IHG points value: Figure out the value of your IHG points in 2023

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IHG One Rewards is the loyalty program of IHG Hotels and Resorts, encompassing brands such as Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental and more.

The value of IHG points is 0.65 cents each, on average, in Personal Finance Insider's most recent valuations, putting them near the middle of the pack among hotel programs, but what these points lack in upside, they make up for in consistency. Read on to learn which redemption options you should target and avoid in order to maximize your IHG points value.

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Best ways to use IHG points

Hotel loyalty programs tend to offer the most value either when cash prices are high (like in popular destinations at peak travel times) or when award prices are low (usually by virtue of a fixed-rate award chart). However, those tendencies have been less pronounced for IHG Rewards since the program adopted dynamic award pricing. Redemption values have become more consistent across both the calendar and IHG's portfolio, as the return from booking awards fits into a thinner bell curve with fewer outliers.

The upside is that your IHG points value is likely to get you close to our average redemption number. The downside is that you're unlikely to score the outsized redemption values offered by other hotel programs, though they can still be found.

Free nights in standard rooms

For an example of a high-value outlier, consider this stay at the Holiday Inn in Jaipur, India. A single night in a king bed room in October costs 23,000 points.

In contrast, a paid stay in that same room costs just over $266 after taxes and fees, which yields a redemption value of over 1.15 cents per point. That's more than 40% above our high valuation of 0.8 cents apiece for IHG Rewards points.

As another example, consider this weekend stay in May at the Kimpton Hotel Monaco in Chicago. Two nights in a King bed room costs 102,000 points.

The same room booked with cash would cost $800.72 after taxes and fees, which yields a redemption value close to 0.79 cents per point. That's slightly under our high valuation, but is nonetheless a very good return for a weekend award in a popular destination.

Book with a mix of cash and points

IHG's Points + Cash awards allow you to book rooms at a discounted cash rate by paying a portion of the bill in points. This is useful if you don't have enough points for a standard award, and can even improve the value of redeeming points in some circumstances.

For example, this stay in a king bed room at the Holiday Inn Express Monterey — Cannery Row was going for $194.22 at the time of writing.

If you used points instead, a standard award for that same room would cost you 30,000 points. That yields a redemption value just under our average valuation of 0.65 cents per point.

However, you could also opt for one of the five Points + Cash options shown below, which increase in increments of 5,000 points for a correspondingly lower cash rate.

In this example, paying 5,000 points lowers the cash cost from $194.22 to $140. In other words, those 5,000 points save you $54.22, for an IHG points value of 1.08 cents each, which is 35% above our high valuation.

One quirk to watch out for is that IHG treats the cash portion of Points + Cash reservations like a points purchase. In this example, you'd effectively be buying 25,000 points (the difference between the standard and Points + Cash awards) for $140. If you were to cancel the reservation later, you'd receive a refund of 30,000 points with no cash component. In other words, be wary of booking Points + Cash awards if your plans are likely to change.

Get a fourth night free

One benefit of IHG's co-branded credit cards is that cardholders can get a fourth night free on award stays of three or more consecutive nights. That equals a discount of up to 25% on the cost of qualifying awards, which in turn boosts the redemption value of those awards by up to 33%. The discount is enough to make a low-value award average, or to make an average award into a high-value one.

Top off free night certificates

The IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card - Product Name Only and IHG® Rewards Premier Business Credit Card - Product Name Only come with annual free night certificates you can redeem at properties costing 40,000 points or less. However, if a room costs more than 40,000 points, you can cover the difference with additional points from your account. It's hard to pin a value on this kind of award, but if redeeming some points helps you save 40,000 more, then it's likely to be worthwhile.

Average-value redemption options

The redemption options discussed above are your best bets for maximizing the value of IHG points, but neither standard awards nor Points + Cash stays are universally high-value, and they will commonly provide a return closer to our average valuation of 0.65 cents per point.

For example, you could pay 76,000 points for this Friday night stay in a classic room at the InterContinental Porto Palacio das Cardosas in Porto, Portugal.

Alternatively, you could book the same room for $522.10 after taxes. That yields a redemption value of just under 0.69 cents per point, which is about 5% above our average valuation of 0.65 cents per point.

As always when redeeming points and miles, you should compare cash and award prices to calculate redemption values and determine which is your best option.

Low-value ways to redeem IHG points

The majority of standard room awards offer redemption values between 0.5 and 0.8 cents per point, but just like the high-value outlier discussed earlier, you may find low-value outliers that yield a dismal return.

For example, this April stay at the Crowne Plaza Guangzhou City Centre in China costs 54,000 points for a two twin bed room.

Using our average valuation, you might expect the cash cost of this room to be in the ballpark of $350 per night, but the actual cost is much lower. You can book the same room for just over $93 per night, yielding an abysmal IHG points value of just 0.17 cents apiece. At that rate, you'd be better off saving your points for a more lucrative redemption opportunity.

Apart from hotel stays, IHG offers a variety of alternative redemption options such as events and experiences, merchandise, charitable donations, and transfers to airline miles (more details below). All of these options tend to yield a value of IHG points below 0.5 cents each, though there are occasional exceptions, particularly among the events and experiences. 

Other factors

Redemption rates aren't the only variable we use to assess the value of points and miles. Here's how IHG Rewards performs across other facets of the program we take into consideration:

• Expiration policy (-) — IHG Rewards points expire if your account is inactive for 12 consecutive months. The clock resets with any qualifying activity (which includes earning or redeeming points and transferring points into the program), and expiration is waived if you have elite status. Keeping points active under these terms is fairly easy, but IHG gets dinged anyway for having the shortest expiration period of any major hotel program.
• Award availability (neutral) — IHG claims to have no blackout dates for award nights, but also specifies that room inventory is limited. In practice, award availability is adequate under normal conditions, but can dry up in heavy demand even when standard rooms are available to book with cash. Furthermore, dynamic award pricing means there's no telling with certainty how many points you'll need until you're ready to book. That makes planning award stays more challenging.
• Airline transfers (neutral) — Most hotel programs allow members to transfer points to airline partners, but only a few offer transfer ratios that are good enough to be useful. Unfortunately, IHG isn't one of them, as transferring 10,000 points gets you only 2,000 airline miles in most cases. Transfers may also take up to 21 days and have to be processed manually. Still, it's better to have the option than not, so this isn't a negative.
• Sharing/pooling (-) — IHG does not offer a complimentary way to share points. You can transfer increments points to other members at a cost of $5 per 1,000 points (0.5 cents per point). Given that you can routinely buy IHG points outright for the same price, that option isn't useful.
• Ease of accumulation (++) — IHG offers good earning rates for paid stays, and you can supplement those earnings with points from one of IHG's three co-branded credit cards. You can also transfer points in from Chase Ultimate Rewards®, Bilt Rewards, and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club at 1:1 (or occasionally better when a transfer bonus is in play). Finally, there are frequent opportunities to buy IHG points inexpensively enough that you can come out ahead when you redeem them.
• Resort fees on award stays (-) — Some hotel loyalty programs waive resort fees on award stays, which can save members hundreds of dollars on longer stays. Unfortunately, IHG Rewards isn't one of them.

The only spot where IHG Rewards shines is in the ease of accumulating points, which is aided by being able to buy them inexpensively. Otherwise, IHG scores poorly across the board on these miscellaneous factors. A longer expiration period, a cost-free option to share points, and waived resort fees on awards would all be welcome improvements.

What to know about IHG points value

IHG Rewards doesn't offer the same high-end value you'll find in many other hotel loyalty programs, but IHG's global presence combined with the ease of accumulating points makes it a useful one for frequent travelers. The fourth night free on award redemptions are valuable benefits for IHG credit cardholders adds value to the program, and Points + Cash awards are a useful backup option when rates are high.