Earn a 100% Bonus When You Buy or Gift IHG Points

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

Earning points and miles via the traditional method (actually flying or staying in hotels) is just one way to boost your account balance. Fortunately, travel providers make it relatively easy to accrue points and miles without traveling, whether through top credit card offers or by utilizing shopping portals. You can also purchase points or miles directly. This month has brought a slew of promotions from various programs like United, Alaska, Hilton, Hyatt and SPG, and now IHG has announced a similar offer to purchase points.

Here’s how this works: Through December 11, 2015, you’ll earn a flat bonus of 100% when you buy or gift IHG Rewards Club points. The usual price to purchase points depends on how many you buy, but with a 100% bonus, you’re essentially getting half off. Here’s a table that breaks down the regular price and the price through this promotion:

Here’s how to take advantage of the promotion:

1. Visit IHG’s Buy Points link.
2. Enter your information, select the number of points you want to purchase and click Continue.
3. Select the number of points you want to purchase (your name, account number and e-mail address should be pre-poulated) and click Continue.
4. Enter your credit card information and billing address and click Continue.
5. Confirm the details, check the box to agree to the Terms and Conditions and click Buy Now.

Keep in mind that the usual restrictions for purchasing IHG Rewards points apply to these transactions, including:

• You must have a positive account balance and have been active in the program within the last 30 days.
• You can purchase points in increments of 1,000 points up to a maximum of 60,000 points per transaction/calendar year (you can also receive an additional 60,000 points per calendar year).
• The points will post within 24-48 hours and do not count toward earning elite status.

Is This Worth It?

In TPG’s most recent valuations, he pegs IHG points at 0.7 cents apiece, so even at the lowest end of the bonus spectrum (purchasing 10,000 points or fewer) your cost per point is actually just below this amount. If you max out the promotion and purchase 60,000 points, you’ll take home a total of 120,000 points at a cost of $690. That’s good for three free nights at a Category 7 property like the InterContinental Resort & Spa Moorea or an incredible 24 free nights at one of the program’s PointBreaks properties that rotate every few months (check out the latest list here).

As always, be sure to crunch the numbers to make sure that you’re getting more value out of the redemption than you’d spend purchasing the points.

Remember too that there are many other ways to boost your IHG Rewards account balance (or earn a free night certificate). For example, the IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card currently offers you 60,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. The program is also a transfer partner of Ultimate Rewards, allowing you to boost your account from earnings on cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (though this typically isn’t a great strategy for redeeming Ultimate Rewards points for maximum value).

Bottom Line

This promotion likely isn’t for everyone, but if you have a specific redemption in mind, it could make sense to take advantage of it. IHG regularly offers promotions like this, including a 60% bonus last month and an identical 100% bonus back in June, though this one only lasts for a few days. Just remember that many IHG properties changed categories earlier this year, so you should definitely make sure you know how many points you’ll need for your redemption. You can also check out my list of 10 IHG Properties that Make for Awesome Award Redemptions and 7 Low-Level IHG Properties that Make for Awesome Awards for some inspiration for your next trip.

Will you be taking advantage of this new promotion?