js1993

Taking a relatively last-minute trip to Europe in September for a month or two, starting in the U.K. Itinerary will be guided at least in part by the ability to book award stays, since points are seemingly being devalued by the day.

Haven't booked any IHG award stays since a couple years before Covid. Maybe I was spoiled by PointsBreaks but compared to Hyatt, I can't seem to find many (any?) great redemptions in Europe this fall. Whereas Hyatts can be found for as low as 3,500 points (off-peak), IHG seems to start at 24,000.

If anyone has any tips for good European redemptions or booking IHG award stays in general, please post. Looking for good redemption values, recommended properties, etc. This will be a tourism-heavy trip, so mostly just looking for places to sleep and shower that offer a good breakfast.

In particular, looking to fill Hyatt holes in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, southern Spain, Poland, and Austria.

Thanks for all feedback.

guv1976

Do you have, or can you acquire, the Chase/IHG Rewards Premier credit card? It automatically gives you the fourth-night free on reward stays of four nights or more. For an eight-night stay, you could book two consecutive four-night stays, and get the fourth and eighth nights free, etc., etc.

UKtravelbear

There were lots of good rates last Sunday!

Value depends on where you stay and to be honest the lower rates were booked months ago and with dynamic pricing once cash rates go up so do the points rates.

I booked the holiday inn Manchester months ago for the 1st October for 20k points. Because of dynamic pricing it’s now 46k

I have a mid week night at a CP in Berlin in September booked ages for 22k It’s now 30k

You really need to be a bit more specific on your destination towns / cities to get the best advice of which hotels to stay in.”Scotland” and “Poland” are really far too vague.

I found a night for 18k at a HIX in Dundee for 18k (randomly picked city and date). It’s a marvellous rate but only if you plan to visit Dundee on a Wednesday night in the middle of September!

shorthauldad

I'm currently looking at rates in London for a Wednesday night stay in the middle of September and the cash rates are truly eye-watering (several HIXes well over GBP200/night, and thanks to dynamic rewards pricing those HIXes are now 58k - 60k redemptions...)

"Good value" is kind of tricky now the rewards pricing tracks the cash rate.

I'm toying with spending my wife's Hilton points instead, she's forgotten she has a stash of them...

js1993

Have it. Thanks.

My itinerary is mostly TBD in the places I listed, which I know doesn't help for getting the best advance deals.

Right. I know prices have jumped due to the post-Covid leisure-travel boom, but the fall is usually a down time for European tourism. For whatever reason, IHG properties, in particular, seem to be much more expensive than similar Hyatts. I'm seeing Hyatt Places as low as 3,500 to 5,000 points, even in London, while, as you mentioned above, the IHG equivalents seem to be 30 to 50% more expensive, minimum.

I know it's typically best to book long in advance, but are last-minute redemptions worth looking for with IHG? I'm not seeing many airfare deals, either, so maybe these companies are hoping to make the current prices the "new normal" and will hold out until after the Labor Day tourism drop to make adjustments.

travelingdrsuz

If you are including Glasgow as an option, the voco Grand Central was a points redemption for me, and worth every bit of it. A true treasure. Also, very convenient. Literally walk off the train and into a landmark.

js1993

Looks amazing. Thanks.

azepine00

Ic warsaw is a great value - had 20-25k redemptions with 4th nt free a couple times there...warsaw is cheap in general

yurtripper

IC WAW was available for 15K just last weekend (I don't mean because of the points glitch). I had it booked but I cancelled because an old friend from Mexico came to visit and we got out of town

demue

I'm not sure how you are going about this, but you can't compare points at IHG side by side to Hyatt points. Hyatt points are more valuable per point so their redemption rates are lower as well. A top level Park Hyatt maxes out at 35 or 40k points while a top IC can go up to 120k. But IHG points have a lower value so you really need to see what points price vs. cash rate makes sense to you.

js1993

Right, understood, but as mentioned above, I’ve seen Hyatt Places at 5,000/night while the nearby HIX was 25,000+. The pattern was consistent in multiple locations.

nicolas75

Unless you're staying at Holiday Inn Express hotels near highways, PointBreaks promotions are coming back, or you're multimillionaire in points, I don't see how you're going to spend two months in Europe on Rewards stays.

js1993

No doubt I'll need to pay cash in some places where award stays are unavailable or the cash rate makes more sense, but just with Hyatt, I have enough points for 90 nights at a Cat 1 (or 120+ nights at Cat 1 off-peak). With points being devalued, I'm looking to spend down my balances but without being profligate about it. For tourist trips, all I really care about is a bed, shower, and a decent breakfast.

336

I think your expectations are wrong.

If you want to have good deals on points, you would need to be very flexible and/or plan in advance.

Otherwise cash rates will probably make much more sense economically.

Or maybe my interpretation is wrong, and you belong to the people that consider any points night a "free night", no matter how many points it costs, nor what the cash rate alternative is.

js1993

My itinerary is very flexible and, in my last post, I said "I'm looking to spend down my balances but without being profligate about it."

If IHG's award nights now track the cash prices, not sure how cash rates would "make much more sense economically."