Today let’s look at points sales from three different hotel groups. Days ago ome readers were asking why IHG and Choice had seemingly disappeared from the points-selling scene for so long. Apparently the companies heard the public demand and rushed out new promotions.
IHG
IHG’s latest sale feels seriously overdue. The last 100% bonus seems to have been all the way back in February, so quite a few people were probably getting impatient.
Until June 6, purchasing at least 5,000 IHG One Rewards points will earn a 100% bonus (effectively points at half price). You can purchase up to 300,000 points before bonuses, and the post-discount price remains the familiar 0.5 cents per point.
It’s unclear whether the promotion is targeted, and the threshold for receiving the 100% bonus may vary by account. Also note that you need to purchase at least 26,000 points to unlock the lowest effective price.
Choice
Another major comeback is Choice Privileges. Until May 24, purchasing at least 4,000 points in a single transaction earns a 50% bonus, bringing the effective cost down to roughly 0.687 cents per point.
A 50% bonus is already a very solid promotion, as the last stronger offer dates all the way back to September last year.
For those interested, here are some previous articles on Choice redemptions:
- Guide on redeeming Choice Privilege Points
- Choice welcomes Preferred Hotels, and 250 free points
- Choice hotels: extended booking window, cheaper award nights
- Major Choice hotels devaluation in Japan and Northern Europe
Aside from buying directly from the programme, there really aren’t many ways to accumulate Choice points, and good promotions aren’t especially frequent either. It may therefore make sense to keep some points on hand. Although the programme has gone through several devaluations, there’s still decent value to be found in places like Japan and the Nordics.
One important reminder: Choice points expire after 18 months of inactivity on a rolling basis, so don’t let them lapse. Even buying a small number of points can help reset the clock.
LHW
Finally, one more sale for the sake of completeness: Leading Hotels of the World has also brought back its regular points promotion. Until June 12, bonuses are structured as follows:
- 2,000–11,000 points: 50% bonus
- 12,000–29,000 points: 75% bonus
- 30,000–50,000 points: 100% bonus
The structure is basically identical every time they run one of these promotions. LHW points normally retail at 12 cents per point, so if you’re interested at all, the only tier really worth considering is the 100% bonus level, bringing the effective cost down to 6 cents per point.
We’ve analysed the LHW redemption system before, and in most cases the redemption value sits around 7.5 cents to 8.5 cents per point, occasionally exceeding $1 in exceptional cases. However, since the threshold for the 100% bonus tier is extremely high, I generally wouldn’t recommend buying unless you already have a specific redemption in mind.
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