The IHG Point Breaks program has long been one of the best deals out there. For only 5000 points per night, you could get a hotel at one of a rotating list of 100-150 different hotels. The PointBreaks list had definitely been lowering in quality for quite some time, and that had culminated in the announcement that starting with the January 2018 list, hotels would cost up to 15,000 points per night.
The full IHG Point Breaks list for February 2018, March 2018 and April 2018 is out now and response has been mixed. There are 10 InterContinental hotels on the list (good!) but most of them cost 15,000 points per night (not so good) For every nice hotel in a nice area, there are 8 hotels in North and South Dakota in the middle of winter (no, really)
Your comments about the Point Breaks list
I shared with my contacts at IHG some of the things that you guys have said about the new Point Breaks list either as comments on the blog or on the miles and points Facebook group: (comments verbatim but bolding mine)
“this is yet another serious blow to the once vaunted IHG rewards program….”
“However I suspect the 5k level will vanish in 2019 and the ICs will start to drop off the list again to leave us with the same dregs which few people want to stay at.”
“IHG points devaluated. Before there were good options for 5000 points. The maximum points per night were 50,000 in the best hotels. Now I see hotels with 60,000. So we are getting less for our points. I am Spire member so usually get room upgrade and late checkout up to 4pm. That’s the only reason I keep going with IHG. But since last year I started diverting to other loyalty programs. I’ll do the same this year but start earlier to be able to reach higher level in them too. Loyalty should be from both sides and apparently IHG does not understand that. As a result I cancelled all my upcoming reservations with them and opened my eyes for other loyalty programs (Thank you IHG customer service).”
“There’s a cat1 Marriott in Vernal all year round (7.5k). Funny that [PointBreaks] is worse than competitor’s regular price now.”
“Appears to be a ripoff. Vernal Utah should be about 5000 points per night or less. There is nothing in Vernal. And Fargo, ND? 15K? Let’s get real – it’s FARGO NORTH DAKOTA.”
“My guess: It will end up being a bloodbath, with far fewer 5k properties than before.”
“The problem is that they will have some popular locations and nice hotels like London and Nairobi which are both a steal at 10k, but a few years down the road, we’ll still be looking at the same sad lists we’ve been looking at recently but only at 10/15k instead of 5k.”
“I’m sure eventually it’ll be holiday inns for 15K though.”
IHG’s response
I reached out twice to my contacts at IHG, asking for more information about how the hotels were chosen or any other comments that they wanted to share with their readers. They responded with
We appreciate you sharing your readers’ feedback and will be sure to pass this along to our team, but we have heard from our members that they wanted more options available as part of the PointBreaks promotion and we hope they will be pleased with the new list.
I was fairly disappointed – I had hoped for something more substantive but I guess I’m not surprised. Very similar non-speak from when I talked to American Express about their change to the Centurion Lounge access policy
So what now?
At this point, it looks like IHG has decided their plans and prefer to keep things close to the vest. If you have comments, you can leave them directly with IHG or of course, vote with your wallet / points
What do you think about the new IHG PointBreaks list? Finding anything good?
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
You truly are an over entitled person.
People like you actually make things MUCH worse. Know why? These programs, that you absolutely know, most of us here in this space push the envelope and get huge value out of, are not a right… there are a privilege. You don’t own any points… they do. As you should know.
Do I enjoy devals? Of course not… but bitching and whining and acting like you deserve the very best on pennys on the dollar all the time does NOT help.
You won’t get it…. you’ll brand me a negative nasty troll. But ultimately if you think about it… you would realize you’re the problem, not the solution.
I won’t hold my breath.
classic faux-news imbibing corporate shill. You ARE indeed a negative nasty troll, on behalf of the Trump class.
Dan deserves major kudos for having the audacity to dare to note the massive destruction of the once vaunted IHG program. He gave IHG the space to give their side of the story…. and they come up with the utter b.s. line: “we’re giving members what they wanted.”
LIE.
How long do you expect a company continue to offer a stay at a QUALITY hotel for about $35 a night?
I am grateful they still offer Pointbreaks.
Its skiing and snowmobile season in the Black Hills in South Dakota so 15k points could be considered a bargain. Different strokes, etc.
Well, I disagree with the first post 100%. I actually disagree with it 200%.
If a hotel isn’t selling rooms and isn’t making it’s rent, then WHY NOT 5000 points? This has absolutely nothing to do with someone being “entitled” or not.
What we are witnessing is a “Chameleon” devaluation. It’s a devaluation but it is cleverly disguised to blend in with the pointsbreaks background.
The Point Breaks I’ve stayed at have usually been newly remodeled/re-branded hotels off the beaten path. None of them have been anywhere near busy on the weekends that I stayed at them. I’ve always wondered why a hotel would let rooms go empty.