[QUOTE=Happy;36188096]The IHG 4th night free is much honest than BonVoy's cheapest night out of 5 nights free! plus the 10% rebate - the raison d'etre that many of us hold on to this no longer available old select card, AND the 0.005 cost to acquire points - all make IHG program a lot better than BonVoy program now for most regular travel needs, outside the "aspirational" stuff.

To be honest, we dont care for Maldive or Samui or Masa Mara or whathave you. Those who aim for such can feel they are getting a high value per pt redemption but completely ignore the other high costs to get there (may be Samui is not as bad), especially Maldive where we feel extremely boring on an atoll that can be covered on foot in a few hours ...

Again, it is all YMMV on what are worthy redemption - to us, IHG has both the high end and the low end that fit our needs when the corresponding BonVoy properties ask for twice or thrice pts![/QUOTe

I am based I the US and travel to NYC and Europe. I am Marriott Platinum and recently acquired IHG Platinum as a hedge against Marriott’s skyrocketing prices in New York. And London. Because I am going to London for wedding and I had the opportunity to compare prices between the chains and that made pull the trigger. The Marriott prices were off the charts for booking either with money or points. The IHG options in London were more reasonable. (I opted for Holiday Inn Camden Locks avg $ 225 per night, for being close to the wedding and the Eurostar)

One of the other legs of the trip is taking me to Berlin where I opted for the Courtyard Berlin Center City. The facility seems a bit better than the nearby IHG offering and I paid 145,000 points. The cash price points were very similar.

Looking at price and location in NYC, IHG is has better prices and the locations are comparable. The most affordable Bonvoy locations are all near South Street Seaport near Wall Street. There are also some affordable IHG locations closer to mid-town.

On balance, IHG, I think, is a great hedge against the Bonvoy program. One attraction now is the 140,000 welcome bonus after spending $3,000. Using the IHG card , coupled with Platinum, gives a 26x multiplier on every dollar spent on a hotel property.