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Purchase points to stay at any of these hotel brands for cheap cheap cheap! IHG Rewards Club points can be purchased from points.com in 1,000 point increments, up to a maximum of 60,000 points in a calendar year. 60,000 points would cost you $600.00 out of pocket, but sometimes IHG has promotions that offer up to 100% bonuses, like buy 60,000 points get 60,000 free.

If there are no promotions available, you could purchase 60,000 points for $360 if you use this tried and true ‘purchasing IHG points for less’ method. And, the limitation is only $280, or up to 40,000 points/day instead of 60,000 points/year.

To use this method to buy points you don’t have to be an IHG Rewards Club MasterCard holder. You just need to be an IHG Rewards Club member- which is free to sign up for- with at least 5,000 IHG points in your account. That’s because you’ll use those points to book a Points & Cash reward night, then cancel the reservation. If you don’t have 5,000 or 10,000 points to start with, you can purchase them here.

There are tons of hotels available for 15,000 bonus points/night, so with those 5,000 points you have in your account you can book a Points & Cash reward night, using 5,000 points + $60-70 for a one-night stay. The $60-70 is to purchase the remaining 10,000 points needed to book a room for 15,000 bonus points. You can use this method to book a multiple nights stay, but like I mentioned before, IHG limits you to $280 or 40,000 points worth of purchases a day. 40,000 points a day comes out to 14,600,000 points a year if you have $87,600 just burning a hole in your pocket. The $60-70 point purchase is non-refundable in cash, so when you cancel the reservation (for free) they put your original 5,000 points back into your account, plus the 10,000 points you purchased. So you’re out $60-70, but 10,000 points richer. Follow these easy steps to purchase your own points:

1. Go through your favorite or most lucrative cash back portal to get to ihg.com and earn cash back on your point purchase. Every little bit helps!

2. Log into your IHG account and search for a Rewards Night hotel. You can search just any old city for IHG hotels. I used Oklahoma City because I figured they would have plenty of Points & Cash options.

 

 

3. You want the 5,000 points + $70.00 option so click that, then click CHECK RATES. I’ve seen 5,000 points + $65, and 10,000 +$60, which is obviously a better deal. Shop around!

 

 

Same thing, different page. Pick the 5,000 + $70 option, then BOOK THIS ROOM.

 

 

4. Read the cancellation policy on the left, and the terms and conditions on the bottom. Enter your credit card information, preferably your IHG Rewards Club World MasterCard or other credit card that earns you extra points for travel purchases.

 

 

5. Confirm your reservation.

 

 

6. You have the option from the confirmation page to cancel your reservation, otherwise you can access your existing reservations under your account information. Click on your existing reservation.

 

 

 

7. At the bottom right, click Cancel This Reservation.

 

 

8. Agree to the cancellation policy and cancel your reservation. Voila! You’ll be 10,000 IHG points richer.

 

I’ve used this method to buy points for both of us, cancelling Greg’s immediately, and waiting two weeks to cancel mine and it worked both times, no problems.

IHG offers 5,000/pts a night Points Break rooms, which if you buy points comes out as little as $30/night. Hell, we Warckens can eat that in free breakfast. We’ve used Points Breaks nights multiple times when traveling back and forth between North Dakota and Oklahoma, as they always seem to be available in Omaha. When we were touring Christmas markets last year we stayed one night at the Holiday Inn Express in Neunkirchen, Germany using a Points Break reservation and it was a lovely experience!

 

Holiday Inn Express Neunkirchen:

The hotel is centrally located, within walking distance to the Christmas market, the shopping mall, an H&M, and a nice schnitzel. The staff went out of their way to make us feel welcome, and at check in we were recognized as IHG Rewards Club Platinum members and offered a room upgrade free of charge, plus our choice of a free drink from the bar or Rewards points for being Platinum members. We took the 300 points.

 

 

 

The hotel in Neunkirchen was our first experience in a Holiday Inn Express, and now we’ve stayed in them all over the place. If we had paid cash the room would’ve cost just over $100, so for $35 a night it was a real steal.

Using this method to buy points is a great option because the points post to your account immediately after canceling the reservation. So if you find something last minute but are missing those extra points, make a reservation and cancel it immediately. Just remember you’re limited to spending $280 on IHG Points + Cash reservations per day. If you’re starting to plan a trip a year out, this is the perfect way to load up so you have plenty of points when the time comes to book your hotel. If nothing else you could use this method for great discounts on rooms you might not otherwise be able to afford. A $900/night overwater bungalow in Bora Bora could be yours for just $350/night by buying 50,000 points for $300.

If you need some motivation, use the explore tool on the IHG website to see all their hotels in all your most dreamed about locations.

Points & Cash Terms and Conditions:

IHG^® Rewards Club “Points & Cash” is an option for obtaining a Reward Night. You may choose to redeem IHG^® Rewards Club points for a Reward Night by using your existing points for all required points for the desired Reward Night or using your existing pointsand purchasing additional points in various increments to total the required points. The total purchase on any single day may not exceed $280USD. Points & Cash Reward Nights may only be redeemed online at www.ihgrewardsclub.com. Point purchase amounts are subject to change by IHG^® Rewards Club. You must use a valid credit card for points purchase. Upon completion of the points purchase, you agree that the total dollar amount will be immediately charged to the credit card you specified. The cost for the points purchased is non-refundable. If the Reward Night is cancelled in accordance with Reward Nights terms and conditions and with each hotel’s cancellation policy, the purchased IHG^® Rewards Club points will be re-deposited into your IHG^® Rewards Club account. Cash components of this award that are paid in currencies other than U.S. dollars will be adjusted by IHG^® Rewards Club, as needed, to reflect the USD equivalent of the non-USD payment at that time. All other Reward Night terms and conditions apply.

p.s. Greg and I will only use this method if we’re loading up for Points Break rooms, or to pay for an expensive hotel room we’d never want to afford anyway. We’d always rather earn points than pay for them, but this is a great way to stock up.

Good luck and happy traveling!