Several readers have contacted us over the past 24 hours regarding obscenely high point prices for stays at IHG affiliated hotels. It appears that IHG Rewards has devalued awards by 30%.
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READ MORE: IHG Rewards Rate & Bonus Points And Miles Promotions
IHG Rewards (then IHG Rewards Club) indicated last year that they would gradually move to entirely dynamic award pricing where the paid rates would dictate the number of points required for awards.
This works for members’ advance when the paid rates are low, but the nightly point prices can get very high very fast when the prices are normal or during events when they are high. Previously the prices were stagnant regardless of the underlying paid price.
IHG started to roll out this function back in April 2020:
IHG Rewards Club Rolling Out Variable Award Pricing For Greater China
And there was already one previous dynamic award massacre in June 2020:
There have been previous issues with Dynamic Award pricing:
Here are searches for Amsterdam, Bangkok, Tokyo, Sydney & London:
Amsterdam
Kimpton Points
Kimpton Cash
The price in USD is 1.057. You would need 300,000 points for this stay valuing a point at 0.35 US cents each
Bangkok
InterContinental Bangkok Points
InterContinental Bangkok Cash
The price in USD is $354. You would need 92,000 points for this stay valuing a point at 0.38 US cents each.
London
Indigo Leicester Square Points
Indigo Leicester Square Cash
I actually don’t have enough points on my account for this stay that would cost 337,000 points. The price in USD is 1,991. The value of a point is 0.59 US cents each.
Tokyo
ANA InterContinental Points
ANA InterContinental Cash
The price in USD is 996. The value of a point used towards this redemption would be 0.38 US cents each.
Sydney
InterContinental Sydney Points
InterContinental Sydney Cash
The price in USD is $728. The price of a point used towards this award would be 0.34 US cents each,
Conclusion
Previously IHG priced hotel awards at roughly 0.5 US cents per point. Four of the five examples above are from 0.34 to 0.38 cents per point range, while one is 0.59 US cents.
It appears that IHG Rewards has devalued the value of reward points by 30% overnight without any advance notice from 0.5 to roughly 0.35.
This is a very unfortunate development and allows IHG to take a non-cash gain on its balance sheet by lowering the unredeemed points’ value.
