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Bits: IHG 100% ‘buy points’ bonus, Amex Plat adds more lounges, Hilton Japan flash sale

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News in brief:

100% IHG Rewards Club ‘buy points’ bonus – three days only

IHG Rewards Club – the InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza etc scheme – has brought back its ‘100% buy points bonus’ promotion.  It is as generous an offer as you will ever see for IHG points.

The page to buy points is here.  The deal runs until midnight New York-time on the 19th.

Here are the standard purchase rates which do NOT include the bonus:

  • 1,000 – 10,000 points for $13.50 per 1,000 points
  • 11,000 – 25,000 points for $12.50 per 1,000 points
  • 26,000 – 60,000 points for $11.50 per 1,000 points

You receive a 100% bonus with any order of 5,000 points or more.  With a 100% bonus, you would be able to buy 120,000 IHG points for (at current exchange rates) £535.  This assumes your credit card has 0% FX fees.

Here are a few examples of how this deal may work.

At the top end of the IHG Rewards Club portfolio, you have InterContinental properties which top out at 50,000 – 60,000 points per night. That’s what you would pay for InterContinental Le Grand in Paris or the InterContinental Amstel in Amsterdam.

With a 100% bonus, IHG is effectively selling you a night at a 50,000 point property for £223 all-in.  A 60,000 point hotel would be £268.  At the bottom end, the points for a 5,000 point PointBreaks night would cost just £23.

The continual devaluation of some top IHG properties into the 60,000 points category makes this offer less generous than it was.  The fall in the value of the £ also makes this deal worse – although if you are redeeming for hotels in the USA or a ‘pegged’ country like the UAE it nets off.

The maximum number of points you can buy per year is 120,000 (ie 60,000 plus the 60,000 bonus).

You can buy via this link.

American Express Platinum adds new lounges

If you have an American Express Platinum charge card, you can benefit from a new deal signed with ‘Escape’ lounges, the small airport lounge company owned by Manchester Airports Group (MAG).

As well as the ‘Escape’ lounges in its UK airports, MAG also operates Escape-branded lounges in the US.  These are at Minneapolis, Oakland and Bradley International (Hartford).

Effective immediately, these lounges can be accessed – with up to TWO guests – with an American Express Platinum card issued in any country.

Oakland will be of interest if you are looking at the Norwegian or British Airways services from Gatwick.  Aer Lingus is now serving Hartford.

Full details can be found here.

Conrad Tokyo sign

72 hour Hilton Japan flash sale

I wouldn’t normally mention a niche sale like this, but given the large volume of Japan coverage on Head for Points in recent weeks I thought it tied in.

Until 19th May (sale ends 2pm UK time), Hilton is offering 50% off Best Available Rate for various hotels in Japan.  This includes the Conrad Tokyo pictured above which I reviewed here.

Stays must be completed by 30th December.  Bookings are non-refundable so the discount is not genuinely 50% (a non-refundable room is always cheaper than Best Available Rate) but there will be some decent savings to be had.

Full details can be found on the Hilton website here.

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Did you know that the Virgin Atlantic credit cards are a great way of earning Hilton Honors points? Two Virgin Points can be converted into three Hilton Honors points. The Virgin Atlantic cards are the only Visa or Mastercard products in the UK which can indirectly earn Hilton Honors points. You can apply here.

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Hilton points is 1:2.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

Category

American Express Platinum card, Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards

Comments (45)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Lynn says:
    17 May17 May 05:07

    Whenever you redeem points for a stay you can buy 10,000 points for $70. Isn’t this a better deal?

    • mark E says:
      17 May17 May 05:42

      If you buy 5,000 points and get 5,000 points free , you pay $67.50 for those 10,000 points, so the 100% bonus deal is cheaper than the redemption deal.

    • CV3V says:
      17 May17 May 08:34

      Depends on timing of these offers, but if you redeem part points does the stay then count as a cash sale? Earning points, options for adding on a discounted breakfast, status perks being recognised? (question marks, as not sure of the answers!)

      • RussellH says:
        17 May17 May 13:05

        No, technically you are buying additional points and then using just points for the stay, not a points + cash purchase.

        So no points for the room, but you do get points at your normal rate for food and drink, plus your choice of welcome drink(s) or welcome points.

        Got my first weekend stay towards my accelerate target this coming weekend – it will be interesting to see whether I get offered two free drinks, as I have done for my last three IHG stays, or whether I have to argue the toss!

        • CV3V says:
          17 May17 May 13:47

          Got it, its still a points booking, and not cash and points like other hotel schemes, oh well.

          On a few occasions i have had to haggle to get 2 drinks vouchers and not just the 1 that was offered.Then there was the time the bar was closed for a private function, took a ‘negotiation’ to be served

          Best benefit of having IHG Spire was the time i was in the process of being checked in and someone tried to push in waving a gold IHG card, she was asked to wait, then the member of staff thanked me for being Spire etc etc.

          One time was in KL where i was queued up at check in and a member of staff basically asked what i was doing there (dont think my flip flops matched the decor, and it was a points run for accelerate) and then wandered back behind the desk (ignoring me), queue the check in screen showing me as Spire and 3 members of staff trying to check me in, and the CS Supervisor giving me her business card!

  • Roger says:
    17 May17 May 05:45

    OT-Heathrow Rewards
    With new account opening (Assuming it takes simple phone call to transfer HR points to my main account from a new account opened for this offer), if I spend £150 for Currys/PCW GC at Dixons Travel would I get 3000 HR points?

    • Rob says:
      17 May17 May 08:53

      Yes – but 2nd a/c needs different postal address as 1 a/c per household.

  • Trev says:
    17 May17 May 06:57

    Can’t you already use escape lounges via Priority Pass which you get with the Platinum card?

  • James says:
    17 May17 May 07:07

    Will platinum Amex have priority over PriorityPass and lounge club? Often at stansted there is a sign saying near capacity and currently not accepting lounge club or PriorityPass

    • Rob says:
      17 May17 May 08:50

      Can’t use those in the US Escape lounges (if you could, it wouldn’t have been much of a benefit!)

  • Genghis says:
    17 May17 May 07:39

    How does one gain entry to the Escape lounges with Amex Plat? Is the card swiped or not (nudge nudge wink wink)?

    • Rob says:
      17 May17 May 08:47

      Doubt anyone has tried it yet. For security reasons I doubt it is swiped.

    • Ikaz says:
      17 May17 May 09:57

      The last time that I was in the manchester lounge it was all done on paper. The front desk said that they were expecting an upgrade of the systems though, so before the upgrade you will be fine, after it is not sure.

  • Mark e says:
    17 May17 May 08:09

    I’m considering upgrading my Amex Gold for Amex Plat. Does anyone know how long it would take for me to be able to take advantage of the upgraded Lounge Club benefits?

    • Genghis says:
      17 May17 May 08:19

      You get Priority Pass with Amex Plat. If you applied today and accepted straight away you’d likely have your PP physical card by Monday. If you have a trip sooner, others e.g. @Polly have reported getting login credentials then using the app.

    • mark2 says:
      17 May17 May 08:46

      We did it recently (deferred decision); I would say ten days max.

  • CV3V says:
    17 May17 May 08:30

    Hilton Sale – i tried this out yesterday for the Tokyo Hilton (in December), and was offered the 50% rate, note taxes are added on at checkout. When checked against the Amex Travel website, Amex was cheaper – and that was before taking the £50 card offer available with Amex Travel.

    Lost all interest in using points with IHG, even with top status they fob you off with some strange ‘upgrades’ and then charge full cost for breakfast, as opposed to discounted rates offered when booking cash. IHG points are getting a bit like nectar points for me, my preference is now for Hilton (Diamond status and great status perks) or new found Marriott status thanks to SPG (good perks also, including breakfast or lounge access).

    • Brian says:
      17 May17 May 13:04

      Agree. Never really understood why this site is so positive about IHG, even if one can earn lots of points through promotions. Haven’t used my IHG points for ages, simply because other chains offer so much more in every respect.

      • Graeme says:
        17 May17 May 19:22

        I’d have to disagree, using those easily acquired points has given me more than £750 of quality hotel nights in Helsinki in the autumn. I’d be delighted to source my breakfast elsewhere and see a bit more of the city too..

        • CV3V says:
          17 May17 May 20:11

          its not just about breakfast, its about how they don’t provide status benefits when staying on points. It doesn’t compare well to Accor, Hilton or Marriott who have always provided me with full status benefits (whether they are supposed to or not). Also, at check in at IHG hotels in Asia the first thing they do is remind me that its a points stay and can’t provide a room upgrade! Therefore, whilst i have status with almost all other hotel chains it means IHG remains at the bottom of the list. Also, on cash stays IHG still don’t like to provide status benefits such as room upgrades, one paltry drinks voucher for 2 guests (!), no guarantee of lounge access.

          • Alex W says:
            17 May17 May 23:51

            For me I have always got the same IHG benefits whether redemption or cash – including room upgrade. The lack of breakfast is a bug bear but that’s regardless of cash or redemption. Alternative is go elsewhere, stay at a HIX or at IC and have your ambassador fruit plate for brekkie 🙂

            I agree though, Hilton and Marriott have been excellent, always free brekkie and usually an upgrade too. Accor though has been crap at recognising Plat status and I avoid them like the plague.

        • CV3V says:
          17 May17 May 20:12

          I’ll be blowing a stack of IHG points at The Strings, Tokyo. Granted I will save a small fortune when compared to cash! For this i don’t mind stepping out to the Dean and Deluca next door!

          • Graeme says:
            17 May17 May 21:37

            I hope you enjoy those stays, and don’t get me wrong, I know what you mean about recognising status. But for me the ease of accumulating a stack of points to redeem and have real cash savings drive my IHG loyalty. Like everything it’s horses for courses and differing priorities.

    • the_real_a says:
      17 May17 May 15:06

      Agree with IHG – although points are easy to acquire and typically i use them for low or mid range hotels outside of London. I’m not a big breakfast eater and certainly cannot justify £15 for a pastry although i do enjoy checking mails and taking a leisurely coffee in the morning. Thus i do value the free breakfast at hilton highly. Sometimes the cash price of a HI / HIE is outrageous in the places i need to be so the points are a real cash saving. £150 for the HiE in Swindon for example…

      • Graeme says:
        17 May17 May 19:31

        I assume you get the breakfast at HIE even on redemption, better not say its free after they were forced to remove that claim..

  • Carl says:
    17 May17 May 08:46

    I used the Hilton sale to book hotels for my upcoming trip in July. I booked the Hilton Tokyo for two nights, the Hilton Nagoya for one night and the Conrad Tokyo for two nights. All of these were good value versus best prices available elsewhere. I also wanted to book an airport hotel for my final night, but found that the Hilton Narita Airport, was more expensive than booking on hotels.com (and would have worked out as more given the fees on paying in JPY rather than GBP).

    It’s also worth noting that I checked the prices on aggregator sites before the sale went live and they were higher than they currently are, so if you’re comparing the prices in the sale to those on the aggregator sites, it’s worth noting that they’re likely to revert higher once Hilton’s flash sale is over.

    • Harkirat says:
      17 May17 May 11:40

      I booked four nights at Tokyo Conrad and 3 nights at Okinawa Hilton for November and the value was much better than anywhere else I could find. Plus have Gold status via Amex Plat I will get the free breakfast and possible upgrade. I was think of cancelling my four nights at the Marriot for the Hilton in Osaka again in November and when I checked in the morning at 7AM the price was approx 20,000JPY per night and when I had made my mind by in the evening, the price was back up to 28,000JPY implying the price moves has more people take the offer. Indeed the Conrad in Tokyo for my dates now is about 20,000JPY dearer than when I booked yesterday.

      • Brian says:
        17 May17 May 13:08

        I think you will find that the increase in price is simply the hotel site’s cookies sneakily realising you are interested in the hotel and thus putting up the price. Happens all the time when you look at a hotel, but don’t book, then return to site later. If you use a different browser, you’ll probably find the price is as before.

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