Update: the list is now live.
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. You will be able to use Cash+Points rate under this promo. Paying 15k IHG points per night can definitely be a good deal under the right circumstances.
Check this page for full list. It should go live at noon (I’m assuming they mean Eastern time, but I’m not sure). You can see a partial list of hotels in my Friday’s post.
If you are interested in a specific property, I recommend you book it right away. The best deals will go fast, possibly within minutes. Reserve with points now, ask questions later since you can always cancel and get your points back. Obviously, don’t book hotels if you absolutely don’t intend to stay in them. That’s unclassy and will reduce award availability for everyone else. You are allowed two reservations per IHG account, but they can be for as long as you like.
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.
Readers, let me know if you are able to find anything interesting!
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.
So disappointed at this list. Points went up but quality of the properties went down. In the past there was always a hotel or two I could maybe work with. This time, only one property in California and it is in the middle of nowhere. I took a look at a few of the properties in Europe: Crowne Plaza Venice East Quarto D’Altino is one hour away from St Mark’s Square; Holiday Inn Express Munich Messe is another hour away from BMW Welt. Both at 15k points, of course. This list is a joke — for me at least. That said, I hope you and others are able to take advantage of this list better than I can!
@winni3 I actually feel the same way! It’s funny, I was looking at that property near Venice and thinking “I hope people won’t stay here instead of Venice proper.” When visiting Venice, you HAVE to cough up the cash and stay in the historic center. That’s a big part of the charm.
I won’t be taking advantage of this list, sadly.
That said, it depends on one’s needs. Natasha happened to need a hotel near Calgary, and even at 15k Points, the PointBreaks property is the best deal. I’ve always felt that PB program is like a gift horse. You don’t look a gift horse in the mouth! 🙂
I agree. If we weren’t in Calgary, this list sucks!
called the hotel and they blocked two rooms next to each other for us. Free breakfast too.3 minute car ride or 15 minute walk to greyhound.
Perfect!
Thanks for your post. I was able to snag the Holiday Inn Express in Calgary. Booked two rooms for 15,000 points each. DH and I will each share one room with one of the kids. Rooms were about $170 a night so good value. Puts us much closer to the core where we have to take a bus to LL and Banff.
Previously we were staying by the airport which was not feasible since our bus to LL leaves at 7:30 in the morning.. Our final night in Calgary is at the Hyatt regency using a free night cert.
Natasha, I’m so glad! It is definitely a good value. That’s the upside of this devaluation: properties are more willing to participate when they are getting reimbursment on 15,000 Points rather than 5,000.