Originally Posted by
xenole
Has no-one got a "complete 5/6 tasks and earn 20k bonus points" sort of thing this time round?
I've got 1 task that involves 2 x 4 night stays yet I only stay a couple of nights, on average, a time. Not got any real holiday plans until after the promo finishes and for 12k points, it's probably not worth adding the extra nights.
Anyway, will complete my 3 brands this weekend and 1 out of 2 weekend stays.
If I can pick up a cheap CP stay at the weekend, that mops up another 2.
Just leaves the 2 x 4 night stays, and points + cash package to complete. The second doesn't seem worth it seeing as I get offered 3k points for just under £15 and I would have to spend something like £50 + 5k points in order to earn 4500 points (I suppose if the hotel was wanting say £250 for a room Vs. 20k points, then the reward night would definitely be better value)
From other posts in this thread, it would appear making a P&C reservation will automatically and immediately register as a completed task with the Accelerate promo. Remember that canceling a P&C reservation only results in the refund of points to your account--no cash component. So, it's probably worth searching around for a hotel anywhere in the world that's offering a good cheap points & cash rate (for instance, a 20K points hotel that offers P&C for 15000 plus a small cash supplement for the remaining 5K) and then canceling.
If you don't think you're going to do a points stay anyway, then the very worst you do under the example I've noted is keep your current points and gain 5K more for a small cash price--assuming that IHG denies that you've completed the task. And if IHG doesn't do that, you're getting the 4500 bonus points for completing the task plus if your plans change so that you could complete all the other tasks, the full Accelerate bonus. So although through your reservation you are purchasing points at a higher rate than during IHG sales, you've got to add the 4500 points for completing the task into the equation. That could almost halve the cost of purchasing the points--bringing the rate well below any other avenue for purchasing points.
Even with the risk that IHG might later contest that you completed the task, I think that's a risk worth taking.