IHG Rewards Club launches revenue-based redemption – and it is MUCH cheaper

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• Craig says:

  29 May29 May 16:00

  Brilliant, just booked CP JFK for half the normal points.

  • Anna says:

    29 May29 May 19:02

    Genius! You just reminded me I need a room at JFK next Easter before an early flight to the Caribbean. 20k points v $250 cash. To think I had toyed with the idea of using a free night certificate here 😱

    • Craig says:

      29 May29 May 21:35

      From the reviews 40k points or a certificate looked expensive, 20k looks much more reasonable. In fact Mrs S’s first year IHG card looks even more valuable now, two nights here either side of a spin to the Caribbean and a free night certificate, some real value to be had.

• Andrew says:

  29 May29 May 16:24

  O/T – but related, as I might cancel and rebook. Melia hotel booked with points – are they fully refundable in points once a stay is cancelled and do the points expire? (I did the Melia buy points offer last year and booked for September at Grand Melia Rome, so I’m new to Melia).

  • Jek says:

    29 May29 May 16:52

    That depends on the tarif you booked. Melia has both refundable and non-refundable bookings with points. You need to check your confirmation.

    I had a booking for Granada in April on points and although the hotel was closed, they only offered me to change my booking to a later date (yet to be determined when – its an “open” booking).

    • Andrew says:

      29 May29 May 17:27

      Thanks, seems to say cancel outside 24 hours to avoid a 1 night penalty.

      • flyoff says:

        29 May29 May 19:05

        I cancelled and received all the points back as my booking stated cancellable up to 24 hours before. Once cancelled the expiry date reverted back to the original expiry date of all the points. I have now booked a hotel next year and the expiry date has been extended to one year after my next planned stay.

• Optimus Prime says:

  29 May29 May 21:24

  Rob, do you think the free night certificate might be capped at a certain number of points like in the US once dynamic pricing is fully rolled out and we’re in proper peak season (post covid19 obviously)?

  • Doug M says:

    29 May29 May 21:37

    On a related subject I had to finally admit defeat and cancel a room in Boston yesterday. The Free Night voucher reappeared extended until 31/12/20.

  • Rob says:

    29 May29 May 22:41

    As the Premium card is no longer available, you could argue either way …

• BJ says:

  29 May29 May 22:04

  It will be interesting to see if PointBreaks reappears in an effort to encourage bookings.

• Sanders says:

  30 May30 May 00:00

  Has anyone else had problems with the app timing out/logging out for weeks now?

• Rossy says:

  30 May30 May 08:57

  Based on this then are you saying that a (conservative) new valuation of 1x IHG point is worth 0.5-0.6p based on current exchange rates?

  • Genghis says:

    30 May30 May 09:15

    Not when you can buy for much less!

    • Rob says:

      30 May30 May 09:47

      You should only value something at what it would cost to replace it, and IHG is still (today) selling you points at 0.4p each as the 100% bonus offer is running.

      • Craig W says:

        30 May30 May 21:19

        I don’t think I understand this argument. Surely an IHG point is worth the amount I am saving by redeeming the point rather than paying cash for the room? I know you both think differently but I can’t see why

        • Genghis says:

          30 May30 May 21:41

          Let’s look at one example and assume you can buy avios at 1p and you usually redeem at 1.5p.

          There are multiple ways to get avios, Tesco clubcard being one of them.

          You can get say 2.6p of actual value if you redeem clubcard points for hotels.com or say 3p of value if you redeem for Tesco delivery saver. You’re giving up that 1cc point for 2.4 avios, which if you valued at what you could redeem them for, then you’d be getting 2.4 x 1.5p of value = 3.6p / cc. But you can replace that 2.4 avios by paying cash of 2.4p. So really you’re better off using for other redemptions. It makes valuing points at what you redeem them at futile. It’s replacement cost which you should value at and use as the benchmark for your analysis.

        • Rob says:

          30 May30 May 21:45

          Look at it this way. You say I should value an IHG point at 0.6p now. However, if I offered you £5 or 100 points, you would take the £5 because IHG will sell you 100 points for £4 and you can pocket the difference.

          Put another way: 1 Virgin mile = 1.5 Hilton (0.48p on my valuation) or 1 IHG. I would still take the Hilton points, even if I though I’d get 0.6p for the IHG point, because I can buy that IHG point for 0.4p.

        • Craig W says:

          30 May30 May 22:52

          Extremely helpful and interesting – thanks very much!

• paul says:

  30 May30 May 13:47

  The one concern I have is that Taxes and Fees appear to be excluded. This is not universal but the IC Robertson ket states the rate excludes taxes and service charges.
  On what rate will these be based. In some parts of Asia these can be more than 20% and a big draw of using points was that these were previously included.
  Will they now be based on the rack rate on the day you book, the rack rate the day you arrive, leave or on some other rate?
  Have I mssed something?

  • Rob says:

    30 May30 May 14:52

    If the tax is a % then it is a % of nothing. Only flat rate taxes are due.

• solartravels says:

  1 Jun1 June 09:19

  Can anyone recommend a decent IHG hotel (for redemption purpose) for a family holiday?
  I.e. some sunshine, outdoor pool etc suitable for 5 year old daughter?
  EU or close-ish.

  • Rob says:

    1 Jun1 June 09:57

    IC Cannes (on the beach)
    IC Estoril (on the beach)

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