You can (again) currently buy IHG Rewards Points with a 100% bonus, which is good news if you’re currently short on points and looking to save some money by booking an award stay. You will receive those extra points once you buy at least 5,000 points (meaning that you’d get 10,000 points). The promotion runs until November 26, 2025.
The best price can be achieved by purchasing at least 52,000 points (after calculating the bonus). You then effectively pay €4.33 per 1,000 points. It’s not always worth it, but it can mean significant savings.
We’ll also show you some examples of where you can spend the points effectively, saving over 20% on hotel stays. Sadly, however, the examples got worse and harder to find lately. IHG has been devaluing the points, which is easy to hide with the company’s dynamic pricing for award nights.
Only purchase the points if you found a redemption that is cheaper than booking with cash and intend to book right away. Otherwise, it’s not a good idea to purchase points, especially as IHG has these sales super frequently.
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Buy Points With a 100% Bonus
Until November 26, 2025, buying at least 5,000 points (before bonus), you’ll get twice as many points credited. That would bring the price per 1,000 points down to US$5 (~€4) if you purchase at least 26,000 points.
The exact price depends on the number of points that you purchase. The following prices are for the total number of points, including the bonus:
- 1,000 to 10,000 points: €11.68 per 1,000 points
- 22,000 to 50,000 points: €4.98 per 1,000 points
- 52,000 to 400,000 points: €4.33 per 1,000 points
The maximum that you can currently buy is 400,000 points (200,000 + 200,000 bonus). However, all points purchased from earlier sales this year will be deducted from that total.
Redeem Points Effectively
IHG Rewards Points can be redeemed starting from even under 10,000 points in one of the 6,000 hotels and resorts of the InterContinental Group.
Sadly, however, IHG introduced Dynamic Pricing in 2020, meaning that the price in points is based on the actual price of a room. This makes it quite tough to find good deals. However, booking with points has one big upside: Reward nights are refundable.
Here are some examples of hotels where you can save money by paying with points (compared to the cheapest, non-flexible rate):
- 53% savings at the Holiday Inn Resort Grand Cayman
- Regular rate: US$264 (~€228) in August
- Award night: 25,000 points (= US$125 (~€108))
- 27% savings at the InterContinental Melbourne
- Regular rate: US$356 (~€308) (on an expensive date) in May
- Award night: 52,000 points (= US$260 (~€225))
- 25% savings at the Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Siam
- Regular rate: US$80 (~€69) in March
- Award night: 12,000 points (= US$60 (~€52))
- 25% savings at the Holiday Inn Express Shanghai on The Bund
- Regular rate: US$141 (~€122) in July
- Award night: 21,000 points (= US$105 (~€91))
- 25% savings at the Holiday Inn Hangzhou West Lake
- Regular rate: US$93 (~€80) in August
- Award night: 14,000 points (= US$70 (~€61))
- 24% savings at the Holiday Inn Express Beijing Downtown
- Regular rate: US$125 (~€108) in July
- Award night: 19,000 points (= US$95 (~€82))
- 20% savings at the Garner Hotel Rome Aurelia
- Regular rate: US$125 (~€108) in March
- Award night: 20,000 points (= US$100 (~€87))
IHG Reward Points do not expire as long as you have one activity per 12 months: A special feature of IHG Rewards is that the points never expire! You only have to collect or redeem at least one point every 12 months. This makes it much easier to deal with a large stash of points without having to worry about expiry dates.
IHG runs promotions like this regularly. Here is a list of past promotions like this:
| Time | Offer | Best price per 1,000 points |
|---|---|---|
| November 2025 | Up to 100% Bonus | $5.00 (~€4.33) |
| October 2025 | Up to 100% Bonus | $5.00 (~€4.29) |
| Late September 2025 | Up to 100% Bonus | $5.00 (~€4.28) |
| Early September 2025 | Up to 100% Bonus | $5.00 (~€4.29) |
| Late July 2025 | Up to 80% Bonus | $5.56 (~€4.73) |
| Early July 2025 | Up to 100% Bonus | $5.00 (~€4.27) |
| June 2025 | Up to 100% Bonus | $5.00 (~€4.34) |
| May 2025 | Up to 100% Bonus | $5.00 (~€4.43) |
| March 2025 | Up to 100% Bonus | $5.00 (~€4.63) |
| January 2025 | Up to 100% Bonus | $5.00 (~€4.83) |
| November 2024 | Up to 100% Bonus | $5.00 (~€4.71) |
| October 2024 | Up to 100% Bonus | $5.00 (~€4.59) |
| August 2024 | Up to 100% Bonus | $5.00 (~€4.54) |
| June 2024 | Up to 100% Bonus | $5.00 (~€4.65) |
| January 2024 | Up to 100% Bonus | $5.00 (~€4.58) |
| April, June, July, November & December 2023 | Up to 100% Bonus | $5.00 (~€4.58) |
| February-March 2023 | Up to 100% Bonus | $5.00 (~€4.67) |
| July, August, October & November 2022 | Up to 100% Bonus | $5.00 (~€4.89) |
| May 2022 | Up to 80% Bonus | $5.56 (~€5.26) |
| April 2022 | Up to 100% Bonus | $5.00 (~€4.63) |
Bottom Line
Booking hotels with points bought used to be a good measure in many cities to keep the price of hotel stays within limits, e.g. during trade fairs or other large events that tend to drive up rates. Now, because of the dynamic pricing, that advantage has faded a bit, but the prices were still mostly attractive for a long time. Now, IHG points are slowly losing value and these frequent point sales are becoming less attractive. An upside of booking with points that remains is that those bookings can be cancelled.
Cover Picture: InterContinental Melbourne | © IHG
Comments (13)
Grand Cayman will be shown for 160 if i check rates in September
Hi Mario! You are correct. The example price is during the Christmas Holidays, with peak pricing. That makes choosing a reward stay much more sensible and – rewarding (badum tsss). I have added that info.
Thank you!
If you buy the points, do they count to Status upgrade?
No, but the reward nights that you book with them count as status nights
A very professionally presented article. Many thanks!
I only get 90% bonus
Yeah, it happens that some members will (sadly) get less.
How long does it normal take for the points to appear on your account after purchase?
It depends. On my account, I have usually received them within minutes. But others have reported wait times of 2 or 3 days.
Thanks for the reply.
Still waiting after 2 days. Fingers crossed it appears soon.
my personal bonus starts at 15.000 points (+15.000 on top)
Thanks Pierre!
So the promotion might be targeted. I added a note.