Several readers have contacted us in the past two weeks, reporting that they have seen higher-than-usual point requirements for many of the hotels they have previously booked using IHG One Rewards points and that the points have been devalued.
IHG abolished award categories and moved to dynamic pricing in 2019. There was a significant previous award devaluation of 30% in 2021 (read more here).
You can access IHG One Rewards here.
READ MORE: IHG One Rewards Rate & Bonus Points Offers
The problem is determining if there has been a significant change in the value of IHG One Reward points in the dynamic pricing environment where point and cash prices are loosely correlated, but not always.
When IHG tweaked the pricing in 2021, they partially walked it back, probably after realizing it had gone too far.
What happens this time is unclear, as they have changed the IHG One Rewards structure inside the IHG from being cost-neutral to becoming a profit center for the corporate.
Let’s look at the pricing in London, New York, Bangkok, Tokyo and Sydney:
InterContinental New York Times Square
The cash rate that includes all the taxes and fees is $577.
The price using points is 97,000 points +$40.17. The value of a point is .55 US cents each.
Kimpton Fitzroy London
The Single City is not available using points, but only the queen that goes for $495.
The price using points is 102,000, valuing each point at 0.49 US cents each.
Vignette Collection: Sindhorn Midtown Hotel Bangkok
The price of the Twin Standard room is $122.
The price in points is 22,000, valuing each point at 0.55 US cents each.
Hotel Indigo: Tokyo Shibuya
The Queen Standard goes for $433.
The price in points is 94,000, valuing each point at 0.46 US cents each.
Crowne Plaza: Sydney Darling Harbour
King Bed Standard goes for $256.
The price in points is 58,000, valuing each point at 0.44 US cents each.
Conclusion
When I did a similar comparison last time, point values ranged from 0.4 to 0.7 US cents each. IHG may have tightened the cash/point range, and you won’t see those higher values, or at least not now.
IHG needs to be very careful here. Looking at these point requirements above, it wasn’t that long ago when the most expensive IHG properties went for 30,000 to 40,000 points per night, and I believe the current high is 250K.
When will people just give up and decide that it is no longer worth it for them to chase points when they are worth next to nothing when trying to redeem them?
I only redeem points, not just IHG, when there is an award “Flash Sale,” like what we had the other year with InterContinentals, or there is an outstanding redemption value.
But looking at these current point values, you should have your head checked if you are swiping the IHG/Chase cobranded card for anything other than IHG hotel stays. Even then, half of the properties are incorrectly coded at Chase’s end as non-IHG, and you need to chase up the points (pun intended).
Have you experienced an IHG points devaluation? Please comment below.
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