So I'll try to make it as short as possible. I recently used points and cash to book a stay at a holiday inn 10k points + $70 a night (I've done this before) for my family visiting. During their stay mentioned to me that the room was paid for, which surprised me because they should have been charged $70 a night. I checked my account and noticed it was showing -25k three times then 10k three times. So I was confused. I wrote an email hoping they could explain what happened. Last time I did this, this is not how it worked.

Here's the email I got:

Thank you for contacting IHG Rewards Club regarding your Platinum Elite account. We appreciate the opportunity to assist you.

Foremost, we sincerely apologize for the delay of response as we are experiencing high email volume than normal.

Please be informed that Points and Cash is a form of Reward Nights as it lets you use fewer points by combining them with cash to get Reward Nights faster. Points and Cash option means purchasing additional points online to be combined with your existing points; 70 USD is equivalent to 10,000 points and 40 USD is equivalent to 5,000 points.

In your booking for 3 nights, the hotel required 25,000 points per room per night. You have purchased a total of 30,000 points for 210 USD through Points and Cash (70 USD per 10,000 points). These points were immediately added to your account and then combined with 45,000 points from your current balance, thus, a total of 75,000 points were deducted from your account.
See breakdown below:

10,000 (Points and Cash purchase) + 15,000 (from your existing balance) = 25,000
25,000 x 3 nights = 75,000 points in total

Further, as per Terms and Conditions and standard procedure of the Points and Cash transaction, members are being prompted that the dollar amount is non-refundable. This information is available while in the booking process.

We hope this clarifies your inquiry.

We apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused you as we value your patronage. Should you require further assistance, please feel free to contact the IHG Rewards Club Service Center again.


Sincerely,


If this is how it works that sucks ! Why would I buy 10k points for $70 that's a rip off !! So before I send an angry email out, am I wrong? When did they change this?

Thanks to anyone that replies