Strategically buying points can be a good value, especially for luxury hotel stays. IHG One Rewards has just launched its latest sale on purchased points. Different members may be targeted for different offers, though it appears that the standard offer is in line with the best ones that we see from the program. Let’s cover all the details.
In this post:
Sale on purchased IHG One Rewards points
Between February 25 and March 17, 2026, IHG One Rewards is offering a bonus on purchased points. The standard promotion seems to be for a 100% bonus. In order to unlock the best offer, you need to purchase at least 5,000 points in one transaction.
How much does it cost to buy IHG One Rewards points?
Ordinarily you can buy IHG One Rewards points for as little as one cent each (the pricing isn’t linear), before any discounts or bonuses. With that in mind, if you were eligible for a 100% bonus and purchased 200,000 IHG One Rewards points pre-bonus, you’d receive a total of 400,000 points at a cost of $2,000, which is a rate of 0.5 cents per IHG point.
IHG sells points quite often, and when the program does, the bonus is typically in the range of 80-100%. So the 100% bonus is as good as offers from the program get.
While the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (review) and IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card (review) offer a 20% discount on purchased points, that benefit only applies when buying points at the normal cost, and wouldn’t be applicable here.
How many IHG One Rewards points can you purchase?
IHG One Rewards ordinarily lets members purchase up to 150,000 points per calendar year, before any bonuses. However, during this promotion that cap has been increased to 200,000 points.
Which credit card should you buy IHG One Rewards points with?
IHG One Rewards points purchases are processed by points.com, meaning they don’t count as a hotel purchase for the purposes of credit card spending.
Therefore I’d recommend using a card on which you’re trying to reach a minimum spending requirement, or otherwise, a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spending. See this post for more on which credit cards are best for buying points.
- Earn 1% cash back when you make a purchase, earn 1% cash back when you pay for that purchase
- $0
- Earn 3% Cash Back on Dining
- Earn 3% Cash Back at Drugstores
- Earn 1.5% Cash Back On All Other Purchases
- $0
- 2x points on purchases up to $50k then 1x
- Access to Amex Offers
- No annual fee
Is buying IHG One Rewards points worth it?
IHG One Rewards has dynamic award pricing, which means there’s no minimum or maximum number of points a hotel stay can cost. Rather, the cost of an award stay generally correlates somewhat to the cost of a revenue stay.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get the same value with all hotel stays. There are many situations where you can get outsized value by buying points and then redeeming them, so let’s get into that in a bit more detail.
Tip: Get a fourth night free with an IHG credit card
You’ll get the most value from your IHG points if you have the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (review), IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card (review), or IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card (review).
That’s because the cards offer a fourth night free benefit, meaning that you can book a four night award stay for the cost of three nights. This is essentially the equivalent of 25% off in increments of four nights, since you can use this benefit an unlimited number of times.
At what hotels can you redeem IHG One Rewards points?
IHG has over 15 hotel brands, so there are lots of options for redeeming your IHG One Rewards points. IHG points can be redeemed at the following properties, among others:
- For luxury & premium hotels, there’s Six Senses, Regent, InterContinental, Kimpton and Hotel Indigo
- For mid-range and limited service hotels, there’s Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Candlewood Suites, Staybridge Suites, voco, and EVEN
How much are IHG One Rewards points worth?
Everyone will value points differently, but personally I value IHG One Rewards points at ~0.5 cents each, and I tend to value points pretty conservatively. So the purchase price is around what I value these points.
Do IHG One Rewards points expire?
For non-elite members, IHG One Rewards points expire after 12 months of inactivity. However, any sort of points earning or redemption activity would reset the expiration of your points. Furthermore, IHG One Rewards points don’t expire for elite members in the program.
Keep in mind that IHG elite status is quite easy to earn. Just for having the IHG Premier Card you receive Platinum status, without any sort of a spending requirement.
Does IHG One Rewards have blackout dates?
IHG One Rewards doesn’t have blackout dates on award nights, but the program does have capacity controls. What this means is that some number of standard rooms will be made available for award redemptions every night, but that doesn’t mean that all standard rooms are available for award redemptions.
Bottom line
IHG One Rewards is offering a sale on purchased points. Through March 17, 2026, IHG One Rewards is offering a promotion, and members seem to be eligible for up to a 100% bonus, which is an opportunity to buy points for 0.5 cents each.
There are instances where buying points can save you over 50% on the cost of a luxury hotel stay. I also think there’s value in having a “reserve” of IHG points, given the brand’s global footprint. You can get even more value out of buying IHG points in conjunction with the IHG Premier Card, which can get you a fourth night for free on award redemptions.
Do you plan on buying IHG points with a bonus?
For those need much less than 60k points, better look for point+cash option. 10% for cardholders (don't need to pay using IHG card) on cash portion, for booking until 3/9 stay until 3/23 or so. Browse through and focus on the 'best value' mark, I found 10k for $53, 20k for $101, 30k for $152, somewhat better than this offer.
Your valuation of IHG points is too low:
Ft. Wayne, IN a random weekday in June: 0.85 cpp
The Manhattan Times Square NYE=0.78cpp
Crowne Plaza-St. Peter’s for Easter-0.63cpp
I could do tons more but I am at work.
Whereas I think it's too high. I'd go 0.4 at IHG because they have the least availability for award nights of the major programs. There's also virtually no ability to redeem points for suites.
Put it this way - I value Hilton at 0.4 but if you offered me 100k Hilton or 100k IHG I'd take the Hilton in a heartbeat
1) No, the valuations I posted are correct. You mention availability. Availability does not affect the return you get when you actually redeem the points.Whether there are 10 or 20 houses valued at $500k in a neighborhood, the value of the houses are still 500k.
2) Where did you get your data on IHG having less availability? I took a look at Times Square for NYE and every IHG had availability while only a...
1) No, the valuations I posted are correct. You mention availability. Availability does not affect the return you get when you actually redeem the points.Whether there are 10 or 20 houses valued at $500k in a neighborhood, the value of the houses are still 500k.
2) Where did you get your data on IHG having less availability? I took a look at Times Square for NYE and every IHG had availability while only a fraction of the Hilton had availability.
3) Suite availability maybe higher for Hilton but it is hardly nonexistent for IHG-I found plenty in Chicago for IHG.
4) Hilton suite redemptions can be expensive. I found one in Times Square for over 2,000,000 points a night for a value of about 0.3cpp
5) Ihg has 4/3 versus Hilton 5/4 redemptions.
In any case, point value values are not relative or subjective - they are simply defined at the time of redemption by the cost of the room versus the cost of the points. No if, ands or buts about that.
No if you prefer Hilton to IHG that is certainly a preference one one can have but your statement about the value of IHG points is demonstrably a myth.