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IHG’s reward program often gets a lot of flack for its high redemption rates. A free night requires 10,000 – 60,000 points per night or 5,000 points for a PointBreaks hotel. In spite of the high award redemption rates, earning a free night at a top-tier IHG hotel does not take that much effort. Thanks to the co-branded credit card, generous earning rate, and recurring promotions, earning a free night at a top-tier IHG hotel is easier than you might think:
Credit Card Sign-up Bonus
At the moment, the IHG Rewards Club Mastercard offers a sign-up bonus of 60,000 points after $1,000 spent within 3 months. That’s probably the easiest way to earn a free night at a top-tier IHG hotel. Another super easy option? Renew the card annually, pay just a $49 fee, and you’ll receive a free night certificate that can be used at any IHG hotel worldwide!
Earning Free Nights Via Credit Card Sign-up Bonus
Once the sign-up bonus has been redeemed, it’s possible to use the IHG Rewards Club Mastercard to continue earning free nights. The card earns 5 points per $1 at IHG hotels; 2 points per $1 at gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants; 1 point per $1 on everything else.
So it’s possible to earn a free night at a top-tier hotel by channeling $12,000 worth of IHG hotel charges to the card, $35,000 worth of grocery spend, or $60,000 worth of non-categorized spending. Those are pretty outrageous numbers that few of us non-business travelers or non-Duggar family members can pull off. However, there is hope when you factor in earnings through the IHG Rewards Club program…
Earning Free Nights Via Paid Stays
When it comes to earning free nights via paid stays, IHG Rewards Club is actually pretty generous. Members can earn 5 – 10 points per night depending on the hotel they’re staying at, or 600 – 2,000 points per stay at ANA partner hotels:
10 IHG Rewards Club base points per eligible $1 USD spent at all:
- Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts
- Hotel Indigo
- Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts
- Holiday Inn Express hotels
- InterContinental Hotels & Resorts
5 IHG Rewards Club base points per eligible $1 USD spent at all:
- Staybridge Suites
- Candlewood Suites
So non-elite members can earn a free night at a top-tier IHG hotel after $6,000 – $12,000 worth of paid stays. Charging these stays to the IHG Rewards Club Mastercard would result in enough points for not one but two free nights! And with IHG Rewards Club Mastercard account holders receiving Platinum Elite benefits (with a 50% point bonus), those earnings increase further.
So in all, it would take just $3,000 – $4,800 worth of paid hotel stays charged to the IHG Rewards Club Mastercard to earn a free night at a top-tier IHG hotel. Considering the average American spends roughly $1,200 on hotel rooms, that’s actually not completely unreasonable.
Promotional Bonuses
If $3,000 – $4,800 worth of paid stays sounds like an unreasonable amount of spend for a top-tier IHG Rewards Club award, it can be reduced further. IHG Rewards Club’s quarterly Accelerate promotion is actually quite generous, allowing members to earn tens of thousands of bonus points every quarter. For example, last year I received the following promotion (I believe I was still a Platinum member at the time):
- Stay once and get 5,000 bonus points
- Stay 6 nights and earn 10,400 bonus points
- Stay at 3 brands and get 20,800 points
- Apply for the IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card and get 2,000 points
- Complete 3 of 5 offers and earn an additional 14,000 points
Through a promotion like this, it’s possible to earn 52,200 bonus points after completing six nights at three different hotels. If you’re able to score a rate of around $90 per night at Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza hotels (totally achievable near an airport) and stay six nights to complete this challenge, you could score an extra 10,800 points, bringing your total to 63,000 points. That’s more than enough for a free night at a top-tier IHG hotel.
Overall, it doesn’t take quite as much effort to earn a free night at a top-tier IHG hotel as it may seem. Don’t let the award chart scare you out of trying, because it can be done if you combine all of the resources available to you (credit cards, bonus point promotions, and elite benefits).
What are some of the things you’ve done to earn free nights at top-tier IHG Rewards Club hotels?
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Delta® Reserve for Business
- Annual Fee: $450 fee
- Foreign Fees: No
- Card Type: Travel
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- Earn 40,000 bonus miles and 10,000 MQMs after you spend $3,000 in purchases with your new Card in the first 3 months.†
- Earn 15,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) and 15,000 bonus miles after you reach $30,000 in eligible purchases on your Card in the calendar year.
- Earn 2 Miles per dollar spent on eligible purchases made directly with Delta. Earn 1 mile on every eligible dollar spent on purchases.
- Settle into your seat sooner with Priority Boarding and enjoy 20% savings on eligible in-flight purchases in the form of a statement credit.
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Delta® Reserve for Business
- Annual Fee: $450 fee
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- Card Type: Travel
| FTG Review | Reward Breakdown | Points Breakdown |
|---|---|---|
Breakdown
Earn (pt.)
Spend
3 months
0
$3,000
Per dollar on eligible purchases with Delta Purchases
2.00
$1
All Purchases
1.00
$1
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