Buying extra IHG points with your booking

[Mattg]

IHG One Rewards often provides the option to purchase an additional points package along with your room when you make a booking. But has anyone else noticed that the prices for this can really vary?

For example, I was just offered these options when booking the Crowne Plaza in Burwood, which don't really make sense:



Yet, at Hotel Indigo in Bangkok last month I was offered these prices:




I find that IHG points are worth around AUD10 per 1,000.

Needless to say, I was happy to pay $10 for 5,000 points at Hotel Indigo but declined the Crowne Plaza offers!

 

[Lynda2475]

Interesting, Ive never bothered to buy points with a stay, but the Indigo prices certainly a lot cheaper than the recent IHG offer sent to Diamonds who dd not even reach Platinum this year to buy points to keep our status - it was 100k points for US$1250 (approx AU$1,875) which works our to be 53 points/$1 which I deemed poor value.

 

[drron]

However the points you buy with a stay are not equal to the general offers to buy points.
They are elite qualifying points. So the Indigo offer is a good one and far better than what they are offering for Diamond requalification.
So in the hotel Indigo instance buying 5000 points for $A10 means if you spent 24 nights just those extra points would qualify you as Diamond so a total expenditure of $A240 for diamond membership. even better than the previous qualify by continuing your ambassador Membership. It is why with just 29 nights with IHG I am only 8000 points from requalifying Diamond.

However I changed my own goalposts when I discovered that staying 40 nights your reward can be lounge access for a year. Which I will accomplish on 30/12. So will have way too many points. Unfortunately they don't roll over excess qualifying points.

 

[Lynda2475]

Incorrect the current targeted Diamond requalifying offers are also Ellite Qualifying Points, but very over priced.

 

[drron]

Incorrect the current targeted Diamond requalifying offers are also Ellite Qualifying Points, but very over priced.

I said that it was the points that you can buy anytime that are not EQP.

 

[Lynda2475]

I said that it was the points that you can buy anytime that are not EQP.

Maybe what you meant to say but not what you said.

However the points you buy with a stay are not equal to the general offers to buy points.
They are elite qualifying points

t reads if you are saying the stay points are EQPs not that the targeted (the offer I am talking about is not open to the general public) are EQPs.

 

[http_x92]

Saw offers like that especially for HIX hotels where they have 5000 extra points per night and it does contribute towards status by points. Could be worth it if chasing Diamond but YMMV. 120k is a lot though.

 

[Mattg]

Maybe what you meant to say but not what you said.



Reads as if you they stay points are EQPs not that the targeted (the offer I am talking about is not open to the general public) are EQPs.

If I'm not mistaken, extra points that you buy as an add-on to a stay do count as "status qualifying points" towards status generally. I don't think @drron was referring to that specific current promotional offer.

A German blog I follow covered this a few months ago. (You can use Google Translate)

Also see here: https://www.ihg.com/content/us/en/customer-care/member-tc

I'm pretty sure this would count as a Bonus Points Package:

 

[dairyfloss]

However I changed my own goalposts when I discovered that staying 40 nights your reward can be lounge access for a year. Which I will accomplish on 30/12. So will have way too many points. Unfortunately they don't roll over excess qualifying points.

Make sure you don't score an own goal, as well, by redeeming that IHG lounge pass in 2023... do it in January 2024, and you should actually get 2 years of lounge status, through the end of 2025 (like how the status works)

 

[drron]

Maybe what you meant to say but not what you said.



t reads if you are saying the stay points are EQPs not that the targeted (the offer I am talking about is not open to the general public) are EQPs.

The relevant line of my post.
However the points you buy with a stay are not equal to the general offers to buy points.
The diamond requalification is not a general offer available to everyone. not the first time you have misinterpreted my posts.

 

[oz_mark]

I find that the prices can vary widely, even at the same property.
(as with drron, I find their main value is that they are EQP)

 

[SYD]

I find that the prices can vary widely, even at the same property.
(as with drron, I find their main value is that they are EQP)

Which obviously makes them more valuable than the regular “reward” points that you can buy any day or occasionally up to 100% bonus (which is about the same as the P&P hack).

Assuming you’re chasing status.

 

[oz_mark]

Which obviously makes them more valuable than the regular “reward” points that you can buy any day or occasionally up to 100% bonus (which is about the same as the P&P hack).

Assuming you’re chasing status.

It's how I got to DIamond (or maybe it was Spire) originally.

I do need to work out my approach next year since the Ambassador thing no longer works.

 

[SYD]

I do need to work out my approach next year since the Ambassador thing no longer works.

More of these bonus points stays!

OT, but I’m curious to see what actually happens when our year rolls over.

 

[http_x92]

Probably the strategy is to have HIX stays with 5000 points per nights rates that counts towards EQP throughout the year. Need to do it for at least 15-20 nights throughout the year (on top of the base points) to get Diamond. HIXs are more likely to have the 5000 points package. Have found a few CPs with it but only for a few dates.

 

[drron]

Probably the strategy is to have HIX stays with 5000 points per nights rates that counts towards EQP throughout the year. Need to do it for at least 15-20 nights throughout the year (on top of the base points) to get Diamond. HIXs are more likely to have the 5000 points package. Have found a few CPs with it but only for a few dates.

Though I have had the extra points at ICs and the one Kimpton We have stayed at. I have found hotels in Asia tend to be more likely to have the points offer and at lower rates.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Just one thing to note:
Buying IHG points occurs in USD$, just be prepared for this if/when you buy the points.
I had the funds available, and when I looked on the IHG website, it didn't say USD$.
Bought 3,000 IHG points, have 5,000 and needed 8,000.
No discount this time round tho.
---
Ah, just saw, mine was a straight top up, ie, straight purchase of IHG points, not part of a current booking.
Saw that some doing it as part of a booking, have the chance to pay in AUD$.

 

[SYD]

Just one thing to note:
Buying IHG points occurs in USD$, just be prepared for this if/when you buy the points.
I had the funds available, and when I looked on the IHG website, it didn't say USD$.
Bought 3,000 IHG points, have 5,000 and needed 8,000.
No discount this time round tho.
---
Ah, just saw, mine was a straight top up, ie, straight purchase of IHG points, not part of a current booking.
Saw that some doing it as part of a booking, have the chance to pay in AUD$.

The points referred to in this thread are bonus points you earn that count towards status and future reward stays. They’re usually in local currency and an add on to the base room rate.

Otherwise, topping up reward points is charged in USD and can be quite expensive unless there’s a 100% bonus promo.

Booking a “Points + Cash” stay (if the room type is available) is usually cheaper than just buying top-up points (even during most promos). You’re effectively buying the extra points for a full points stay but often at about half the cost. The cash component is normally in local currency.

Here‘s an example of the HI Potts Point.

If you had 16,000 pts and needed the extra 10,000 pts for one night stay in this example you’d pay A$97. If you bought 10,000 top up points separately, you’d pay US$135!

Note: if you had to cancel the stay in the example, you’d be refunded 26,000 pts.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Thanks SYD.
Will keep this in mind for future IHG stays.

 

[bussyboy]

For a 2 night stay, this will be 10k points for the $78 I'm being charged, right?