For most of us, loyalty programs are judged by how rewarding they are. Which means that it’s not enough to simply offer a wide range of attractive awards. The awards must be affordable. InterContinental Hotels Group seems to get that.

Last week, the company published its latest quarterly list of PointBreaks hotels, available for award booking at just 5,000 points per night. With only 106 participating hotels, it was among the shortest list of discounted hotels in recent memory. But, well, you know what they say about gift horses.

Offer Details

This week, IHG is promoting yet another award sale, this time a 50 percent discount on award prices at select hotels in Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Once again, it’s a short list: just 25 hotels in all. Represented are 16 hotels in Mexico, including the Presidente InterContinentals in Cancun and Cozumel, and nine hotels in Latin America and the Caribbean, including the InterContinental San Juan Puerto Rico.

Bookings at the discounted rates must be made between August 6 and August 12, for stays completed between August 7 and October 27.

Deal or No Deal

Yes, the list is short. But it includes some attractive properties, in some desirable locations.

And 50 percent discounts don’t come around every day.

Another gift horse. You know what to do (and not to do) with it.

After 20 years working in the travel industry, and almost that long writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.

This article first appeared on SmarterTravel.com, where Tim is Editor-at-Large.