How Much Will It Cost To Buy IHG Points?

IHG points cost

How much do IHG points cost? IHG Rewards points range from 1 to 1.35 cents per point depending on the quantity you purchase. The best value of 1 cent per point is achieved when buying 26,000 IHG points or more in a single transaction, totaling $260 for 26,000 points.

How many IHG points can you buy?

You can buy as little as 1,000 IHG points for $13.50 and as many as 150,000 IHG points for $1,500 in a single transaction. You can buy (or be gifted) up to a total of 150,000 IHG points per calendar year.

Do note that purchased IHG points do not count towards IHG Elite Status.

IHG buy points calculator

Use our Buy Points calculator to find out how much it will cost you to buy IHG points. You can enter any amount of IHG points in the field below.

Can you buy IHG points for cheap?

There are three primary ways that you can buy IHG points for cheaper: duing promotions, using IHG credit cards, and buying points through TopCashback.

Promotions

IHG points are on sale several times per year. The discount will vary, but the cheapest these points are sold for seems to be 0.5 cents each during the popular 100% Buy Points promo.

This promotion allows you to buy IHG points at 0.5 cents each which is lower than the average value of 0.7 cents per point The Point Calculator gives them. This gives you the opportunity to buy them for cheap and redeem them for higher value.

IHG credit card discount

Buying IHG Points as an IHG credit card holder will earn you an automatic 20% discount on the standard rate allowing you to buy them for significantly cheaper.

Points will cost you between 0.8 cents and 1.08 cents per point with the best value being offered when you buy at least 26,000 IHG Points.

Do note that you will not receive a 20% discount when IHG Points are already on sale due to a buy points promotion.

TopCashback

TopCashback is an online cash back portal that pays you for small portion of the money they make when you click on affiliate links on their website. Points.com, which is the site you buy IHG points through, is featured on their site meaning that you can earn cash back when buy your points.

Do note that this cash back is in addition to what you would normally earn with the credit card you use to buy the points. If you plan on buying points from IHG or any other hotel program, I highly suggest using TopCashback as there is no downside.

You can sign up for a free TopCashback account through The Point Calculator to earn bonus cash back when you buy your IHG points. You can also check out our TopCashback Review if you want to know more about the portal.

Are buying IHG points worth it?

There's two good reasons to why it can be worth it to buy IHG Points:

• You need to top off your account for a redemption
• You can redeem them for more than what you paid for them

Topping off your account

If you're a few IHG Points shy of a redemption, topping of your account is the most justifiable reason for purchasing IHG Points.

For example, if you have 34,000 IHG Points and you're trying to book a 3-day stay for 36,000 IHG Points, buying 2,000 IHG Points to add to your IHG Rewards account will typically be worth it.

If you still wish to run the number for topping off your account you can, but there's no shame in dishing out a few dollars to buy a handful of points.

Redeeming them for high value

Buying large amounts of any points or miles is frowned upon in the world of rewards because the cost of buying them (especially at the standard rate) is generally higher than what they are actually worth.

While this is the case more times than not, there are times in which buying points can save you a significant amount of money. This will be when you can buy them at a low cost and redeem them for high value... aka during IHG's Buy Points promotions.

For example, look at the cash prices and cost in points for these three top-rated IHG hotels in the Orlando Florida area.

Average cost in cash per night.

Average cost in IHG Points per night.

These hotels are all offering a value of 0.7 to 0.8 cents per IHG Point.

If you needed to top off your account or buy enough IHG Points to cover the entire stay, you would be getting an excellent deal at buying them for only 0.5 cents each and redeeming them for a higher value of 0.7 to 0.8 cents each.

Buy 10K points and receive a bonus 10K points for a total of 20K points for $135.

You know how you can make this better? While you will not receive the 20% discount as an IHG credit card holder since the points are already on sale, you WILL have access to the IHG 4th Night Free benefit which allows you to book 4 award nights for the price of 3.

Here's a deeper dive into the Candlewood Suites: Orlando - Lake Buena Vista:

The 4th night is free as an IHG credit card holder.

You'll be dishing out $614.60 if you were to pay cash for a 4-night stay.

This makes the IHG 100% Buy Points Promotion significantly better as your points will now be worth more because you're saving a whole day of points whereas if you paid cash you would have to dish out the cost of the 4th night.

Buy a total of 60,000 Points for $300.

Why pay $614.60 for the entire stay when you can just buy 60,000 points for $300 and redeem them for more than double the price you paid for them?

This is one of the main reasons why I have the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card. Even if I don't use the card often, it pays for itself by offering an annual free night at an IHG hotel AND it makes increase the value of IHG's Buy Points sale throughout the year.

How to buy IHG points

1. Go to the IHG's Buy Points page.
2. Log into your IHG Rewards account.
3. Select how many IHG points you want to buy.
4. Enter your payment details.
5. Review your order and agree to the terms and conditions.
6. Click Pay Now.

IHG Points should post to your account a few minutes after purchasing. You may have to sign out and sign back in to see the new balance.

Earn more IHG points

If you're in no rush to purchase IHG points, the best way to earn lots of points is via intro bonuses and everyday spending using credit cards. IHG offers three credit cards that can instantly earn you a large sum of points.

Here are those cards:

IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card

Best For IHG Travelers

• Earn 10 IHG points per $1 spent at IHG properties
• Earn 5 IHG points per $1 spent on travel, gas station, and restaurant purchases
• Earn 3 IHG points per $1 spent on everything else
• Receive a Free Night Award that's good for any IHG property that costs 40,000 IHG Points or less at the time of booking
• Receive the 4th night free when booking a 4-night consecutive award stay
• Receive complimentary IHG Platinum Elite status
• $99 annual fee
• Card Value & IHG Premier Points Calculator

IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card

Best For No Annual Fee

• Earn 5 IHG points per $1 spent at IHG properties
• Earn 3 IHG points per $1 spent on utilities, streaming services, gas station, and dining purchases
• Earn 1 IHG point per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Receive the 4th night free when booking a 4-night consecutive award stay
• Receive complimentary IHG Gold Elite status
• $0 annual fee.
• Card Value & IHG Traveler Points Calculator

IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card

Best For IHG Business Travelers

• Earn 10X points on IHG purchases
• Earn 5X points on travel, gas station, dining, and select business purchases
• Earn 3X points on everything else
• Receive a Free Night Award that's good for any IHG property that costs 40,000 IHG Points or less at the time of booking
• Receive the 4th night free when booking a 4-night consecutive award stay
• Receive complimentary IHG Platinum Elite status
• Earn up to $50 United Airlines TravelBank Cash each year
• $99 annual fee
• Card Value & Rewards Calculator