Buy IHG points with 100% bonus till 3 June 2016
IHG Rewards Club is offering a 100% bonus on all points purchased till 3 June 2016. This is a pretty good offer (you rarely, if ever, get more than 100% bonuses), and is open to all members of the program without restrictions. Here's why you should consider this promotion seriously.
Past promotions have tended to offer graded bonuses going up to 100%, but the actual bonus depended on how many base points you bought. This current promotion, however, offers 100% bonus on whatever number of points you buy.
You can buy up 60,000 points, thereby earning you a further 60,000 bonus points. That would get you 120,000 points for $690, which works out to about Rs 46,300 at current exchange rates (or an effective price of Rs 0.39 per point).
Here at MAEM, we value IHG Rewards Club points at Rs 0.26 apiece, but that's no reason to ignore this current offer, given the 100% bonuses.
For a start, you could buy 5,000 points (that's a total of 10,000 points with the bonus) for $67.50 (Rs 4,500 approx.), that can get you 2 nights at an IHG Point Breaks property (5,000 points a night). The latest set of Point Breaks, valid till 31 July 2016, are available here, including 2 India hotels. You'll find that the price you pay to buy those points more than sufficiently covers the retail price for these hotels.
Secondly, going by current retail prices, I find value (however large or small) in using points instead of cash, for rooms at the following hotels:
For instance, you can buy 50,000 points for $575 (Rs 38,600), yielding 100,000 points total including the bonus. This will get you 4 nights at the Intercontinental Marine Drive, Mumbai, which otherwise prices out at an average of $170 a night plus taxes, or $680++.
If you bought points under this promotion instead, you'd save at least $105, not counting taxes, on that 4-night stay.
Intercontinental Mumbai room
You can determine for yourself if it is worth buying points under this promotion, instead of paying cash for room nights. Simply multiply the number of points required for an award night by Rs 0.39. If the resultant number (what you'd pay to buy the points) is lower than the retail price (including taxes), then you're better off buying points instead of paying cash.
The best value for buying points under promotions like this, are at aspirational properties such as the Intercontinental Bora Bora, Intercontinental Sydney or even the Intercontinental Hong Kong. These used to cost 50,000 points a night, until the revision in January this year, after which they now cost 60,000 points a night. Even so, some of those properties will give you good value if booked with points, over cash prices.
Readers: Are any of you folks planning to buy points under this promotion? Do let us know your redemption plans as well!
Past promotions have tended to offer graded bonuses going up to 100%, but the actual bonus depended on how many base points you bought. This current promotion, however, offers 100% bonus on whatever number of points you buy.
You can buy up 60,000 points, thereby earning you a further 60,000 bonus points. That would get you 120,000 points for $690, which works out to about Rs 46,300 at current exchange rates (or an effective price of Rs 0.39 per point).
Here at MAEM, we value IHG Rewards Club points at Rs 0.26 apiece, but that's no reason to ignore this current offer, given the 100% bonuses.
For a start, you could buy 5,000 points (that's a total of 10,000 points with the bonus) for $67.50 (Rs 4,500 approx.), that can get you 2 nights at an IHG Point Breaks property (5,000 points a night). The latest set of Point Breaks, valid till 31 July 2016, are available here, including 2 India hotels. You'll find that the price you pay to buy those points more than sufficiently covers the retail price for these hotels.
Secondly, going by current retail prices, I find value (however large or small) in using points instead of cash, for rooms at the following hotels:
- Holiday Inn, Pune (Cat 1 - 10,000 points a night)
- Holiday Inn Mumbai International Airport, Mumbai (Cat 2 - 15,000 points a night)
- Holiday Inn Mayur Vihar, Noida (Cat 2 - 15,000 points a night)
- Intercontinental Marine Drive, Mumbai (Cat 4 - 25,000 points a night).
For instance, you can buy 50,000 points for $575 (Rs 38,600), yielding 100,000 points total including the bonus. This will get you 4 nights at the Intercontinental Marine Drive, Mumbai, which otherwise prices out at an average of $170 a night plus taxes, or $680++.
If you bought points under this promotion instead, you'd save at least $105, not counting taxes, on that 4-night stay.
You can determine for yourself if it is worth buying points under this promotion, instead of paying cash for room nights. Simply multiply the number of points required for an award night by Rs 0.39. If the resultant number (what you'd pay to buy the points) is lower than the retail price (including taxes), then you're better off buying points instead of paying cash.
The best value for buying points under promotions like this, are at aspirational properties such as the Intercontinental Bora Bora, Intercontinental Sydney or even the Intercontinental Hong Kong. These used to cost 50,000 points a night, until the revision in January this year, after which they now cost 60,000 points a night. Even so, some of those properties will give you good value if booked with points, over cash prices.
Conclusion
I maintain that I would never speculatively buy points. That said, this 100% bonus points sale could be worth it if you have stays planned, and you come out ahead using points over cash (in the way I've mentioned earlier in this post).Readers: Are any of you folks planning to buy points under this promotion? Do let us know your redemption plans as well!
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