I do not recall seeing this before today but it appears that there is a new promo going on with IHG. It is giving a 20% discount on the Points & Cash offers which means that the amount of cash you need to book a room is now quite a bit less. This also works to get IHG points down to .5 cents per point if you book with maximum points & $100 cash for hotels. Let’s take a look.
Buy IHG Points for 1/2 Cents Each with this IHG 20% Discount on Points & Cash
I am assuming this is either a limited-time deal or a mistake in the system and that it is meant for elite members or cardholders. Because when I sign-in to my account (non-elite), it says this:
“As a Club member, you are eligible for a 20% discount on Points & Cash.”
Well, that sounds fine except the only way you can book a Points & Cash rate is if you have points – and you cannot have points unless you are a Club member! So, maybe it is supposed to be for elite’s but this is a soft-launch?
At any rate, here is how it breaks down on a room that is 60,000 points per night:
This works for any hotel and the best deal is had if you purchase the largest cash option. The reason this is great is that if you book the room and then cancel it (using Points & Cash), they will not refund you the cash but will refund you the points. So in the example above, if you use 40,000 points and $100 cash for a 60,000 point room, after cancelling, you will receive a full 60,000 points back and no cash. That means you have purchased the extra 20,000 points for $100 = .5 cents per point!
That is a really good deal and could be a winner for the upcoming PointBreaks hotels today since it now means you can book one of those for only $25!
Thanks for the heads up
[…] can pay a certain amount to reduce the number of points required by 5,000 to 20,000 per night. Running With Miles notes that at the moment IHG seems to be offering a 20% discount on the cash component of IHG […]
No workey for me. 40K + $125. Platinum Elite
Hmm, try some Chicago properties. That is what Frequent Miler found gave an even better price. I have no status at all so it would be weird to exclude those with status!
Same as Russ, only $125 options are available for 20k for me. Also Plat Elite. Waddup?
[…] this method to buy points from just .506 cents per point. The deal has gotten better. Charlie at Running with Miles reported this morning on the ability to buy points for as little as .5 cents each at some […]
[…] Running with Miles and Frequent Miler posted a great deal today for buying cheap IHG Rewards Club points through a Points + Cash 20% discount offer for stays through May 31, 2017. […]
It worked for me. I just bought 60,000 points for $276.00 (.46) at a San Diego Holiday Inn in May . I’m Plat Elite and have the credit card.
That seems like a good trick. Especially if you have a redemption in mind.
I think I am going to disagree about this “deal” adding up to 20% off. It appears to be 20% off, but what about the hotel tax? If I try to “buy” points by booking a reservation and cancelling, then I will have paid the local hotel tax to get those points, right?
OTOH, the IHG deals are still up on on the “Daily Getaways” website, and I do not believe they charge tax on those deals. So this deal is still a little better than Daily Getaways, but not by much. Not by 20%
No, you do not pay tax when you do this, at least with the properties mentioned. I paid a straight $92 fee for the 20,000 points. Since you are essentially buying points for a specific reservation, it turns the whole reservation into a reward night which does not have taxes for most of the hotels.
This deal is definitely better than the Daily Getaways deal. The only way you should do that is if you do not have the base amount of points for this deal. Not only is this better, but you will not get the points from the Daily Getaway deal for at least 1 week. This deal puts them in instantly.
I realize this is probably finished, but do these prices typically come up on certain nights of the week? (for future reference). Thanks.