 20% discount is offered at the time of booking and only applies to the cash portion of the booking.
- The cash portion of Points & Cash bookings are charged immediately in U.S. dollars, and for cancellations both the points and the cash components of the booking are refunded in points only.
- If the Reward Night is cancelled in accordance with Reward Nights terms and conditions and within the hotel’s cancellation policy, both the points used, and the points purchased in cash will be refunded in points only.
Quick Thoughts
It’s generally better value to pay entirely with cash or pay entirely with points when booking IHG stays. Where the Points & Cash option comes in handy is when IHG runs sales such as these, as they can be a way to pick up IHG points on the cheap.
That’s due to the way that IHG deals with Points & Cash bookings…or rather, cancellations. The cash effectively buys the additional points you need to make a reservation, so if you cancel your stay, you get refunded in points rather than in cash.
With the discount on the cash portion at 20%, it can be possible to buy points for just under half a cent apiece. Points & Cash values can sometimes vary based on the property, but Stephen found a good example.
The Iberostar Herceg Novi in Montenegro was charging 79,000 points per night on the dates Stephen checked (this has a minimum two-night stay), with several different Points & Cash options in order to redeem fewer points:
The best value here is the 29,000 points + $247 option. That $247 would buy you 50,000 points, so you’re effectively paying 0.494cpp – slightly less than when IHG offers a 100% bonus when buying points.
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What Tony said above, this does not show up for me.
The price I get, for instance, is 30,000/night or 5,000 points + $149, which effectively means buying 25,000 points for $149.
[…] Hat tip to FM […]
I frequently buy points via the 100% bonus sales (and have capped in the past 2 years) and seem to have been targeted for a 15% discount off the cash portion (instead of the full 20%). Nonetheless a pleasant surprise for me as historically I haven’t been eligible for the promotion and it allows me to dodge the point buy limit.
Another important factor involved with buying points through the cash+points and cancel method is that you are then buying points directly from IHG rather than points.com. This means that you could have a credit card category bonus for your purchase. In this case, an IHG credit card might be appropriate for many because of the multiplier on IHG purchases. This would, in essence, bring the sub 1/2¢ purchase price down even lower and provide additional points on the transaction.
Does this earn 10x pts on IHG Premier?
I believe this does not end up earning the category bonus per Reddit posts, but please let me know if it does
It’s clear that cash+points bookings aren’t coded as hotel stays, so they’re excluded from earning travel/hotel bonus points for most cards. However, based on its T&C, IHG’s own card doesn’t seem to exclude that possibility.
Isn’t that a $3 savings (50k x $0.00006)? Is the advantage the 3-4x CC points on direct hotel bookings?
I think the idea here is not as much to book, as to book and cancel later, collecting the points for a future stay where you could do a rewards redemption for 4th night free.
This is a targeted offer, only to certain IHG members (who appear to book IHG hotels less frequently with points).