As I’ve mentioned earlier, IHG is moving away from charging a flat 5k points per night for PointBreaks hotels. Instead, they will charge 5k, 10k and 15k points, depending on a property. The upside is: they will release a list that will consist of 200 hotels. Yesterday they have given us a sneak peak at what properties will be available.
Today’s update on IHG blog provides more details and states,”This is a partial preview of the properties that will be available for bookings and stays from January 29, 2018 through April 30, 2018. Bookmark this page so you can return at noon on January 29, 2018 to book the discounted rate and see the full list of more than 200 participating hotels around the world.”
So, it looks like we won’t see the full list till noon on Monday, the time when it goes live. Set yourself a timer, it will be a bloodbath!
Here are the properties revealed so far:
A sampling of IHG hotels for 5,000 points
- PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA: Crowne Plaza Tianjin Jinnan
- INDIA: Holiday Inn Express Chennai Mahindra World City
- BRAZIL: Holiday Inn Belo Horizonte Savassi
- MEXICO: Hotel Indigo Veracruz Boca Del Rio
- PANAMA: Holiday Inn Panama Canal
- UNITED STATES: (Illinois): Holiday Inn Express Rolling Mdws-Schaumburg Area
- UNITED STATES (New York): Holiday Inn Rochester NY – Downtown
- UNITED STATES (Texas): Candlewood Suites Kenedy
- ITALY: Holiday Inn Nola – Naples Vulcano Buono
- TURKEY: Crowne Plaza Antalya
A sampling of IHG hotels for 10,000 points
- INDONESIA: Holiday Inn Resort Baruna Bali
- LAOS: Crowne Plaza Vientiane
- COLOMBIA: InterContinental Cali
- MEXICO: Staybridge Suites Silao
- UNITED STATES (Oklahoma): Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Oklahoma City North
- UNITED STATES (Utah): Holiday Inn Express & Suites Vernal – Dinosaurland
- UNITED STATES: (Virginia): Staybridge Suites Chantilly Dulles Airport
- UNITED STATES (Washington): Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Bellingham
- ITALY: Holiday Inn Rome – Aurelia
- SERBIA: Crowne Plaza Belgrade
A sampling of IHG hotels for 15,000 points
- JAPAN: ANA Crowne Plaza Hiroshima
- TAIWAN: Hotel Indigo Kaohsiung Central Park
- UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Crowne Plaza Abu Dhabi
- BRAZIL: InterContinental Sao Paulo
- CANADA (Calgary): Holiday Inn Express & Suites Calgary
- UNITED STATES (New Jersey): Hotel Indigo Newark Downtown
- UNITED STATES: (North Dakota): Staybridge Suites Fargo
- UNITED STATES: (Texas): Crowne Plaza Suites Arlington – Ballpark – Stadium
- FINLAND: Holiday Inn Helsinki City Centre
- UKRAINE: InterContinental Kiev
I’m not seeing anything super exciting in US, but you may feel differently. Overall, if this is the best they’ve got, all I can say is SAD! Then again, PointBreaks program has always been a loss leader of sorts and I suspect IHG is only keeping it around to generate publicity.
If you can work this list into your existing plans, it’s a tremendous deal, especially if you find a property for only 5,000 points per night. All in all, I’m glad IHG has decided to modify the program instead of scrapping it.
You have a few options to get the points right now if you don’t already have them in your IHG account:
1) Transfer the points from Chase Ultimate Rewards to IHG 1:1 if you have Chase Sapphire Preferred, Reserve or Ink Preferred cards. Per reports, the points don’t always transfer instantly.
2) Buy them directly from IHG at a cost of 13.50 per one thousand points. LINK (right now there is a promo going on that will give you up to 75% bonus on purchased points).
3) You can also buy them via “Cash+Points” trick, where you make a reservation at a random IHG hotel, then cancel it and get the points refunded. That way, they end up costing 0.7 cents each. You have to have 5,000 points to begin with. I don’t endorse this method and IHG may suspend your account if you do it too many times, but it’s there if you are willing to risk it.
If you are interested in a specific property, I recommend you book it right away. Reserve with points now, ask questions later since you can always cancel and get your points back. Obviously, don’t book hotels if you don’t intend on staying there. Start checking on Monday morning because some hotels update the rate before the official announcement is made. You are allowed two reservations per IHG account, but they can be for as long as you like.
Guys, what do you think about this list so far?
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Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
I think what it boils down to is what are the rooms worth to you. If the area in Texas I need is there, I’ll book it for 5k or 15k. Just as long as its not full price 🙂
But I do think it will change how we plan our weekends away from that list. 5k a night is great but 15k isn’t worth throwing my points at for a frivolous trip.
@Emily Yeah, 15k points isn’t quite as much of a bargain as 5k. It does depend, though. If we are talking an oceanfront hotel or resort, then 15k points is dirt cheap!
Example of at least one devaluation: Vernal, Utah. A year ago it was on the points break list for 5,000 but now it’s 10,000. Sad 🙁 we have family there so I always check to see if that hotel is on the list
That stinks! This new development is most definitely a devaluation, no question about it. While 10,000 Points per night is still a relatively good deal, this is a 100% increase in price. I’m hoping they will add more decent properties but so far, I’m not impressed. Well, for US anyway. Hotel points are such a volatile currency. I have some IHG points on hand, but no longer go out of my way to collect them.