How one can redeem IHG factors

I incessantly keep at IHG properties, primarily due to the worth I can get when redeeming IHG factors. Though IHG moved to dynamic award pricing in 2020, I’ve continued getting strong worth from my IHG factors.

This is what it’s essential to learn about redeeming IHG One Rewards factors for stays, flights and extra.

You may redeem IHG factors for many IHG stays by way of IHG’s web site, app or buyer care. Nonetheless, chances are you’ll be unable to redeem IHG factors at some InterContinental Residences, IHG Military Inns and Six Senses properties.

You may often solely redeem IHG factors for normal room varieties. Reward nights embrace taxes and costs — besides at Iberostar Beachfront Resorts, the place you will must pay native and conditional taxes or charges — however do not embrace resort charges, service expenses, transportation, gratuities and incidentals.

Since IHG makes use of dynamic award pricing, the variety of factors you will must redeem for a reward evening will differ. IHG’s phrases and circumstances say reward evening pricing “could differ based on a number of components, together with however not restricted to model, resort, and day of week.” Though there are not any reward evening blackout dates, chances are you’ll not discover award availability for some stays as a result of “room stock is restricted and topic to prior sale,” based on IHG’s phrases and circumstances.

To test award evening availability and pricing, begin on IHG’s web site or app. Enter your vacation spot, check-in date, checkout date and variety of company. Choose “Reward Nights” from the drop-down menu beneath “Price Desire.”

The subsequent web page will present you the award evening outcomes on your search question. You may filter these outcomes by facilities or manufacturers. You may also type by varied metrics, together with distance, value and ranking.

Click on on “Map” to see the place the properties are positioned inside your vacation spot.

When you click on “Choose Lodge” for one of many properties, you will see the room choices you may e book with factors on your keep. Some properties could solely supply one room kind, whereas others could supply a wide range of room setups or views. Scroll by way of the choices, and choose the very best room kind on your journey.

Every day Publication

Reward your inbox with the TPG Every day publication

Be part of over 700,000 readers for breaking information, in-depth guides and unique offers from TPG’s specialists

It is also value checking paid charges by clicking the “Cash” button. For instance, I might e book a versatile price with free cancellation till two days earlier than check-in at this Lodge Indigo for both 31,000 IHG factors or $202 on the pattern date I picked. So, redeeming factors for this keep would yield a redemption price of 0.65 cents per level. (That is increased than TPG’s October 2024 valuation of IHG factors at 0.5 cents per level, so it is a redemption we would advocate.)

Associated: Which bank card must you use for IHG stays?

Let’s assume you toggled again to the “Factors” tab, clicked on the 31,000 factors per evening choice and clicked “Choose.” Doing so would take you to the final web page earlier than confirming your reservation. You’ll want to test the cancellation coverage on this remaining web page. Most reward evening stays are free to cancel till shortly earlier than your keep, however cancellation insurance policies differ.

IHG sometimes affords reward evening reductions to eligible Platinum Elite, Diamond Elite and IHG One Rewards bank card holders. You may often get an electronic mail from IHG about these reward evening reductions, however you usually should e book rapidly to benefit from the discounted charges.

Lastly, word that IHG’s phrases and circumstances now permit a second visitor listed on a reward evening reservation to remain even when the member who booked the reward evening is not staying. So you may redeem your IHG factors for a good friend or member of the family’s keep. Nonetheless, there are extra necessities in case your keep is inside mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan.

Associated: How one can maximize redemptions with the IHG One Rewards program

Fourth-night-free reward

Maybe one of the best ways to get higher worth when redeeming IHG factors is to get an IHG bank card with the fourth-night-free reward perk. This perk lets cardholders of the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit score Card, the IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit score Card and the IHG One Rewards Premier Enterprise Credit score Card pay zero factors for each fourth evening when redeeming factors for stays of 4 nights or extra.

With out this profit, this four-night keep on the Vacation Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives would price 220,000 factors.

Since I’ve the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit score Card, which affords the fourth-night-free reward perk to cardholders, I might solely must redeem 125,000 factors for this four-night keep. (Sure, the fourth evening was 95,000 factors on the dates I randomly chosen.)

Even should you redeem IHG factors solely a few times a yr for stays of 4 nights or longer, this helpful perk alone makes it value getting and preserving an IHG bank card.

Associated: Why it’s best to get (and hold) the IHG One Rewards Premier card

Factors and money

As you may need seen in some screenshots above, you may also e book factors and money charges. Know, although, that you simply’re successfully shopping for factors once you e book an IHG factors and money price, so you will be refunded solely in IHG factors should you cancel your reserving inside the free cancellation interval.

It is value working by way of the maths and checking the speed at which you’ll be able to purchase IHG factors outright earlier than you e book a factors and money price. For instance, think about this one-night keep in New York Metropolis.

For a one-night keep in an ordinary room with a king-size mattress and free cancellation till at some point earlier than your arrival, you could possibly pay:

• 52,000 factors
• 42,000 factors and $69
• 32,000 factors and $134
• 22,000 factors and $194
• 17,000 factors and $219
• 12,000 factors and $239
• $351

In case you redeemed 52,000 factors for this evening that might in any other case price $351, you’d get a redemption price of 0.675 cents per level. In the meantime, should you booked a points-and-cash price, you’d successfully purchase IHG factors for between 0.598 and 0.69 cents per level.

Associated: How one can earn IHG factors through stays, bank cards and extra

Like many resort rewards packages, you may switch your IHG factors to varied airline companions. You may see all of the airline choices on IHG’s earn miles web page. Nonetheless, most packages switch at a price of 10,000 IHG factors to 2,000 airline miles. So, you are nearly sure to lose worth once you redeem your IHG factors for airline miles.

Due to this, it’s best to solely think about transferring IHG factors to an airline if it’s essential to high up your account steadiness for a particular redemption. In any other case, you will nearly definitely get higher worth when redeeming IHG factors for resort stays.

Associated: Greatest IHG seashore accommodations starting from family-friendly resorts to luxurious stays

Associated: The 19 greatest IHG accommodations on this planet

IHG One Rewards Entry

By way of IHG One Rewards Entry, you may redeem IHG factors for choose experiences, together with sports activities and unique occasions. Generally, you may safe an expertise for a set variety of factors; different occasions, you will must enter a bid in a web based public sale for the prospect to win.

Journey add-ons

You may also redeem IHG factors for actions in choose cities, together with Las Vegas.

Whereas this might sound interesting, test comparable paid charges earlier than redeeming your IHG factors to make sure you get redemption worth.

IHG One Rewards catalog

You may redeem IHG factors for merchandise, reward playing cards, donations and extra by way of the IHG One Rewards catalog. For instance, you may redeem between 1,000 and a pair of,500 IHG factors for a yearlong journal subscription.

You may also redeem IHG factors for reward playing cards to varied retailers. This is what number of factors you will must redeem for bodily reward playing cards of various quantities:

• $100 reward card: 49,000 factors (redemption price of 0.2 cents per level)
• $50 reward card: 25,000 factors (redemption price of 0.2 cents per level)
• $25 reward card: 13,000 factors (redemption price of 0.19 cents per level)
• $15 reward card: 8,000 factors (redemption price of 0.19 cents per level)
• $10 reward card: 5,500 factors (redemption price of 0.18 cents per level)

You may also redeem IHG factors for merchandise, together with headphones, backpacks and laptop computer computer systems. In case you do not see what you need, you may request distinctive devices and big-ticket objects by way of the rewards concierge.

Lastly, you may donate your factors to charity, with choices beginning at simply 2,500 factors.

Associated: The most effective IHG all-inclusive resorts, from Jamaica to Mexico