Point Breaks
I have a couple of IHG news related items to bring you today. Â First off, IHG announced their next Point Breaks list. Â For those who don’t know, every two to three months IHG releases a list of hotels that are available for 5,000 points per night instead of their normal redemption rate. Â These sales are limited quantity and often times the best hotels sell out quickly.
The latest list is available for bookings from March 24, 2014 to May 31, 2014. Â It seems that every new list brings with it less and less of the upper tier properties. Â This time the list is mostly a mix of Holiday Inn & Holiday Inn Express properties with a few Intercontinental and Crowne Plaza locations thrown in. Â You can find the full list here.
Mystery Bonus
IHG is also running a bonus sale on the purchase of points. Â Accounts receive a bonus of 25-100% on points purchases. Â If you receive a bonus of 25% or 50% then this isn’t a great deal since you can always buy IHG points for $.007 each. (Search Google to find out how.) Let’s take a look at the cost and breakdown for bonuses of 75% & 100%.
Cost of Buying Points
You may purchase points in 1,000 increments:
- 1,000 – 10,000 points for $13.50 per 1,000 points
- 11,000 – 25,000 points for $12.50 per 1,000 points
- 26,000 – 60,000 points for $11.50 per 1,000 points
I would only consider purchasing 26,000 or more points since this comes at the cheapest cost. Â Let’s take a look at how it breaks down with either a 75% or a 100% bonus with a purchase of 26,000 points.
75% Bonus
Points Received – 45,500
Cost – $299
Cost per point – $.00657 (Less than the everyday $.007)
100% Bonus
Points Received – 52,000
Cost – $299
Cost per point – $.00575 (Less than the everyday $.007)
Analysis
If you receive one of the higher bonus amounts it may be a good idea to purchase points if you have a specific redemption in mind. Â I received the 100% bonus and am not sure at this point if I will utilize it since I already have a ton of IHG points.
As always it is a good idea to look at the cost of the hotel at which you will be staying to figure out if it is cheaper to purchase the points for your stay. Â Sometimes you will find it is and sometimes not. Â To find out your bonus amount click here.
Conclusion
IHG Point Breaks are a great way to stay in nice hotels for only 5,000 points per night. Â Combined with this promotion, you could certainly get a lot of wonderful stays for very little money. Â It is good to see IHG remaining competitive with their promotions. Â Hopefully I will get a chance to stay in one of the IHG Point Break hotels very soon! (As in a couple of days from now!)
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[…] world famous Point Breaks list will be released on Tuesday 5/27/14. They did preview a few of the properties which will be […]
[…] for this was that I am flush with points from the Big Win. Â My strategy for IHG is to seek out Point Breaks and good value properties. Â I usually don’t stay in their most expensive properties, because […]