With the beginning of the new year barely behind us, we’re already seeing some bad news: IHG is looking to implement a major devaluation. Welcome to 2018, gang.
A whopping 700 hotels are affected by price changes, with about 500 of them going up in price. After last year’s devaluation, this is awful.
Main takeaways of the IHG disaster
One of the most painful elements of this devaluation is the fact that some hotels in highly desirable locations are going up 10,000 points per night from the previous highest tier. This means Intercontinental hotels in places like Bora Bora, Hong Kong, NYC, and London will now cost a whopping 70,000 points per night. Two years ago, the same hotels were only 50,000 points per night. That is a 40% devaluation in two years!!
The Intercontinental Hong Kong will soon cost 70,000 points!
You can look at the full list of properties changing. All of the properties increasing in price are going up 5,000 or 10,000 points. All of the properties decreasing in price are only going down 5,000 points. Overall, the value of your points is being watered down.
I used to try to only spend my IHG points for 0.7 cents per point or greater. Given this devaluation, I am going to settle for 0.6 cents per point from here on out. I’m sitting on a stash of over 170,000 IHG points and I don’t want to watch them continue to devalue (still hoping to book some Point Breaks stays one of these days).
On the bright side, you can now book Kimpton hotels with both IHG points and free night certificates online. As you might expect, most Kimpton properties are in the upper ranges of the spectrum, costing 45,000 to 60,000 points per night. But they are a refreshing option in an otherwise bland array of hotels, in my opinion.
Conclusion
Devaluations are a constant part of this hobby. But they shouldn’t be constant in one program. IHG seems intent on watering down the value of their points. Add their very weak elite program to this, and there is really very little reason to be loyal to them. If not from their awesome free night certificate and hit-or-miss Accelerate promotions, I’d probably pass on them entirely.
Book now if you are eyeing a hotel that will be increasing in price!
Images courtesy of IHG.
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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 
Kimpton Cayman Islands is already pricing at 70k. Any idea if we have to pay resort fees on awards at kimpton?
Ihg rewards needs to be reinvented. Other than the free night, the credit card is terrible. Award availablity is hit or miss. And the value of a point is terrible.
When is the last day to book at prior points?
This was good, but very disappointing info. Thanks! Waiting patiently for the next quarter point breaks list so we can plan a road trip. This program alone will probably get me to stay with them for now.
Too late to get old rooms for old points.