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I previously wrote about the global distribution of Hilton 5,000-point hotels and 10,000-point hotels. Although the approach wasn’t especially novel, it was paired with stackable promotions, so quite a few readers were interested. So I’m planning to keep going and also cover the distribution of Hyatt 5,000-point hotels, IHG 10,000-point hotels, and Marriott global Cat-1 hotels (5,000/7,500/10,000 redemptions). I hope readers will enjoy this kind of laid-back hotel post. This article summarizes the distribution of IHG’s lowest-tier 10,000-point hotels (Points Breaks are not considered here; PB is usually redeemable starting at 5,000 points. This article will also be updated in a timely manner with the PB hotels inside Cat-1. For PB hotels that are not in Cat-1, please click here), using the redemption chart from the official IHG website as reference;

IHG award nights are redeemed by category. Cat-1 starts at 10,000 points, and each category increases by 5,000 points, up to Cat-13 at 70,000 points. Our main source of IHG points is the Chase IHG Premier Credit Card (I’m jealous of people who have the card; I used to have one), and the sign-up bonus is usually generous as well. IHG also has the well-known quarterly Accelerate promotion, so points can be earned quickly — but they can also be burned quickly on award stays. That’s why being able to redeem 10K at a time is necessary for people who really need hotel stays. At the moment, many of IHG’s 10,000-point hotels are in the much-loved Holiday Inn Express (HIE), Candlewood Suites (founded in 1995 and acquired by IHG in 2004), and a small number of Holiday Inn properties. Sometimes even when you redeem 10,000 points, the cash rate at these hotels may still be lower than your valuation of 10,000 IHG points, but KKU believes that if you have points, it’s better to use them first. If you keep hoarding them, who knows when they’ll be devalued; unused points are worth zero. Let’s first look at the global distribution of 10,000-point hotels (chart below). The U.S. and China are clearly ahead. Since there are too many hotels, the IHG series will be split into two parts — the U.S. version (this article) and the rest of the world.

IHG usually notifies you before a Cat change, but the final redemption rate is subject to the official website

Global distribution of IHG Cat-1 hotels (note: this chart omits a few hotels) [Photo credit: Travelisfree (Updated: April 17, 2019)]

In the U.S., the majority are Candlewood Suites, followed by Holiday Inn Express. The South comes out on top again, especially my great state of Texas. Looking only at price, based on the valuation of IHG points, redeeming 10,000 points for most of these hotels is not a bad deal. Holiday Inn Express includes breakfast. Candlewood theoretically does not include breakfast, but some locations offer it for free. This property is an extended-stay hotel with kitchenware, so you can also make breakfast yourself in the room. [Thanks to reader S2M-824E for the correction]

Distribution of 10,000-point hotels by state

ALABAMA, 4 properties

ARKANSAS, 6 properties

ARIZONA, 4 properties

CALIFORNIA, 1 property

COLORADO, 2 properties

FLORIDA, 2 properties

IDAHO, 1 property

ILLINOIS, 5 properties

INDIANA, 3 hotels

KANSAS, 7 hotels

LOUISIANA, 3 hotels

MICHIGAN, 2 hotels

MONTANA, 2 hotels

MISSOURI, 7 hotels

MONTANA, 2 hotels

NORTH CAROLINA, 6 hotels

NEW MEXICO, 1 hotel

NEW YORK, 1 hotel

OHIO, 2 hotels

OKLAHOMA, 9 hotels

PENNSYLVANIA, 2 hotels

TENNESSEE, 2 hotels

TEXAS, mighty Texas

VIRGINIA, 7 properties

WISCONSIN, 2 properties

WEST VIRGINIA, 2 properties

WYOMING, 1 property

Stackable Offers

Loyalty Program Offers

Most of the time, IHG doesn’t offer any extra perks for award stays, aside from a few elite bonus points. On that front, it’s not as generous as Hilton or Hyatt. IHG’s quarterly Accelerate promotion sometimes includes points + cash tasks. If you use those at these Cat-1 hotels, you’re basically looking at 5,000 points plus some cash. Whether it’s worth it depends on your Accelerate offer and the live cash rate. For example, the Q4 2019 Accelerate I received this quarter says: Book 1 stay (s) using Points & Cash and earn 4,500 bonus points... Any other deals? I don’t seem to have found any better stackable promotions...

More hotel group promotions: please go here (click me)

Chase Co-Branded Card Perks

Holders of the Chase IHG Premier Credit Card get the following benefits:

  • Fourth night free on award stays: Once you have this credit card, redeeming IHG points for three consecutive nights gets you the fourth night free. In other words, four nights cost only 75% of the points. Stay 3, get 1 free! A four-night stay at a 10,000-point property would only cost 30,000 points to book! (I, without this card, am already crying at my keyboard.) With a 120,000-point welcome bonus, you could stay up to 16 nights!
  • This card is absolutely worth more than its annual fee, and you also get a 40,000-point free-night certificate each year. Now that the welcome bonus is at an all-time high, if you’re still under Chase’s 5/24 rule, this may be the time to apply!

Pairing with IHG Buy Points Promotions

If you’re short on IHG points, besides earning them through stays, opening a Chase IHG co-branded card, or transferring UR points (are you sure you want to transfer to IHG?), you can also buy points. Buying points for a Cat-1 hotel usually isn’t too bad, and can even save you a decent amount. IHG often runs strong buy-points promotions, and the current 100% bonus has been around for a while. This round runs through August 23, 2019 (sorry this post went up late; I suspect it will be extended soon). Before any other stackable offers, the cost is about 0.5c/p, a bit above my valuation of IHG. Points are purchased through Points.com, buy points here (don’t buy directly; use a cashback portal! See below)

Other hotel and airline buy-points promotions: click here to check

How to maximize buying points:

Direct Cash Booking

Given that even the lowest-tier award nights usually aren’t that expensive, and with IHG’s U.S. roadside properties cash rates are sometimes not that pricey either, especially for group trips. I’ve kindly linked them one by one; if there’s a hotel along your own travel route, you can go directly from the links in the article to book. Remember to pair it with your Chase IHG Premier Credit Card to earn some points back~

Conclusion

IHG is one of the big legacy hotel chains with one of the strongest footprints across both China and the U.S. North American Cat-1 IHG properties may be pretty average, but they’re still much better than many Airbnbs. IHG is even more widespread in China. That said, elite benefits still have room to improve; in Greater China, Platinum, Spire Elite, and Ambassador members may get a little something extra. When I didn’t have many points, I often booked HIE (Holiday Inn Express) through TCB plus an OTA and traveled with family and friends. For example, Hotels.com is a pretty good OTA.【Mainly because I’m still poor...Every year, Amazon, together with MR, lets you open multiple accounts and buy a lot of 50% off hotels.com eGCs, and then pair that with mainland China credit cards with high overseas cashback and other Amazon deals...】

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