Is it worth buying IHG points?

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The verdict

1. Buy IHG points only to close a gap on a reward night you have already priced. Price the room in cash, subtract the resort fees and service charges the hotel still bills you, divide by the points the reward night needs, and multiply by 1,000. That is your ceiling per thousand points. Compare it against what the storefront quotes you — you can see today's IHG points price and do the division in our points-value calculator.
2. The 12-month clock is a better reason to buy than any sale. IHG forfeits a Club member's balance after twelve months with no earning or redeeming activity, and the smallest permitted purchase is 1,000 points. That is the one purchase that can be worth making without a booking in front of you.
3. Purchased points will not move you up a tier. IHG sorts its own currency into Elite Qualifying and Non-Elite Qualifying points, and puts purchases, vouchers, deposits and transfers firmly in the second group.

What IHG actually sells you

IHG One Rewards points are bought through a Points.com storefront, and the terms set the shape of the transaction rather than the price. You may purchase up to 200,000 points within a calendar year, in minimum increments of 1,000 points, paid by credit card or another approved method. Subject to local law, IHG allows no cancellations and no refunds once the purchase goes through.

What the terms deliberately do not fix is the rate. The storefront shows the current price for your account, and that price moves with promotions and with who you are. This is why we do not print a cents-per-point figure here: any number we published would be stale by the time you read it, and a stale number is worse than no number when you are about to spend real money. Open the storefront, read your quote, then check it against the break-even you worked out first.

The break-even sum for an IHG night

The sum has three parts and only one of them comes from IHG's storefront.

Your ceiling per 1,000 points = (cash rate you would otherwise pay − cash still due on the reward night) ÷ points the reward night requires × 1,000

The subtraction is the step most people skip. IHG's terms are explicit that a reward night does not include food and beverages, gratuities or incidentals, and that resort fees and service charges at individual hotels may apply and are paid directly to the hotel before check-out. If the property charges a resort fee, that fee survives your award booking and has to come off the cash figure before you divide.

The denominator is harder, because IHG prices awards dynamically. The terms state that the number of points required for a reward night may vary according to several factors, including brand, hotel and day of week. There is no chart to plan against. In practice that means you cannot do this sum in the abstract — you have to price a specific night, for specific dates, in a specific hotel, and the answer applies to that night only.

Start by checking what the room actually costs in cash across the market, not just on IHG's own site. Compare current rates for your dates so the numerator in your sum is the best cash price you could really get, then read when booking IHG direct actually beats the OTA for the cases where the chain's site wins anyway.

The 12-month clock is IHG's real story

This is where IHG differs sharply from its peers, and it is the strongest argument for a small purchase.

IHG's terms say Club level membership points will expire if the account balance becomes inactive, meaning no earn or redeem transactions, for any period of twelve months or longer. Twelve months is the tightest window among the big hotel programs — Hilton and Marriott both use 24 months, and Choice uses 18.

There is a trap inside it. IHG states that use of the one night per year provided to IHG One Rewards credit card holders does not constitute an earn or redeem activity for the purposes of preventing expiry. If you are a cardholder who books an anniversary free night and assumes your balance is safe, it is not.

Elite members are exempt: IHG's terms say Elite members' points do not expire as long as Elite level membership is maintained. So the expiry risk is concentrated exactly where people are least likely to be paying attention — the lapsed occasional traveller with a balance from a few stays. If that is you, the smallest purchase IHG permits resets the clock, and the arithmetic changes completely: you are not valuing points against a room rate, you are spending a small sum to avoid writing off a balance worth several nights.

Purchased IHG points and Elite status

IHG is unusually clear here, and it is worth quoting the structure. The terms split the currency in two: "Only Elite Qualifying Points count towards Elite status." The table that follows assigns qualifying rates paid for hotel stays, spend on select partner activity and qualified IHG Business Rewards spend to the Elite Qualifying column. It assigns point vouchers, purchases, deposits and transfers to the Non-Elite Qualifying column.

The thresholds show why that matters:

Buying 120,000 points does not make you Diamond. It makes you a Club member with 120,000 points that do not expire for twelve months. Status in IHG is bought with stays, not with the storefront — which is the same conclusion we reach for every program in the hub's guide to when buying hotel points is worth it.

Transfers are not a workaround

If you are short of points and a friend or partner has a surplus, IHG allows transfers between two designated member accounts — but the member authorising the transfer is charged $5 US per 1,000 points. That is a real price on a transaction people often assume is free, and it should be compared against the storefront quote rather than assumed to beat it. Transfers are also Non-Elite Qualifying, so they carry the same status limitation as purchases.

So, is it worth buying IHG points?

Worth it when: you have priced a specific reward night, subtracted the cash the hotel still charges, done the division, and the storefront quote per thousand points comes in below your ceiling. Also worth it when a balance is about to hit its twelve-month expiry and the minimum purchase is cheaper than losing the points.

Not worth it when: you are buying because a promotion appeared, when you have no booking in mind, or when you are hoping to reach a tier. If you are still working out whether IHG is the right program to concentrate in at all, our look at IHG One Rewards for occasional Holiday Inn Express stays and the IHG versus Best Western free-night comparison for road trips answer that question better than any points purchase can. For the same decision at other chains, see buying Hilton points, buying Marriott points and buying Hyatt points, which is the one program with a published chart to check your sum against.

FAQ

Is it worth buying IHG points?

Only against a reward night you have already priced. Work out the cash rate you would otherwise pay, subtract the resort fees and service charges the hotel still bills you on an award stay, divide by the points the night needs and multiply by a thousand. If the storefront quote per thousand points is below that figure, the purchase wins on that booking. If it is above, pay cash. The separate case is buying the minimum to stop a balance expiring.

How many IHG points can you buy in a year?

IHG's member terms state you may purchase up to 200,000 IHG One Rewards points within a calendar year, in minimum increments of 1,000 points. Purchases are non-refundable, subject to local law, and must be paid by a valid credit card or another approved payment method.

Do IHG points expire?

Club level membership points expire if the account has no earn or redeem transaction for any period of twelve months or longer. IHG specifically notes that using the free night that comes with its co-branded credit card does not count as an earn or redeem activity for this purpose. Elite members' points do not expire as long as Elite level membership is maintained.

Do purchased IHG points count toward Elite status?

No. IHG's terms classify points into Elite Qualifying and Non-Elite Qualifying, state that only Elite Qualifying Points count toward Elite status, and place point vouchers, purchases, deposits and transfers in the Non-Elite Qualifying group. Elite tiers are reached through qualifying points earned on stays and partner activity, or through qualifying nights.

How much does it cost to buy 1,000 IHG points?

We do not publish a figure, because IHG does not fix one in its terms and the storefront quote is account-specific and moves with promotions. The storefront shows the current price for your account at the moment you buy. Price your reward night first, work out your ceiling per thousand points, and only then compare it against the live quote.