Why IHG's PointsBreaks is the Best Deal Going on Domestic Hotels

UPDATE JANUARY 2020 - IHG has decided it will no longer offer PointsBreaks. We’re going to keep this page for reference in case a new program from IHG is released soon.

IHG, which encompasses the Holiday Inn, Intercontinental, and Candlewood Suites, among others, offers a really great discount on their hotels, called PointsBreaks. Each night, select hotels are listed at 5,000, 10,000, and 15,000 points, a tremendous value. Often, these same hotels go for 30,000 or 35,000 points per night.

IHG points can often be purchased on a discount direct from IHG for only 0.7 cents per point, which makes the cost of a PointsBreak night will range from $35 to $105

We love the PointsBreaks, because many of the selected hotels are in places that are near national parks, especially some of the hidden treasures. Sure, the Intercontinental in NYC isn’t likely to ever be on PointsBreaks, but the Holiday Inn Express ten minutes from Saguaro National Park may very well appear on the list of 5,000 point hotels.

In the long run, you’re going to get a lot more value out of your points by redeeming them at low level hotel properties than at high level ones, though that's a post for another time...stay tuned!

The hotels on PointsBreaks are updated quarterly, so check back often. Many times IHG will give a preview of the hotels they are featuring in the days prior to a new list being released.  Do note that a finite amount of rooms are available for each hotel, so when it sells out of PointsBreaks rooms, it’s back to the regular points levels. You can also only book two reservations (each reservation can include multiple nights) per hotel.

You can view the current IHG PointsBreaks hotels in the USA here