I bought 300,000 IHG points in the 100% bonus sale
On October 4, 2026, I paid $3,000 for 300,000 IHG One Rewards points and IHG added 300,000 bonus points: 600,000 in all, at half a cent each. The sale's terms, the arithmetic, and how the purchase fits into our plan.
By Barry Boggs · Updated Oct 5, 2026 · 2 min read
On October 4, 2026, the day before IHG's points sale ended, I bought 300,000 IHG One Rewards points for $3,000. I didn't want to miss this sale. IHG added a 300,000-point bonus, so 600,000 points went into my account. Here is what the sale offered and what the purchase works out to.
The purchase
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Points bought | 300,000 |
| Bonus | 300,000 |
| Total | 600,000 IHG One Rewards points |
| Paid | $3,000 |
| Paid with | Chase Sapphire Reserve |
| Cost per point | 0.5¢ |
The sale's terms
IHG ran the sale from September 15 to October 5, 2026. Its terms, as LoyaltyLobby quotes them: "Members will receive a bonus of 100% of the points purchased when they purchase a minimum 5,000 points purchase threshold on a per transaction basis." And: "during the Offer Period, members may purchase a maximum of up to 300,000 points."
So 300,000 points was the most one member could buy in this sale. Outside a sale, IHG's terms allow 200,000 a calendar year. The bonus was targeted: "The percentage bonus amount will show for eligible members when they log into their IHG One Rewards account."
The arithmetic
At IHG's normal price, "as little as one cent each" according to One Mile at a Time, 600,000 points would have cost at least $6,000. The 100% bonus halved that.
Chase's IHG credit cards offer a different deal: "Save at least 30% on points purchases when you pay for those points with your IHG One Rewards, Premier, Premier Select, or Business Credit Cards." But that discount "cannot be combined with any other points purchase offer," and 30% off the normal price comes to about 0.7¢ a point. During a 100% bonus sale, the sale is the better buy.
IHG prices award nights by date, so there is no fixed number of nights in 600,000 points. As an example, at 40,000 points a night they pay for 15 nights. Whether that beats paying cash depends on the hotel and the dates, which is the sum our guide to buying hotel points on sale walks through.
Where it goes in our plan
I recorded the purchase in the planner this site is building, which counts the points as in hand toward our goal. Our progress page will show what that means for the plan as a whole once we publish our first monthly update.
Sources
- LoyaltyLobby: IHG buy points 100% bonus sale with increased limit until October 5, 2026 · read Oct 3, 2026
- One Mile at a Time: Buy IHG One Rewards points with 100% bonus · read Oct 3, 2026
- Chase: IHG One Rewards Premier credit card · read Oct 3, 2026
Plan it for your household
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