Find out how to redeem factors with the IHG One Rewards program

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IHG Lodges & Resorts has seen numerous adjustments over the previous couple of years. From opening its first Atwell Suites lodge in Miami to launching the brand new IHG One Rewards loyalty program and forming a strategic alliance with Iberostar, IHG is increasing and advancing.

I ceaselessly keep at IHG Lodges & Resorts properties, primarily due to the worth I can get when redeeming IHG One Rewards factors. Though IHG moved to dynamic award pricing in 2020, I’ve continued getting stable worth from my IHG factors. Actually, I hardly ever e-book paid IHG stays due to the superb worth I can get when redeeming IHG factors.

Here is what you’ll want to learn about redeeming IHG One Rewards factors for stays, flights and extra.

Redeem IHG One Rewards factors for lodge stays

You possibly can redeem IHG One Rewards factors for many IHG stays via IHG’s web site, app or buyer care. Nonetheless, you could be unable to redeem IHG factors at some InterContinental Residences, IHG Military Lodges, Iberostar Beachfront Resorts and Six Senses properties.

Since IHG makes use of dynamic award pricing, the variety of factors you may have to redeem for a reward night time will range. IHG’s phrases and situations say reward night time pricing “could range in keeping with a number of elements, together with however not restricted to model, lodge, and day of week.” Though there are no reward night time blackout dates, you could not discover award availability for some stays as a result of “room stock is proscribed and topic to prior sale,” in keeping with IHG’s phrases and situations.

To examine award night time availability and pricing, begin on IHG’s web site or app. Enter your vacation spot, check-in date, checkout date and variety of friends. Choose “reward nights” from the drop-down menu below price desire.

The subsequent web page will present you the award night time outcomes on your search question. You possibly can filter these outcomes by facilities or manufacturers. You too can kind by numerous metrics, together with distance, value and score.

Click on on “map” to see the place the properties are situated inside your vacation spot.

When you click on “choose lodge” for one of many properties, you may see the room choices you’ll be able to e-book with factors on your keep. Some properties could solely provide one room kind, whereas others could provide a wide range of room setups or views. Scroll via the choices, and decide the most effective room kind on your journey.

It is also value checking paid charges by clicking the “money” button. For instance, this Vacation Inn would price both 33,000 IHG One Rewards factors or $264 on the pattern date I picked. So, redeeming factors for this keep would yield a redemption price of 0.8 cents per level. (That is greater than TPG’s valuation of IHG factors at 0.5 cents per level, so it is a redemption we would advocate.)

Let’s assume you toggled again to the “factors” tab, clicked on the 33,000 factors per night time possibility and clicked “choose.” Doing so would take you to the final web page earlier than confirming your reservation.

You should definitely examine the cancellation coverage earlier than reserving. Most reward night time stays are free to cancel till shortly earlier than your keep, however cancellation insurance policies can range.

IHG often presents reward night time reductions to eligible Platinum Elite, Diamond Elite and IHG One Rewards bank card holders. You may often get an e-mail from IHG about these reward night time reductions, however you usually should e-book shortly to benefit from the discounted charges.

Lastly, be aware that IHG’s phrases and situations now enable a second visitor listed on a reward night time reservation to remain even when the member who booked the reward night time is not staying. So, you’ll be able to redeem your IHG factors for a good friend or member of the family’s keep. Nonetheless, there are further necessities in case your keep is inside mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan.

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Fourth-night-free reward

Maybe the easiest way to get higher worth when redeeming IHG One Rewards 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 0 factors for each fourth night time 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 127,000 factors.

Since I’ve the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit score Card, which presents the fourth-night-free reward perk to cardholders, I might solely have to redeem 95,000 factors for this four-night keep.

Even if you happen to solely redeem IHG factors a few times a 12 months for stays of 4 nights or longer, it is value getting and protecting an IHG bank card due to this useful perk.

Associated: Why it is best to get (and preserve) the IHG One Rewards Premier card

Factors and money

As you may need observed in some screenshots above, you may also e-book factors and money charges. Know, although, that you just’re successfully shopping for factors while you e-book an IHG One Rewards factors and money price, so you may be refunded solely in IHG factors if you happen to cancel your reserving throughout the free cancellation interval.

It is value working via the maths and checking the speed at which you’ll be able to at the moment 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 someday earlier than your arrival, you may pay:

• 25,000 factors
• 20,000 factors and $34
• 15,000 factors and $68
• 10,000 factors and $102
• 5,000 factors and $136
• $204

In case you redeemed 25,000 factors for this night time that might in any other case price $204, you’d get a redemption price of 0.816 cents per level (which is considerably greater than TPG’s valuation of IHG factors).

In case you booked a factors and money price, you’d successfully purchase IHG factors at a price of 0.68 cents per level. This price is greater than the bottom price IHG often sells factors for (0.5 cents per level); it is also decrease than the redemption price you’d get when solely redeeming factors.

Associated: 7 methods to earn extra IHG One Rewards factors on your subsequent redemption

Pay with factors

Pay with factors enables you to redeem IHG One Rewards factors throughout stays at collaborating inns for a credit score in opposition to eligible expenses in your room invoice. Eligible expenses range by property, however IHG’s pay with factors phrases and situations say eligible room expenses usually embrace “meals and beverage, spa and salon companies, spa and salon retail gadgets, room upgrades, laundry, dry cleansing, phone expenses, pay-per-view motion pictures, parking, present/retail store, service expenses, and gratuities.”

After you examine in, you may get a message if pay with factors is accessible on your keep. If you wish to know forward of time whether or not a property participates in pay with factors, you may have to examine with the person property.

As soon as you have checked right into a collaborating property and have charged eligible purchases to your room, you’ll be able to go to IHG’s pay with factors web site or the IHG app to redeem IHG factors. From this web page, you’ll be able to choose an quantity to credit score to your invoice or enter a customized quantity and see what number of factors a credit score in that quantity would require. Notice that IHG could restrict your variety of transactions or the variety of factors you redeem towards pay with factors per day.

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Switch IHG One Rewards factors to airline companions

Like many lodge rewards packages, you’ll be able to switch your IHG One Rewards factors to varied airline companions. You possibly can see all of the airline choices on IHG’s earn miles web page, however know that almost all packages switch at a price of 10,000 IHG factors to 2,000 airline miles, so that you’re virtually sure to lose worth while you redeem your IHG factors for airline miles.

Due to this, you may solely wish to think about transferring IHG factors to an airline if you’ll want to prime up your account stability for a selected redemption. In any other case, you may virtually definitely get higher worth when redeeming IHG factors for lodge stays.

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You possibly can redeem IHG One Rewards factors for merchandise, present certificates, donations and extra via the IHG One Rewards catalog. For instance, you’ll be able to redeem between 1,000 and a pair of,500 IHG factors for a yearlong journal subscription.

You too can redeem IHG factors for present playing cards to varied retailers. Here is what number of factors you may have to redeem for bodily present playing cards of various quantities:

• $100 present card: 49,000 factors (redemption price of 0.2 cents per level)
• $60 present card: 30,000 factors (redemption price of 0.2 cents per level)
• $50 present card: 25,000 factors (redemption price of 0.2 cents per level)
• $25 present card: 13,000 factors (redemption price of 0.19 cents per level)
• $15 present card: 8,000 factors (redemption price of 0.19 cents per level)
• $10 present card: 5,500 factors (redemption price of 0.18 cents per level)
• $5 present card: 3,000 factors (redemption price of 0.17 cents per level)

You possibly can redeem IHG factors for actions and occasion tickets via the IHG One Rewards catalog. For instance, listed here are some ticket examples for a live performance at New York Metropolis’s Madison Sq. Backyard, in addition to numerous actions in New York Metropolis that you could e-book with IHG factors.

Moreover, you’ll be able to redeem 30,000 IHG factors to cowl a TSA PreCheck software payment. Or, you may donate your factors to charity, with choices beginning at simply 2,500 factors.

It is also doable to redeem IHG factors for merchandise, together with headphones, backpacks and even laptop computer computer systems. In case you do not see what you need, you’ll be able to request distinctive devices and big-ticket gadgets via the rewards concierge.

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Digital rewards

You possibly can redeem IHG One Rewards factors for digital rewards as effectively. Choices embrace motion pictures, music, video games, magazines, books and software program.

As with the IHG One Rewards catalog, you may wish to think about whether or not you are getting good worth from this kind of redemption earlier than you utilize your IHG factors for digital rewards.

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