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If you find yourself itching to plan a trip and flexibility is on your side, using a feature like the IHG award calendar can help save you a chunk of points or cash. Furthermore, it can save you time, and who doesn't like that? Rather than having to search night after night to find the cheapest pricing, you can view availability and costs for an entire month at a time.
Several programs — such as Hyatt and Hilton — have implemented award night calendars in recent years. Come to find out, IHG also has one, although it's a bit hidden. This feature comes in handy when trying to wade through IHG's all-over-the-place dynamic pricing. We've done the work figuring out how to access the award calendar, so check out the steps below.
IHG Award Calendar
To get to the calendar, first log in to your IHG One Rewards account. Use the main page to fill in the destination and all pertinent information. Here's where the trick to pulling up the calendar comes in: You want to find dates that don't have availability. Try searching for dates near holidays or other popular times at the destination.
Once you decide on your dates, use the drop-down menu and select the “Reward Nights” option, then hit “Search.”
You'll be taken to a new screen which will show hotel options that fit your search criteria. If there are available dates, you'll see the price listed in points. If you see this, try again for a different date. If you're having trouble finding an unavailable property, try searching for an extra-long stay. If you search for a stay that is 30+ days, chances are higher that there will be some unavailability during that time, which means it will give you the option to view the award calendar.
Once you find a property with no available award nights, you'll notice a gray bar across the top saying the property is unavailable. On the right side of this bar is a button that says “view available dates.” Choose this.
The award calendar will pop up showing a month at a time. This will show available dates and their respective points cost for each night. This particular property doesn't fluctuate much, but other properties can vary by thousands of points per night.
This calendar can help find the lowest prices, and it's also useful when looking for dates to take advantage of IHG's fourth night free perk for cardholders.
Related: Everything You Need To Know About IHG One Rewards
Using the Calendar for Cash Stays
If you repeat the steps above when searching for IHG hotels on a paid reservation, you still can view a calendar. Remember that you need to find a night with no availability to get access to this calendar.
However, when looking at cash stays, the calendar has some issues. Instead of showing the price per night, it only shows the nights with availability. While this helps save search time, it's not particularly helpful if you're trying to find the lowest prices. You may get lucky and have the prices pop up, but that's pretty rare.
Typically, once you've found the dates you want to book, you can select them and go forward in the booking process to find out the price.
Best Credits Cards for Earning IHG One Rewards Points
Assuming your goal is to book award nights, you need to have some IHG One Rewards points available. One of the fastest ways to load up on IHG points is through credit card welcome offers. There are currently three credit cards that earn IHG One Rewards points.
- IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card: Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
- IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card: Earn 80,000 Bonus Points after spending $2,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
- IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card: Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
These cards are issued by Chase, so make sure to check your 5/24 status to ensure that you are eligible, plus check other application rules.
Moreover, you can transfer both Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards points to IHG, done in 1:1 increments. This can help you pad your balance if you have a card that earns Chase points or The Bilt Mastercard®.
Need some inspiration for an IHG stay? Here are some of the best IHG redemptions for luxury stays.
Final Thoughts
For those who have travel plans that are set in stone, this may not be particularly helpful. But when your travel dates are flexible, having access to an award calendar like this from IHG can help you quickly find the cheapest redemptions. Finding it has a quirk, but now you know how to access it.
Do you find award calendars like this useful when searching for free nights?
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