One of the best hotel promotions that I have paid close attention to for years is IHG’s Point Breaks. Honestly, the first travel blog I followed with intense interest spoke so highly of the value of the promotion that I have been fixated on it ever since.
Unfortunately, my travel plans have never aligned with Point Breaks. And while I’ve planned trips around their super cheap hotel stays, I’ve ended up needing to cancel each time. Major bummer. Still, I’ve known that Point Breaks would one day deal me the perfect stay.
Except maybe they won’t. Right now, it seems the whole promotion has been suspended.
IHG Not Offering Point Breaks This Quarter
The IHG Point Breaks promotion has come around like clockwork every quarter, much like their near-continual Accelerate points earning promotion. Typically, the new list is released a few days ahead of the actual promotion. But this time around, there doesn’t seem to be a Point Breaks list.
Loyalty Lobby, one of the best hotel promotion blogs on Boarding Area, managed to obtain a statement from IHG that there wouldn’t be a Point Breaks promotion this time around. The IHG rep provided the following:
“We do not have a new IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks promotion planned currently. However, our guests can take advantage of our current offers, City Lights (advisory attached) and the IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card promotion. We look forward to sharing more details on other promotions in the coming weeks.”
So…no Point Breaks promotion is planned? This seems to indicate that they aren’t late to the game. They aren’t planning on it at all. Whether this is temporary or permanent, I’m rather dismayed either way.
We might be seeing the death of Point Breaks. Only time will tell if it is or is not IHG’s intent to continue the promotion. I’m not sure what other reason they would have for discontinuing Point Breaks other than to move to a different promotion. I’d be really surprised if it turns out to be better.
Point Breaks was arguably the best use of IHG Rewards points. Even if it is a fairly poor hotel, snagging a stay for just 5,000 points per night at the lowest tier properties is an excellent deal. It’s hard to argue against that value. Other properties have been discounted to 10,000 or 15,000 points per night, and nabbing the occasional Intercontinental or Hotel Indigo property at these rates is a steal.
But it might be no more. I hope this isn’t the death of IHG Point Breaks but only a temporary hiatus.
Conclusion
If this is the end of the road for Point Breaks, this could be the end of the road for IHG as a useful program. I’ve collected their points for years, and actually built up quite the balance. I’ve been eyeing the new 140,000-point offer, which is a best ever opportunity for the IHG Premier card from Chase.
However, if IHG plans to go the way of Hilton’s pricing without the earning rates to complement the sky-high award nights, my participation will consist of nothing more than burning my annual $49 “free” night each year from the IHG Rewards card. IHG’s loyalty program is so weak that there is nothing left to really consider without Point Breaks.
H/T: Loyalty Lobby
