IHG One Rewards has launched its first points sale of 2023. This round will last until March 21, 2023. (so you have more time than normal to think about it)
Most members seem to have received the 100% bonus offer. The bonus applies to purchases of 5,000 points or more. However, for the best deal you will want to buy at least 26,000 points (pre-bonus).
The regular price of IHG points is 1 cent each, whenever you buy at least 26,000 points in a single transaction. The annual limit is 150,000 points (so 300,000 doubled), although the annual limit is usually increased late in the year.
As a result, you can buy 52,000-300,000 points today and pay 0.5 cents per point.
Is it Worth It?
I certainly would NOT recommend that you buy points speculatively. However, I do like to keep a reasonable balance of IHG points handy, if only because their award pricing algorithm sometimes comes up with excellent bargains…
It’s not as easy as it was years ago – but you can definitely find many hotels where you will save money by buying points at the 0.5 cent price, instead of simply paying the cash price. This is especially true if you hold the IHG Rewards Club Premier card from Chase, where you get the 4th night free when booking award stays using points. And with IHG One Rewards seemingly planning to offer regular discounts on award stays, you definitely want to have enough points in your account to take advantage.
Of course, you also need to take into account the fact that you can earn substantial number of points on paid stays, especially when a good promotion is running.
Don’t Forget Cashback
If you are a member of Topcashback, you are hopefully aware that you can earn cashback on points purchases processed by Points.com. (including IHG of course)
An extra 2.1% discount is certainly worth the extra click.
Not a Member of Topcashback Yet?
If you are not yet a member of Topcashback, you can earn an additional $15. Simply sign up using this referral link – http://www.topcashback.com/join-us/inside-flyer/ref/craigsowerby – and earn $10 of cashback.
It’s really quite simple to earn $10 of cashback. You would have to buy $480 worth of IHG points to pick up $10 of cashback. Alternatively there are many hotel chains available where a single hotel stay will generate that much cashback. But between the $15 new member bonus and the $10 standard cashback, you’d be looking at $25 back in your pocket in no time!
