IHG Rewards is the hotel chain making the best effort this Black Friday / Cyber Monday. The most interesting element on offer is the 5x bonus point promotion – click here for details.
Another offer involves IHG Rewards’ Points + Cash alternative. Members can receive a 25% discount on the CASH portion when making a Points & Cash booking. The main terms are:
- You must BOOK before December 6, 2021
- You must STAY between December 27, 2021 and February 28, 2022
Worth it?
Points & Cash operates differently with IHG Rewards than with other hotel chains. You pay the CASH portion immediately upon booking, and this cash portion is NON-REFUNDABLE.
Essentially you are BUYING points at the time of booking and, if you cancel your reservation, your refund will come as points.
The end result is a reward booking. You won’t earn any points on the cash element. Nor does your reservation meet the requirements for any bonus point promotions.
Since IHG Rewards regularly sells points for 0.5 cents each, you must pay close attention to ensure that you are paying less than 0.5 cents per point when making a Points & Cash booking.
In my experience, this isn’t often the case. Just before these promotions start, IHG tends to increase the cash element – so that the 25% discount brings the price back down to where it was pre-sale.
But if do you happen to find a hotel where you are paying less than 0.5 cents per point, you can certainly make a few Points & Cash reservations, wait a few days, and then cancel for a full points refund –> you can generate points that cost you less than 0.5 cents…
