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IHG Hotels & Resorts has more than 6,000 properties worldwide across over 15 hotel brands, including InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Kimpton, and Crowne Plaza.

Using certain hotel credit cards and staying at IHG properties can help you earn points within the IHG One Rewards program, giving you opportunities to use rewards on award stays in the future.

But what are IHG points worth? It depends on the award stay, but there’s an easy way to find the value of IHG points on any redemption.

How much are IHG points worth?

Based on our research and average valuations from popular scoring models, IHG points are worth around 0.57 cents per point. That means 10,000 IHG points are worth about $57.

IHG uses a dynamic pricing model, which means pricing fluctuates based on changing market conditions, like demand or competitor pricing. So, if you see prices for a hotel stay go up around certain holidays, it’s likely because demand is high for those dates.

Because of this dynamic pricing model and other factors, the value of IHG points can vary by specific redemption. Let’s take a look at a few examples.

This room at the Holiday Inn Express Baruna Bali costs 11,000 points or $60.93 on the selected dates. If we divide $60.93 by 11,000, we get a redemption value of about 0.55 cents per point.

This room at the InterContinental New York Times Square costs 120,000 points or $917.68. If you divide $917.68 by 120,000, you get a redemption value of about 0.76 cents per point.

This four-night stay at the Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa costs 210,000 points or $3,699.42. The redemption value here is about 1.76 cents per point.

As a roundup, these are the redemption values for all three examples:

• Holiday Inn Express Baruna Bali: About 0.55 cents per point.

• InterContinental New York Times Square: About 0.76 cents per point.

• Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa: About 1.76 cents per point.

Why does the Kimpton Seafire redemption offer much more value than the others?

There are two primary reasons:

1. That’s just how it is. We don’t know all the inner workings of the IHG award pricing algorithm, but there are various opportunities to find better deals with your points — you just have to do the research. Also, these are different properties in vastly different locations, and the dates we selected are also different, which can all play a role in redemption values.

2. 4th Night Free benefit. Certain IHG credit cards give you a fourth night free when redeeming IHG points for a consecutive four-night IHG hotel stay. This effectively reduces the overall number of points you need on eligible stays. The award pricing for the Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa stay reflects this discount.

How to earn IHG points

Using travel credit cards is one of our favorite ways to earn IHG points, but there are multiple other ways as well.

Credit cards

IHG credit cards provide two easy ways to earn points:

1. Welcome offer: You can earn a generous credit card sign-up bonus as a new cardholder, often above 100,000 bonus points, depending on the card.

2. Everyday rewards: IHG credit cards provide rewards for making eligible purchases, including increased rewards at IHG hotels and resorts.

If you want to consistently earn IHG rewards without changing your daily routine, having an IHG credit card is a handy solution.

IHG stays

Any IHG One Rewards member (free to join) can earn bonus points for IHG stays and other eligible purchases, such as expenses you charge to your room during your hotel stay. You can earn more bonus points depending on your IHG elite status level. For example, Platinum Elite status gets you 60% bonus points, while Diamond Elite members earn 100%.

Having an IHG credit card will also increase your earning rate at IHG hotels and resorts.

Buying points

IHG lets you buy points if you’re an IHG One Rewards member. This can be a quick way to top up your account if you only need a small number of points for a certain redemption. Buying points during promotional periods can also make sense if you can get enough value from upcoming redemptions to make it worthwhile.

Best credit cards for earning IHG points

You can transfer points from certain Chase credit cards to IHG One Rewards, but the actual IHG credit cards are typically the best for earning IHG hotel points.

Why we like it: The IHG One Rewards Premier makes it easy to get value from your card each year with just one benefit: the anniversary free night. We’ve found it’s fairly straightforward to more than offset the annual fee with this benefit alone, so all the other perks and rewards you get are just an added bonus.

Read our full IHG One Rewards Premier review

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Why we like it: The IHG One Rewards Premier Business is essentially the same card as the IHG One Rewards Premier, but for business travelers. If you frequently stay at IHG hotels for business, this is definitely a card to consider for its anniversary free night, elite status, and rewards benefits.

Read our full IHG One Rewards Premier Business review

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Why we like it: The IHG One Rewards Traveler makes sense if you want to earn IHG points on everyday purchases while avoiding an annual membership fee. Its benefits aren’t nearly as good as the IHG One Rewards Premier (no anniversary free night), but that’s the cost of not paying an annual fee.

Read our full IHG One Rewards Traveler review

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FAQs about IHG points value

How much are 20,000 IHG points worth in dollars?

According to an average valuation from popular scoring models, 20,000 IHG points are worth around $114. However, the actual valuation depends on specific redemptions and can vary by date, property, and room type. You can use the IHG website or mobile app to compare cash rates and award prices for different properties and dates.

How many IHG points are needed for a free night?

IHG award nights start at 5,000 points per night, according to the IHG website. While technically accurate, nights for that cheap aren’t widely available in practice. Realistically, you can find more nights starting between 10,000 to 30,000 points per night or more.

Is buying IHG One Rewards points worth it?

It can be worth it if the price of the points you buy is cheaper than the cash price of a hotel you want to stay at. For example, if a hotel night costs $300 or 50,000 points per night and you can buy 50,000 points for $250, it’s worth buying the points rather than paying the cash price. However, it typically only makes sense to buy points during promotional periods.

Which credit card should you use for IHG stays?

These IHG One Rewards credit cards typically offer the most rewards for booking stays at IHG hotels and resorts:

• IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card

• IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card

• IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card

Can I transfer IHG points to other loyalty programs?

You can transfer IHG points to certain airline partners, such as Air Canada (Aeroplan miles) and British Airways (Avios). However, it’s typically not worth it because the transfer ratio is poor. Transferring 10,000 IHG points would only net you 2,000 Avios or Aeroplan airline miles.

What are the IHG brands?

The IHG Hotels & Resorts brands include:

• Atwell Suites

• Avid

• Candlewood Suites

• Crowne Plaza

• Even

• Garner

• Holiday Inn

• Holiday Inn Club Vacations

• Holiday Inn Express

• Hotel Indigo

• HUALUXE

• Iberostar

• InterContinental Hotels

• Kimpton

• Regent

• Six Senses

• Staybridge Suites

• Vignette Collection

• Voco

This article was edited by Rebecca McCracken

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