IHG PointBreaks Bookings Live Now; Over 200 Hotels Available From 5,000 Points Per Night
It's like Christmas morning for IHG Rewards members. After tinkering around with the PointsBreaks program over the past few years, the latest iteration went live Monday at noon Eastern time. Over 200 hotels are on this version at one of three points levels: 5,000 points; 10,000 points or 15,000 points. We got a preview of 30 of these hotels on Friday, but the other 170+ were kept a secret right up until they were bookable.
Bookings are live as of noon Eastern Monday. So, hurry up and book! See the full list of PointBreaks hotels here.
The preview has us excited with three InterContinental hotels, seven Crowne Plaza properties and three Hotel Indigo locations discounted up to 75% off the standard award rates. For example, the Hotel Indigo Veracruz Boca Del Rio is one of at least four properties that normally runs for 20,000 per award night but is discounted to 5,000 points per night for PointBreaks:
At current TPG valuations, these hotel nights are valued at:
- 5,000 points per night @ 0.7 cents per point = $35 value per night
- 10,000 points per night @ 0.7 cents per point = $70 value per night
- 15,000 points per night @ 0.7 cents per point = $105 value per night
That said, IHG's semi-common 100% bonus when buying points and the annual Daily Getaways program often offer members the chance to buy points around 0.575 cents per point. At those rates, these nights are even cheaper:
- 5,000 points per night @ 0.575 cents per point = $29 cost per night
- 10,000 points per night @ 0.575 cents per point = $58 cost per night
- 15,000 points per night @ 0.575 cents per point = $86 cost per night
At these rates, not surprisingly the best options get scooped up quickly. So, take a look at your travel calendar now through April 30, 2018 to see where you need to stay and then click here to check out the list of properties to see if there's one that works with your travel schedule.
Update: Another disappointing PointBreaks list by IHG. While IHG did in fact double the number of hotels included on the PointBreaks list, it sharply dropped the number of hotels bookable at 5,000 points per night. Past lists included at least 100 hotels at the old 5,000 rate per night. This list includes just 33 hotels at 5,000 — a drop by at least 67%.
Here's a breakout of the full list by brand and price level:
| BRAND | 5,000/night | 10,000/night | 15,000/night | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Candlewood Suites | 9 | 9 | -- | 18 |
Crowne Plaza | 6 | 29 | 15 | 50 |
Holiday Inn | 10 | 22 | 9 | 41 |
Holiday Inn Express | 7 | 45 | 16 | 68 |
Hotel Indigo | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
InterContinental | -- | 3 | 7 | 10 |
Staybridge Suites | -- | 7 | 1 | 8 |
TOTAL | 33 | 116 | 54 | 203 |
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