Reward Stays at InterContinental Hotels Now Cost Up to 250K Points per Night!
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IHG has been busy giving travelers more opportunities to earn and redeem IHG points, like this credit card offer and more than 40 Iberostar Resorts included in the IHG One Rewards program. But while you’re busy collecting points, the UK-based hotel group has been preoccupied with increasing the cost to redeem points at its best properties.
Rewards members accustomed to finding deals on InterContinental Hotels for their points will need quite a few more before booking their dream stays. Reward night stay at InterContinental properties can now cost as much as 250,000 points per night! It’s a drastic increase from the original point cap on its top-tier hotels at 70,000. However, we’ve seen a consistent price increase trend since introducing dynamic pricing to reward bookings.
More points to book at InterContinental Hotels
The new reward night pricing model makes point prices fluctuate with cash rates. Peak travel times, like holidays, have higher points per night compared to off-peak days. InterContinental, one of IHG’s luxury hotel brands, can cost more than $1,000+ at its most exotic properties. They’re popular for reward bookings because the points cap limited the price to as high as 120,000 points per night (you can buy points as low as 0.5 during point purchase promotions, so it would cost $600 to book). The new maximum is more than double the last price, at 250,000.
Here’s an example we found of a popular InterContinental resort with 200K+ points per night regardless of what dates you search:
For equivalent cash value:
InterContinental is not the first property where you’ll find astronomical reward stay point prices. Six Sense is another upscale IHG brand known for its high rates. The rate starts at $1,450+ or 300,000-350,000 points per night. Even using an IHG credit card for the 4th Night Free can still cost more than one million points.
The good news is that you can still find upscale IHG properties for the more modest 70,000 points per night. Kimpton is a popular luxury resort brand that still gives great value in points compared to the cash price per night, which can also surpass $1,000+ during peak seasons.
Remember that IHG has a 150,000 yearly point purchase limit (sometimes increased during promotions). Therefore, booking a stay at these ultra-premium properties will take more than purchasing points. The best ways to earn enough points are:
- Use an IHG credit card to earn new cardholder welcome bonuses and earn point multipliers up to 26x on spending.
- Elite status members earn bonus points on IHG spending: Silver Elite (20%), Gold Elite (40%), Platinum Elite (60%), and Diamond Elite (100%).
- Purchase points during a promotional period. IHG can reward up to 100% bonus points and increase the purchase limit to stock up on points.
Final Thoughts
Now that IHG has removed the price cap on reward stays, you can expect many more of its hotels to increase the price. Since the new dynamic pricing correlates point price with the cash price, these properties can continue charging more premium prices due to demand.
Before, reward stays with InterContinental were a great way to find arbitrage in price per night. However, the price increase makes these finds less of a deal. Also, keep in mind that InterContinental resorts charge fees, which can be an additional hundreds of dollars.
The bottom line is to be prepared to pay to enjoy IHG’s top properties.
Let us know in the comments if you would spend 250,000 points per night to stay at the InterContinental.