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With over 6,300 worldwide properties, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is the fourth-largest hotel group in the world. Included properties range from the luxurious wellness resorts in the Six Senses Collection to the many roadside Holiday Inn Express properties. The rewards program, IHG One Rewards, may not provide the most valuable redemptions when compared to other hotel programs, though there's a lot of potential for solid and even outsized value throughout the program. Typically, AwardWallet users redeem IHG miles for 0.68¢ each, but there are opportunities to redeem points at well above that rate.
A perk of the IHG One Rewards program is that earning IHG points is easy. Three co-branded credit cards earn IHG points, and IHG often runs promotions for earning and/or buying points. But, of course, one of the main ways to earn IHG One Rewards points is by staying at an IHG property. Let's explore how many points you can earn from your stays and how you can accelerate your earnings.
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Earning IHG Points on Paid Hotel Stays
IHG One Rewards members earn 10 points for every dollar spent on qualifying stays at most IHG properties. There are some notable exceptions, however:
- Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites: Members earn 5 points for every dollar spent
- IHG Army Hotels: Members earn 3 points per $1 spent
- The Venetian Resort Las Vegas and The Palazzo at The Venetian Resort: Members earn a set rate of 2,000 points per stay.
Qualifying stays are those stays booked directly through IHG. Stays reserved via third-party platforms like Expedia or Hotels.com won't qualify for points.
If you have IHG Rewards elite status, you can earn at these elevated rates:
- Silver Elite: 20% more points (12x earnings)
- Gold Elite: 40% more points (14x)
- Platinum Elite: 60% more points (16x)
- Diamond Elite: 100% more points (20x)
Earning on Reward Nights and Points + Cash Stays
Although you cannot earn points on the cash rate equivalent for your reward night, don't worry; you'll still earn points for anything else you charge during your stay! The same goes for any Points+ Cash stays. You'll earn points on the cash portion of the room rate and any other eligible charges.
These eligible charges include food and drinks, phone calls, laundry, and even in-room movies. Keep in mind that eligible charges might change depending on the hotel brand and where it's located. You will not earn points on taxes, service charges, gift shop purchases not charged to the room, or gratuities.
Related: Do IHG One Rewards Points Expire?
Can You Earn IHG Points on More Than One Room at a Time?
You can really rack up the points if you are looking to book more than one room for a larger group trip. That’s because IHG allows you to earn points on each of the rooms you book, up to nine rooms per stay. You don’t even need to pay for all of the rooms, but you do need to enure the same member's number is associated with each room. Note that there is an exception on bookings with Intercontinental Alliance Resorts (The Venetian Resort Las Vegas and The Palazzo at The Venetian Resort).
Related: How To Use the IHG Calendar Search To Find the Best Award and Cash Rates
How IHG Co-Branded Cards Enhance Your Earnings On Stays
IHG has three co-branded credit cards, all available through Chase. Each provides extra points on IHG stays on top of the base points earned as an IHG One Rewards member. These are the current options available:
- IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
- 5x points for every $1 spent at IHG properties
- “Fourth night free” benefit on award stays
- Automatic Silver Elite status (giving you an extra 2x on paid stays)
- $0 annual fee
- IHG One Rewards Traveler Card review
- IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
- Additional 10X points per $1 spent at IHG properties
- “Fourth-night free” benefit on award stays
- Automatic Platinum Elite status (giving you an extra 6X earned on your stays)
- Anniversary free night (good for award nights valued at up to 40,000 points)
- $99 Annual fee
- IHG One Rewards Premier Card review
- IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
- 10x points for every $1 spent at IHG properties
- “Fourth night free” benefit on award stays
- Automatic Platinum Elite status
- Anniversary free night (good for award nights valued at up to 40,000 points)
- $99 annual fee
- IHG One Rewards Business Card review
Related: Which IHG One Rewards Credit Card Is Right for You?
Stacking one of these cards with the earning rate from your IHG One Rewards membership can result in significant points earnings on a single stay! For example, a member who holds the IHG One Rewards Premier Card could stack the 10X base point rate with the Platinum Elite boost (6X) and the 10X credit card spend for a total of 26X on hotel spending A $200 hotel stay at an IHG property would earn 5200 points for this traveler.
Boost Your Stay Earnings With IHG Promos
IHG frequently offers promotions for bonus points on stays. Some of these are targeted, but others are available to all members. Several things to take note of with these promos:
- Nearly all promotions require you to registration before any stays on which you want to earn bonus points.
- Promotions that multiply your stay earnings (such as double points) only apply to the base earning rate, not to any credit card or elite bonuses.
Buying IHG Points
It's also possible to buy IHG points to boost your balance. Buying points typically isn't worth it, but there are two situations in which it can make sense.
The first is if you're a few points short of a valuable redemption and just need to top off your account. The second is when you can buy points (such as during a promotion) at a lower price than what you'll get when redeeming the points. Ensure you do the math before pulling out your wallet.
Bottom Line
With a huge global footprint and a large portfolio of hotel brands, IHG provides many opportunities for great reward redemptions. The program's points may not be as valuable as some other hotel brands, but luckily, it's pretty easy to earn IHG points in large numbers. With just a few stays, you could easily rack up enough points for a reward night;
Looking for more IHG content? Check out the following:
- The Top 13 IHG Hotels Redemptions for Luxury Stays
- You Can Now Redeem IHG One Rewards Points for Iberostar Resort Stays
- Get up to 4X Points on Your IHG One Rewards Account Anniversary
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card (Rates & Fees), IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (Rates & Fees), and IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
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