New IHG BreakPoints List Released & Why I Don’t Care
RANT ALERT: I know this is most likely post 1,473 about the IHG BreakPoints list that you have seen today. But I can assure you this one should be different. Remember back in the day when IHG put craptastic Holiday Inns on a list for 5,000 points? Yeah me too. I used to enjoy that list because 5K is 5K, essentially nothing. It even made transferring Ultimate Rewards to IHG a plausible option at times. Gasp! I know, that is crazy right? Well the latest list was released and there were a whopping 9 – 5K properties. Only Texas was graced with landing on the 5K list in the entire United States. If you needed to head to the Decatur medical center it probably isn’t a good thing but at least you can get that room for cheap.
The List
For those of you that care about checking out the list here is the link. I remember when the news of the tiered PointsBreak list came out and we all were hoping it would lead to better options. There are more Intercontinental & Crowne Plaza hotels on the list but I wanted to see better locations versus better brands. Now the Intercontinental Sofia looks awesome but I’m most likely never going to go there.
I’ll take Michigan for example. There are only 3 hotels on the entire list and they all fall in the 10K per night category. They are all Holiday Inn Express hotels and they are in Kalamzoo, Grand Rapids (Airport), and Allen Park. All 3 of these hotels should be 10K all the time because no one wants to go there. Trust me these are terrible options. You are telling me you couldn’t add the Crowne Plaza Detroit for 15,000 or the Holiday Inn downtown? That would add value. A Holiday Inn Express down river is not value. If these hotels were still 5K a night then who cares because the expectations are not very high. But when you raise the prices but roll out the same junk then that is a disgrace. And this coming on the heels of IHG saying they are introducing variable pricing to “enhance their members experience”. Sure and I have a bridge to sell ya! It sounds just like the promise of an “enhanced” PointsBreaks experience. Hmmmm….
I’m Over IHG
I have never been a huge fan of IHG because their points are hard to earn and they are almost on par with Hilton points in terms of value. That is a double whammy. At least Hilton gives their points away like candy.
The credit card also took a nose dive when they gutted the free night value. That means that IHG is now on the trash heap along with Marriott. If I can’t easily earn your points, and they are not very valuable to begin with, we can’t be friends. The PointsBreak list was one thing that made IHG unique but they took that out at the knees as well. Throw that free night devaluation salt in the wound and you have a recipe for peace out sauce. I feel sorry for the road warriors whose companies force them to frequent this brand.
Conclusion
Sorry that I went full rant on a simple post about a new PointsBreaks list but I am so tired of corporate double speak of “enhancements”. If you double and triple the price of something then make it better. Throw some major cities on the list that don’t include Airport in the name. And Boston-Waltham IS NOT BOSTON. 15,000 points for a $100 hotel – how is that a “deal”?
Don’t get me wrong there are a couple of quality 15K properties on the list. But I don’t see myself ever amassing 15,000 IHG points again. Especially since IHG decided to morph their popular accelerate promos into something hideous. I can’t believe I missed that earlier in my rant.
Are you in the pro rant camp or do you think the new PointsBreak set up is better? Let me know in the comments section.
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The new list is a JOKE, who in their right mind would even consider these locations let alone their limited selections.Looks like it’s time to relook their cards value.
I think the program is only going to get worse over the next few months with variable pricing.
I was never “in” with IHG though I have some points to use when I need an airport hotel somewhere. But really, I’m out on *all* hotel brands right now. After Marriott completed their merger last August and removed the excess value of mid-level loyalty I considered Hilton or Hyatt and even IHG. But I realized that there’s just nothing they offer that matters to me personally anymore. The biggest positive has always been “consistency” and return for loyalty; with the absence of the latter, I’m not willing to pay brand premiums for the former.
So now it’s locale and price and nothing else. If there’s every anything to draw me back to the chins I’ll be happy to help, but right now I get better “loyalty” with my UR and cash back from random hotels than hotel points.
For cash stays I think that is the best approach to have these days.
Are 4 stays of four nights in a row one stay or four? I s that now illegal?
I am not sure – hopefully someone can help us out who has tried it before.
Yup. I’m done giving these Point Break Lists “one more chance”. Amazing how quickly the best deal in Hotel programs went down the crapper. This list and the uncapped free night was why I’ve been more than willing to pay the credit card fee for the last few years, but now that both those benefits have been diluted to barely any benefit at all, I’m out too. I think I’ve got one last uncapped anniversary night from the card that should post here in a month or so and once that hits my account the card is history and time to burn what’s left of my points before those get devalued even more. But no hard feeling IHG, and thanks for giving me some great value for some great travel over the years. We had a decent run.
I should have one more weekend of free nights left between my card and my wife’s. Still undecided if I should cancel it before the annual fee is due or let it ride one more year. I originally thought I would still get good value out of the 35K free night from a $49 annual fee but I fear the variable pricing may make that harder to do.
This point breaks is awful-the only hotel by me is in a crime infested city! And my Accelerate promotion is so bad this quarter that despite having 1 4 night stay,1 3 night stay and a 1 night stay, I will earn 2000 points from it! And I loved Ihg-I almost always got a room upgrade unlike Hilton even though I am Diamond! And now variable pricing-yuck!!!
Wow that is a terrible Accelerate offer. The double points that Hilton rolls out pretty much every quarter would get you better than that 🙁
I think the only good option is Hotel Indigo Mt Pleasant, which is the next town to Charleston SC. Looks like May weekends cost over 200, so it is relative good value. Otherwise, nothing interesting this time…
Good tip Ray. I am guessing that one gets booked fast then.
Not a rant at all. You’re just telling it like it is.
It is sad that they have gone this far and look to keep pushing it further. I think that variable pricing is gonna wreck whatever value is left.
Looks like you have to take a trip to China for the Point Breaks list to matter anymore.
Yup or middle of nowhere Texas.
“Peace out sauce” – LOL
Haha knew you would like that Jody!
Still have the credit cards for now (both old and new) but of they destroy this further so you can’t redeem your free nights in any decent city, they are gone.
Agreed. I still have 2 of the old versions (me and my wife). I think I will keep them for $49 if the 35,000 point free night is still usable at decent places. But if the variable pricing makes every big city not obtainable then I will cancel them.
[…] The hotels are already bookable and will be through May 31, 2019. Remember, the good hotels go fast so book quickly. There is also coverage of this from One Mile at a Time, Million Mile Secrets, Loyalty Lobby, Frequent Miler, and more (as well as a nice rant from Mark @ Miles to Memories) […]
Really a big womp womp from me. As a Michigander living in the travel wasteland of metro Detroit, I love opportunities in the western part of the state. Grand Rapids – Airport and Kalamazo XYZ are not that. I really have liked IHG for the boring yet reliable lower-end hotels and relative ease of earning points via promotions like accelerate (when you get good ones), addressing note cards, etc. I don’t know why they’re racing to the bottom for point value and accessibility when their cheap properties were already so mediocre. I’m basically just going to be a Hyatt guy going forward, it seems.
I am Hyatt first and Hilton second when there is no Hyatt around. I love their Hyatt Place and Hyatt House lower tier properties. Man Michigan got destroyed in their latest category changes. So many properties in the state going up. If you are in the area and ever interested in coming to our meet up (usually once a month in Farmington Hills) let me know.
Hyatt. Then Hilton. Then all others.
Then IHG.
Then Wyndham.
Sounds like the perfect plan Ian! 🙂
I was really surprised with how sucky this list was too. I used to love IHG because they had lots of fun promos that were interesting and the Point Breaks list was exciting when it came out, but not now. The only property that I saw on the list that is a pretty good deal in a good location is the Crowne Plaza Toulouse. Great breakfast there, too, which we got free because of status from the card. And the room was great for a family of 4.
I agree the promos and the PB list used to be fun and worth keeping tabs on them and some points in your account to take advantage. It is only going to get worse with their new dynamic pricing.
Glad I spent my last 20k for 2 nights last Christmas.
I still have 5K in mine and my wife’s account – probably never find a 5K PB room to use them at though 🙁
Bravo. I love critical posts – most often the blogs here push stuff that make little to no sense after a bit of analysis just so that they can get clicks
Glad you enjoyed it Chris
I thought the last round of breakpoints was brutal, but this pile of garbage tops that 1. I live in Northern Illinois. Can you at least put 1 hotel in IL, Wi, maybe Iowa. I’ll take 5K, 10K, 15K. Y2K. You can’t put 1 hotel in the Chicago area. countless Holiday Inn X-Press properties in the Chicagoland Area. Not 1 is available for this program ? Can’t figure out what direction this program is going, but it’s not looking very promising. Sorry I went with the upgraded ihg rewards premier card for this spiraling downward program.
And the cash prices in the Chicagoland area are usually pretty reasonable (especially this time of year). You would think it would be the perfect place to add some hotels to the list from.
LoL…I am pro-RANT! I couldn’t agree more with you! You hit it right on the nose and you used great examples!
Thanks JB 🙂
I agree. I don’t know how other people say it is a good thing IHG expanded it have 5,000 to 15,000 point properties.
Other bloggers don’t seem to get it
dealswelike:
“Remember, last year, IHG was fully revamping their Point Break promotion — instead of hotels just costing 5,000 points, hotels will now cost either 5,000, 10,000 or 15,000 points. While hotels have gotten more expensive, they have increased the number of properties included on the list.”
Increased? Really? Dealswelike probably also believes when airlines say they have a new “enhancement”
I haven’t really looked at old lists vs new ones but I feel like the old ones used to have quite a few properties on it so I would think it is about the same. They definitely have better brand names on the list now but they still seem to be mostly in obscure out of the way places. I was hoping for more city center (even if only medium size cities).