IHG One Rewards is one of the world’s most extensive hotel loyalty programs with 6,000+ hotels worldwide; it’s easy to find an IHG hotel suited for your travel needs. However, IHG One Rewards members may not get the same outsized value or benefits offered by other hotel loyalty programs. Still, their points are easy to earn with their co-branded credit card and with stays as IHG has a special relationship with 40 locations on various Army posts.
IHG Army hotels offer normal IHG Rewards elite benefits and you will earn three points per dollar spent. This earning rate is much lower than what you would receive off-post but if you are TDY be sure to have your IHG One Rewards number added to the reservation and earn what you can.
IHG Rewards Club Redemption Basics
IHG allows you to redeem your Rewards points in several ways to include purchases from their online catalog of brand name products, gift cards, digital downloads such as music and movies, and redeeming your points for certain airline miles. However, the best value for your points will be redeeming those points for free nights at hotels. There are other redemption options, but you’ll typically get the best value out of your points by using them for hotel stays.
How Much Do Free Nights Cost?
IHG reward nights start at 5,000 points and increase to 70,000 points per night, with a small number of hotels reaching 100,000 points per night. IHG no longer publishes an award chart and has moved to fully dynamic pricing. That means award prices will vary similar to the cash price of the hotel.
If you don’t yet have enough points for a free night, you can also use a combination of points plus cash to pay for the room. For example, you can lower the number of points needed in 5,000 point increments up to 20,000 points plus a portion of the cash rate.
The positive aspect of dynamic pricing is that you may find award rates for many properties substantially lower than the cash rate when prices are low. But, of course, the opposite is also true in that it’s challenging to get a good deal when the cash rates are high. Therefore, to find a good/great redemption, you will have to be patient and flexible when searching for award availability to find a good or great redemption.
IHG Rewards Club Award Availability
IHG points are straightforward to use, and you’ll usually come out ahead when using your points for hotel stays. In addition, several award sweet spots make for great vacations. To search for IHG rewards nights, head to IHG.com and click “Reward Nights” under the Rate Preference drop-down menu.
Then sign in to your IHG account and click the “Select Hotel” button next to the hotel location you prefer. After which, you will click the “Select Room” button next to the room that has the number of points next to it for you to book. Of course, you’ll still need a credit card for incidentals to confirm the reservation. After which, you now have a free room for the length of your trip.
IHG Military Benefits
IHG offers a military hotel discount at participating locations in the United States and Canada. You must be active or retired U.S. military personnel or a dependent family member to book the offer. Be sure to show a valid government-issued military ID at check-in. The discount offered reflects a range of special offers based on their Best Flexible Rate but usually works out to be at a minimum of 5% at IHG hotels overall as provided to IHG by participating hotels.
When booking, it is best to check other special offer codes as the military rate is not always the lowest. In my experience, the member rate is often lower than any other offer code available. All that is required to get the member rate is to sign up for IHG’s free loyalty program.
Bottom Line
IHG One Rewards may not be as attractive as other hotel loyalty programs, but it can still be valuable in your travel goal strategy. IHG has low cash offerings as well as good award redemptions when you need to book a room for a stay near an airport or when you attend a late-night baseball game and don’t want to return to the post. Unfortunately, IHG nominally only has one luxury brand under its portfolio.
Still, with the large number of stays at hotels that military members often rack up for training, service members can quickly put the points earned to good use at one of their luxury hotels properties. Additionally, with many TDY trips requiring personnel to use on-post lodging, acquiring a loyalty account with IHG for future use makes sense.
The IHG One Rewards elite members’ benefits themselves aren’t great; therefore, the program itself isn’t a highly sought-after one for most members, but if you need a hotel room for the night or in transition, this is where the program shines. Specifically, it’s easy to find good value if you’re flexible regarding dates and destinations and know when to pay cash instead of points.