One of the better credit cards out there is the Chase IHG card. It has a signup bonus, which has ranged from 60,000 to 80,000 points or 100,000 points, but the real value is that the card gives an IHG free night certificate to ANY IHG HOTEL upon each anniversary (after paying the $49 annual fee). I recommend if you’re doing miles and points in “two player mode” (aka with a spouse or partner) that you should both get the card, and at approximately the same time, so that you can use the anniversary IHG free night certificates on the same trip
(SEE ALSO: Why you should get 2 IHG cards at the same time)
(SEE ALSO: Booking an IHG Point Breaks vacation – it’s harder than it looks!)
Where to book your IHG free nights?
The cliched answer for where to book your IHG free nights is at the Intercontinental Bora Bora, where you can get an overwater bungalow with your IHG free night certificates
Here’s the Intercontinental Bora Bora – only $49 / night!
Naturally, when you have a free night at ANY hotel, your first instinct is to book the most expensive hotel possible, and overwater bungalows in Bora Bora will often run near $1000 / night. It’s hard to fault that kind of redemption!
Where else to book your IHG free night?
But I think the real answer of where to book your IHG free night is anywhere you’re going! Places like Bora Bora or the Maldives are remote, and that can be good, but it also means it might take a $400 seaplane to get to your island. So suddenly your “free” night isn’t quite so free!
Plus, 5-star hotels aren’t for everyone! There’s a reason that I tend to prefer your more “budget” hotels
(SEE ALSO: 3 reasons “budget” hotels DESTROY nice ones)
Without elite status, staying at a 5-star hotel means that you’re almost definitely paying for breakfast, and most 5-star hotels will also charge you for parking. They used to charge for wi-fi, but that seems to be free at most places now. Did I mention your run of the mill Holiday Inn Express gives all 3 of those for free??!!?
So, where did I book my IHG free nights?
We went to Europe back in 2015, and it took me awhile to finally figure out where we were going to stay, but I decided to use my 2 free nights in London. London is a super-expensive hotel city anyways,
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So I booked at the Intercontinental London, right? I mean it’s the “top end” IHG hotel in London, running around ~$600 / night, right?!
WRONG! I actually booked at the Staybridge Suites in Vauxhall.
It is across the Thames, but it’s convenient to several of the sights we’re wanting to see, and it has free breakfast, AND an “evening social”, which is code for dinner
(SEE ALSO: Which hotels give dinner for free?)
So was it a “waste” of an IHG free night certificate?
Did I “waste” my 2 IHG free night certificates? Maybe. I do get the argument. On the other hand, not using them would have meant paying either 30,000-40,000 points or $200-300 / night (we are paying 80,000 Hilton points for one night at the Park Lane Hilton on one of our nights in London)
What do you think? Where have you used your IHG free night certificates?
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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 
I took my wife to the 700 sq ft Palazzo in LAS.
It was a $149 room, but very impressive at that size. No regrets.
+1. These rooms can go for a lot more than $149 on the weekends or when there’s an event in town. I used mine during CES in 2015 when the cash rate at Palazzo was ~$900.
I don’t think you wasted them at all. If the room you booked was >$49, then you didn’t waste them. Especially if you got a $200-300/night room plus breakfast and dinner. That makes it worth even more.
Personally, I feel it’s a waste. The Intercon Park Lane is a beautiful and expensive property that you would probably never get access to without the free nights. I actually worked in London on assignment for over a year where I flew in on a monthly basis and stayed for a week or two. Even on a large corporate budget, my employer would not pay for such a hotel. Also, parking wouldn’t factor in London because it’s more sensible to take the tube or a train to get around. As you said if you any sort of status the wifi is free. I personally don’t think the “free” breakfast at a Staybridge is worth any money at all – I wouldn’t eat there! If the Intercon Park Lane’s breakfast was out of reach, I would find one of the myriad cafes which would offer good food at a much lower cost than the hotel.
I’ve stayed in Vauxhall before at the Holi
Oops fat fingered that. I was going to say I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Vauxhall and nearby at the DoubleTree Westminster – the latter was a great property. Vauxhall is a decent area of London so enjoy it!
I agree with you to avoid the Intercontinental London — If simply an IHG Plat, you likely would have gotten the basic small room, and it might not even be renovated.
However, inasmuch as you have chosen the Hilton Park Lane that is very nearby, I would have chosen the Intercontinental simply for proximity as you will not need to use the Tube to transfer from one hotel to the other — and that is something you should consider.
On the other hand, since these things are not set in stone, I would suggest that you consider instead for your Hilton night the former Intercontinental property that is now the Conrad London St. James which I had used my free IHG night at when last in London — it may have smaller rooms, but they were new and up to date, and as a HHonors Gold as you likely are, you will be able to get free breakfast which was not available when it was an IHG property.
Also, it is in a great location and an easy transfer to the following IHG property — the CP London — The City.
See: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Conrad+London+St.+James,+Broadway,+London,+UK/Crowne+Plaza+London+-+The+City,+New+Bridge+Street,+London,+United+Kingdom/@51.5058381,-0.1280251,15z/am=t/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x487604db8bde77bd:0x5559007804935a71!2m2!1d-0.1329542!2d51.4993522!1m5!1m1!1s0x487604ad9dea7e71:0x251be7dd4824f2d2!2m2!1d-0.104651!2d51.51219!5i2?hl=en
Finally, if you are with your “crew,” I could understand the need for extra space and $$ savings on food.
However, if it is just the 2 of you, I would strongly advise you to reconsider your choices.
Horace – thanks so much for the comments! It is just the 2 of us and you’ve given us lots of good info to think about!
My pleasure!
I chose the Intercontinental St. James now the Conrad, because I knew that although the Intercontinental Park Lane was nice, if you read thru the reviews, not much was really being offered to those for 1 or 2 free nights, and only with Platinum credit card status.
Yes, it is great if you are a Royal Ambassador or are paying for the room, but the free night room — at best — would be a newly renovated small room — that’s it — not bad for 1 night, but not the exceptional rooms that others rave about. At worst, then it would be a non-renovated room — no thanks.
I used the free night for my first night in London — which I likely would be very sleepy — and was quite happy with the St. James — now Conrad. I got a 1 category upgrade — not much and the room was small, but it was new and well-appointed and in a great location.
What’s more, I was able to take the Picadilly to the hotel with a change at an over the ground station — don’t recall right now the name but you can do a google search and find it — which just entialed switchiing from the Picadilly line across the platform onto the Cirlce line, I believe and then taking that line to the St. James stop.
The St. James stop does have some stairs — so be aware — but nothing that this 50+ year old could not handle, and then voila, you were at the hotel.
We actually did sleep most of the day away at the hotel, but it is perfectly situated for exploring Whitehall Westminster, etc, and the surrounding area which is walkable to the London Eye as it is to Pall Mall and Buckingham Palace.
We transferred to the Mayfair for the next 2 nights via Club Carlson points, but as you can see, you can ride the Circle line right down to the CP the City — which also is in a great area for sightseeing.
Only downside I have read is that unlike other CPs in the UK where Plats get lounge access, this place apparently does not so provide — even though they give Royal Ambassadors access, and technically they should not even get that, as the Ambassador program is not even part of IHG Rewards — it is a separate program, so why are you giving lounge access to people who are not even part of your rewards program!!
Mind you, I never have stayed at the CP, but the rooms seems to be in good shape, etc.
Finally, I don’t have an issue with the Hilton for 1 night — I have stayed in the past at the London Hilton, but if you do decide to stay there, then you might think twice about the Intercontinental Park Lane, for sheer convenience — and hope for the best about getting a renovated room!
Enjoy your trip and if there is anything else, just ask!
By the way, The Trafalgar property — a Hilton property — is also a good bet and I found the rooms larger than usual for London, but as always, consult Tripadvisor for recent reviews!
That’s not a waste at all. I think you are completely right that in trying to eke the most out of points or miles, people can end up paying more. Value is relative. For me, having a ok hotel in a better location is far superior to a 5* hotel that is inconvenient to access, this being multiplied 10x if you are taking mass transit and walking everywhere!
You really can’t waste a $49 night anywhere in London. If the place you choose is convenient to what you want to see and to your next hotel, then it sounds like the right hotel to me. On the other hand, if it is just chosen for free breakfast, but is inconvenient, then I think your limited time in London is worth more than the cost of finding a cheap place to eat breakfast.
I really don’t understand the people who take their two nights in Bora Bora unless they have a heap of additional points. Going that far for two nights is nuts, and having to pay for the other 3-5 nights makes it an extraordinarily expensive “free” night. There is a big downside to using free nights in a hotel that you normally can’t afford, in that it usually won’t cover your whole stay and ends up just being a teaser to get you to spend a whole lot of money or points.
No, you didn’t waste them. You got the better deal, as I used one of mine for the intercontinental in London, and I didn’t get breakfast as it was VERY expensive) As long as you are on a train or bus route you can’t go wrong.
Now, I used another one at an Intercontinental on the Spanish steps in Rome, and it was very worth it even with out free breakfast! Location, Location, location!
You totally made the right choice: free breakfast always wins! Actually, I just used my free night cert. at the Intercontinental Park Lane just five days ago. Somewhat great location, but not impressed with the hotel: loads of kids running amock (I have five of my own, so I don’t fault anyone here, just didn’t expect it at such a “posh” hotel), had someone (probably one of those kids) bang on and rattle my door early in the morning, small and unimpressive room, nothing to do at the hotel itself except an expensive spa and overly priced breakfast buffet, etc etc. Plus, it’s in what my family calls the “hungry” zone of London: there is simply nowhere to eat that’s affordable or quick and easy from there all the way through Westminster to the Thames.
But, it was fun to watch the horses come through the Wellington Arch at 10:30 am (every morning, except 9:30 on Sundays), go to Aspley House (Duke of Wellington’s house… Highly recommended, and a good price (6 pounds each… And you can use the National Rail 2for1), and it’s somewhat close to the Kensington Museums and Hyde Park Chapel and Visitor’s Center. But if you are staying at the Hilton, you can enjoy those things as well.
Make sure you rent some Santander / Boris bikes (the city’s bike vending machine bikes) right there at Hyde Aprk Corner. It’s 2pounds for access for 24 hours and the first 30 minutes of every journey is free (so you just return the bike at a new place every 29 minutes and borrow another one, and you could ride for 24 hours for just that initial 2pounds).
Also, grab a free 2for1 booklet (the one with the vouchers at the back) at the train station if you ever take a non-London Underground train. You can get 2for1 at all the London Palaces and Tower of London and most other sights (except London Eye) if you show your National Rail (or Anglia or other train company) ticket and give them the voucher.
Also, word of very serious advice: any English Heritage or National Trust “attraction” in England will be good, lovely, elegant, and non-crowded. Anything else will be crowded and tacky.
We are half-way through a nine month tour of England with our five kids (mostly free, thanks to points!), so I obviously have a lot of opinions about everything. Hope you love London! My husband is a native, so I’m a bit biased, but it is one of the best cities on earth.
Aja – thanks so much for the detailed response! That’s an interesting thought about the bike rental – I hadn’t thought about that and we might have to try that out.
Funny, you wrote this while I was in the exact Bora Bora overwater bungalows you mentioned. After having done the trip to French Polynesia for 11 nights and thousands in expenses around my “free” nights, I am not sure I would recommend it to others.
Ha! I would love to see a post with a true cost breakdown for places like Bora Bora (or the Maldives), if you’re up for it. I mean an overwater bungalow is super sweet for sure, but when I see things like the $500 plane ride to the Park Hyatt, I wonder about whether that’s really a great idea…
I actually just did a podcast about it: http://www.jeffsetter.com/episode-4/
It’s minimum $100/day for food and drink/boat rides to the hotel. More reasonably, $200/day if you want to enjoy yourself and not worry. You could easily spend $400/day if you ate there like you might in the states.
Will write a post at some point too.
I listened to your podcast – I enjoyed it. That seems like a lot – I wondered if it might make sense to only stay there for a few days – enough for the experience, but not so much that you get eaten alive by out of pocket costs
So, Dan, have you made a decision where you are going to overnight in London?
I also stayed in the IC Park Lane London last week using an annual free night certificate. I can’t say it wasn’t worth the $49 annual fee but I have used the vouchers in other cities and got much better rooms and felt a lot more comfortable. Even the “Superior” rooms are extremely small and when kitted out in typical IHG IC style furnishings, feel very cramped. I was given a free upgrade from a Classic to a superior room as a Spire Elite. The rooms are the identical size and it was difficult to drag out of the receptionist what I was actually getting by way of the upgrade. I have never been in such a small bathroom at any IHG property, from HI Express up. Everything in the IC Park Lane is expensive, from the mini bar to the laundry to the restaurants, not forgetting the outrageous prices for liquor. The staff are very supercilious. When I asked for a late check out, a published benefit as a Spire, I was told , ‘Oh yes Sir it will be available in that room’. I was given the impression that if I wasn’t staying in a cheap room, which sells for about $600 a night, where there is never much demand, it may have been a problem. I shouldn’t have been taken in by the IC name. I am sure other central London hotels in the IHG stable offer a better overall experience, oh and a free breakfast is part of that experience. Later in the week I stayed for a couple of days in the Hampton by Hilton in Bournemouth on the UK South Coast, where the room was larger and brighter, the staff great and the breakfast superb. And the rack rate was a quarter that of the IC Park Lane!
Have used the free nights in different years:
1) IC The Strings, Tokyo — totally worth it due to proximity to train station, though no breakfast meant walking out (tons of places nearby)
2) IC The Willard, DC — beautiful property we thoroughly enjoyed while visiting our kids and the staff was spectacular
3) IC Rome, near Spanish Steps — wonderful staff, great one-nighter before a Mediterranean cruise
4) IC Sydney — great first night before moving to the Park Hyatt for our 4 (pre-points increase) nights and then our BOGO points redemption at the Radisson Blu.
All were a great value, IMO.
I might be wrong here, but all my free nights from the card state “standard” room. If that is correct, you won’t get an over water bungalow in Bora Bora anyway.
I’ve used mine just like you, where I traveling. I stayed at the Intercontinental in Rome and the location at the top of the Spanish Steps was priceless. I’ve also used it at the Holiday Inn in Honolulu. It has a great location and I did get upgraded to ocean view. It isn’t a pricey place, but I like it for my 1 night before flying to the other islands.
I’ve also used it at a great property across from Perimeter Mall in Atlanta. They treated us like royalty and I may go there again this year. I believe it is a Crown Plaza. I’m waiting to see what travel opportunities arrive for the upcoming months before deciding.
It is a great perk and more than offsets the annual fee.
I believe one of the IHG Intercontinentals does have the “standard room” book into an overwater bungalow
Barbara, You are correct. I booked into the Bora Bora Le Moana and could only book a landside bungalow (which was very nice though) For the next IHG free night, we upgraded my companions free night for an additional $165. One night in an overwater bungalow was enough. We just wanted the experience. This was a few years ago.
Hi, I don’t think you wasted them at all either. We are doing London in Nov of this year and I am looking at IHG staybridge in at Stratford.Its 30,000 or 35,000 a night or about 200 pounds and includes breakfast and evening social and is close to transport and the stadium to go watch a football aka soccer game.
I’ve spent two full days trying to figure out where to use my stupid chase free night (totally wasted them, and my time should be worth more than $49 lol). I live in Chicago, so basically there is no place I can use the free night where I wouldn’t spend way more getting to that location than the night is worth.
What I may end up doing is just staying at a $80 room down the street from my house just so it doesn’t expire. Now THAT sounds like a waste, but forcing myself to take an expensive vacation ANYWHERE just to use this stupid thing before it expires is getting to be a planning nightmare.
Most locations under a $1,000 flight away are either not eligible for chase free night or the rooms are only $120/night max anyway. pointless. This CHASE FREE NIGHT HAS BECOME A BURDEN! I regret falling for this “perk.”
I could endure a long 7 hour drive to Nashville where I can get an $300 room that is no better than a $50 room in kansas, but I’d also spend about $250 in gas and $25 in parking – just to use my voucher, then turn around and drive 7 hours home.
Can we sell these? Or transfer them? Does anyone want my voucher?
I don’t think you can sell them or transfer them as far as IHG is concerned. You can book a hotel room for someone else though and what you and that person decide as compensation IHG doesn’t have to know…
I know what you’re saying though – this exact problem is one reason I say that free hotel nights are a bit of a “scam”
Getting value out of our free nights certs is important to us. Our 2016 certs were be used for a Valentines Weekend getaway at Key West La Concha Hotel ($460/night). Our 2017 certs will be used at the Willard Hotel in Washington DC. (value $448/night). We tend to use our certs for weekend getaways.
Last year my wife and I completely forgot to use ours. Now THAT is wasting them.
You certainly did not waste your free night cert and I did enjoy your comment about Bora Bora as far too many bloggers focus on aspirational properties and not on practical requirements. For me, it all about location and whatever works for your itinerary and needs. Of course, I choose the IC Park Lane because of its location and the club floor is quite nice there. You obviously won’t get club floor access with a free cert only so status does help. Any free certs I have are used as a separate reservation in Europe and Asia usually at the end of an already booked reservation as I don’t want a free night cert to mess up any room upgrades upon check-in.