The best value of IHG Points will come from redeeming them towards free nights at IHG brand hotels. Hotel redemptions will give you around 0.7 cents per IHG Point on average. Overall, IHG Points can be redeemed towards:
- Free Nights at IHG Properties
- Gift Cards
- Merchandise from the IHG Rewards Club Catalog
- Digital Rewards
- Transfers To 35 Airline Partners
This page will cover the cash value you can obtain from these redemptions as well as details on each available option.
Boost IHG Points
If you're looking to earn additional IHG Points, the best place to start is IHG's own co-branded credit cards. IHG offers two credit cards that offer solid intro bonuses and a great return on your spend at IHG hotels.
Amongst other benefits, both cards also grant access to IHG's 4th night free benefit. This allows you to book a 4-night award stay for the cost of three which can save you a ton of IHG Points.
If you frequent IHG hotels, I recommend having at least one of these cards.
- Enjoy a Reward Night after each account anniversary year at eligible IHG hotels worldwide
- Enjoy a Reward Night when you redeem points for any stay of 4 or more nights
- Platinum Elite status as long as you remain a Premier card member
- Global Entry or TSA Pre✓® Fee Credit of up to $100 every 4 years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to your card
- Enjoy a Reward Night when you redeem points for any stay of 4 or more nights
Chase Ultimate Rewards
Outside of using IHG's own co-branded credit cards, you can also earn IHG points by transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards Points directly to your IHG Rewards Club account at a 1:1 ratio.
This is a great alternative option for topping off your account in a pinch. You can also redeem Ultimate Rewards Points for 1.25 to 1.5 cents in value booking travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards and transfer them to a handful of airline and hotel partners which makes them very flexible rewards points.
- Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
- Enjoy new benefits such as a $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit, 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3X points on dining and 2X points on all other travel purchases, plus more.
- Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. For example, 100,000 points are worth $1,250 toward travel.
- With Pay Yourself Backâ„ , your points are worth 25% more during the current offer when you redeem them for statement credits against existing purchases in select, rotating categories.
- Get unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on eligible orders over $12 for a minimum of one year with DashPass, DoorDash's subscription service. Activate by 12/31/21.
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
- Get up to $60 back on an eligible Peloton Digital or All-Access Membership through 12/31/2021, and get full access to their workout library through the Peloton app, including cardio, running, strength, yoga, and more. Take classes using a phone, tablet, or TV. No fitness equipment is required.
- Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
- $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year. Through December 31, 2021, gas station & grocery store purchases will also count towards earning your Travel Credit
- Earn 5X total points on air travel and 10X total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards® immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3X points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Get 50% more value when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. For example, 60,000 points are worth $900 toward travel
- With Pay Yourself Backâ„ , your points are worth 50% more during the current offer when you redeem them for statement credits against existing purchases in select, rotating categories
- 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
- Access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide after an easy, one-time enrollment in Priority Pass™ Select and up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓®
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more
- Points are worth 25% more when you redeem for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
- Redeem points for cash back, gift cards, travel and more - your points don't expire as long as your account is open
- Purchase Protection covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account
Buy IHG Points
Another easy way to top off your account is to buy IHG Points. IHG Points cost between 1 and 1.35 cents per point at the standard rate, with the lowest cost being when you buy a minimum of 26,000 points.
IHG Points are on sale several times per year in which you can buy them for as low as 0.5 cents which is great considering you can easily redeem them for around 0.7 cents on average.
Redeem IHG Points For Free Nights
The best value you can squeeze out of IHG Points will come from redeeming them for free nights at IHG brand hotels. Points can be used at any IHG Hotel as long as there's availability.
Standard IHG Redemptions
The Point Calculator values IHG Points to be around 0.7 cents each when redeemed for free nights at IHG brand hotels.
Finding good value with IHG can take a little bit of back and forth action, but luckily IHG offers the ability to 'Show prices with taxes and fees' on the search results page. This means you'll only need to toggle between the Money, Points, and Points+Cash options at the top to compare values.
As an example, let's look at hotels in Tampa, FL for a weekend in April.
All of these redemptions offer a higher than average value of around 0.9 to 1 cent per point which is really good. The table below shows the breakdown of these redemptions.
| Hotel | Points Needed | Cash Cost | Point Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa East - Ybor City | 20,000 pts | $202.32 | 1.01 Cents |
| Tampa Westshore - Airport Area | 17,500 pts | $156.64 | 0.89 Cents |
| Tampa USF - Busch Gardens | 15,000 pts | $149.73 | 0.99 Cents |
| Tampa/Rocky Point Island | 22,500 pts | $223.20 | 0.99 Cents |
| Tampa Fairgrounds - Casino | 20,000 pts | $203.41 | 1.01 Cents |
When it comes to finding the best value based on the cost, the search results screen provides everything that you need.
As previously stated, it will require a little bit of back-and-forth between the redemption options. Also, make sure that you check mark the box to show the totals with fees and taxes included so you can get the most accurate results.
IHG 4th Night Free Perk
You can easily bump up the value of your IHG Points by saving points with IHG's 4th Night Free Perk. This perks allows you to book a 4-night consecutive award stay at an IHG hotel for the cost of 3 nights.
In order to partake in this marvelous perk, you will need to be a cardholder of the IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card or IHG® Rewards Club Traveler Credit Card.
If you have an IHG credit card the free night will display automatically anytime you book 4 or more consecutive days. On the search results screen, IHG will give you the average cost in points per day across the days you select.
Looking at the same Flordia hotels, lets bump up the nights to a total of four and see how much the value of IHG Points increase.
Since the cost of these hotels fluctuate depending on the day of the week, I had to actually go into each result and get the total amount of points. The final costs of these hotels are listed in the table below.
| Hotel | Points Needed | Cash Cost | Point Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa East - Ybor City | 55,000 pts | $588.68 | 1.07 Cents |
| Tampa Westshore - Airport Area | 50,000 pts | $589.56 | 1.17 Cents |
| Tampa USF - Busch Gardens | 47,500 pts | $580.72 | 1.2 Cents |
| Tampa/Rocky Point Island | 62,500 pts | $691.60 | 1.1 Cents |
| Tampa Fairgrounds - Casino | 60,000 pts | $682.92 | 1.13 Cents |
Multiple properties are now offering a significant value of 1.1 cents or more which is pretty superb. Even if you ran into an IHG property that initially gives you 0.6 - 0.7 cents in value, the 4th night free benefit would generally bump it up to around 0.8 to 0.9 cents.
Between this benefit and the 5X to 10X earnings per $1 spent at IHG Hotels, picking up an IHG credit cards is easily worth it if you frequent their hotels.
IHG's Best Properties For High Value
If you're looking to redeem your points at one of IHG's top-of-the-line properties, you have a nice selection of hotels to choose from. IHG has some fantastic hotels around the world that can get you some exceptional value.
Listed below are a handful of IHG's best properties if you're looking to redeem points for high value or just looking to experience the best IHG has to offer. These will typically be hotels that fall under the InterContinental brand as they typically offer the best service and highest value.
- InterContinental Bora Bora Resort Thalasso Spa (French Polynesia)
- InterContinental Amstel Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
- InterContinental Bali Resort (Indonesia)
- InterContinental Singapore (Singapore)
- InterContinental Sydney
Other IHG Points Redemptions
Outside of free nights, you can also put your IHG Points towards merchandise, gift cards, and digital rewards. Points can also be shared with other IHG members which is great if you're trying to pool your points for a redemption.
IHG Rewards Club Catalog
IHG Points can be redeemed on the IHG Rewards Club Catalog for merchandise. This will give your IHG Points a value of around 0.2 to 0.3 cents per point, but there's are instances in which you can get lower or higher depending on the item.
There's lots of things to choose from ranging from Electronics and Garden to Fashion and Kids. I only recommend going this route if you're trying to clear out your IHG Points since the value is more than half the average value when used for free nights.
If you're big on merchandise, I recommend taking a look at cash back rewards cards.
Gift Cards
IHG Points can be redeemed in the IHG Rewards Club Catalog for gift cards for 0.18 to 0.2 cents in value depending on the denomination of the gift card.
There's over 70 different gift cards that you can redeem your points for and redemptions start at 5,500 points. Listed below are the standard redemption options for most of the available gift cards based on denominations.
| Gift Card Amount | Points Needed |
|---|---|
| $10 Gift Card | 5,500 IHG Points |
| $25 Gift Card | 12,500 IHG Points |
| $50 Gift Card | 25,000 IHG Points |
Digital Rewards
You can apply your IHG Points towards digital rewards through the IHG Digital Rewards Portal. The value for these redemptions will vary.
Within the portal you'll be able to use your points to purchase digital rewards such as music, movies, and eMagazines. Redemptions start at around 300 IHG Points so this is a good way to clear out your IHG Points if you have some laying around that you don't plan on using.
Share Points With IHG Members
IHG Points can be shared with other IHG Rewards members for a cost of 0.5 cents per point transfered. This means that every 1,000 IHG Points you transfer will cost you $5 which is the better option over buying IHG Points which can cost you a little more.
You can transfer points to other IHG members using the IHG Transfer Points page.
Transfer IHG Points To Partners
IHG Points can be transferred to more than 35 airlines. The transfer ratios vary depending on the program, but most transfers are 10,000 IHG Points for 2,000 airline miles which comes out to 1 airline mile for every 5 IHG Points.
Transferring your points can be a good route to take if you need to top off your frequent flyer account or if you don't plan on using them for IHG stays. You can check out the IHG Points Transfer Calculators to get the full list of IHG transfer partners and calculate the transfer of points to and from your IHG Rewards Club account.
IHG Points Value Calculator
Use the IHG Points Value Calculator to calculate the value of your IHG Points based on our average values for each redemption listed. You can enter any amount of IHG Points in the field below.
These are the average cash values of IHG Points when used for free nights at an average value of 0.7 cents each:
| IHG Points | Cash Value |
|---|---|
| 10,000 Points | US $70 |
| 25,000 Points | US $175 |
| 30,000 Points | US $210 |
| 50,000 Points | US $350 |
| 60,000 Points | US $420 |
| 80,000 Points | US $560 |
| 100,000 Points | US $700 |
FAQ
How much are IHG Points worth?
IHG Points are worth around 0.7 cents each on average. You can typically get higher values of 1 cent or more with the 4th Night Free Perk.
How many IHG Points do you need for a free night?
Redemptions start at around 10,000 IHG Points per night, but most hotels hover around the 20,000-40,000 points per night range.
How do you use the IHG 4th night free benefit?
If you have an IHG credit card tied to your IHG Rewards Club account, this perk is triggered automatically when you book a 4-night or longer stay.
Can I redeem IHG Points for gift cards?
Yes. IHG Points can be redeemed for gift cards starting at 5,500 points for a $10 gift card.
Can I buy merchandise with IHG Points?
Yes. You can use the IHG Rewards Club Catalog to use your points towards electronics, fashion, health, garden, and much more.
Can you transfer IHG Points to other IHG members?
Yes. You can transfer points to another member at a fee of 0.5 cents per point. So transferring 1,000 IHG Points would cost you $5.
Can you transfer IHG Points to other rewards programs?
Yes. You can transfer IHG Points to over 35 different airline partners.
Are the IHG credit cards worth it?
If you want to earn the most IHG Points on IHG spend and get the best value with the 4th Night Free Perk, yes the cards are worth it.
