Clearly everyone’s already geared up for Black Friday, although it’s still weeks away. We are covering three buy-point offers from hotel programs.
[IHG]
IHG is no stranger in the game: until November 16th, you’ll get 100% bonus when purchasing at least 5,000 points in one transaction. It is a very regular offer and you’ll be paying 0.5c per point – note that you need to buy at least 26,000 points to get this price.
IHG silently devalued their redemptions earlier this year but there are still many good deals out there. Especially if you can combine it with other deals, such as the elite discount, new hotel discount, or Chase 4-for-3 benefit.
[LHW]
Relatively new to the game, LHW’s name has made it to the headlines a few times already. You’ll get a bonus when buying points by December 13:
- 2,000 – 11,000 points: 50%
- 12,000 – 29,000 points: 75%
- 30,000 – 50,000 points: 100%
The original price is 12c per point, so at the top end you’ll be paying 6c instead.
As we’ve discussed previously, LHW has a semi-revenue-based redemption system where you usually get ~8c per point when redeeming. That’s roughly a 25% discount when you buy and pay with points.
There are few outliers, e.g. Imperial Hotel Tokyo and Hotel J Shanghai, whose price points seem fixed and you can get over 10c per point on some dates.
Note that you must spend at least $3,600 to get the 100% bonus, and points are valid as long as there’s account activity in the last 24 months.
[GHA]
An interesting offer: GHA is offering a 15% discount when you purchase their Discovery Dollars (D$) until November 21. The D$ are valid for two years.
One D$ is basically one U.S. dollar when you spend them at GHA hotels, so you are indirectly purchasing USD if you stay at GHA hotels regularly enough.
I’m not convinced by 15% off though – the “return” may not be big enough for an investment, and remember that if you pay cash (as opposed to redeeming D$) you earn D$ back on the spend.
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