rct12345

The 20% off on cash+points did seem too good to be true.
Just an error in TPG's post then.
Thanks..

jphripjah

Someone else has probably mentioned this, but isn't the 20% discount on buying points kind of worthless if you don't get the discount for purchases when they are running a bonus on points purchases?

Dadofsix

1) I haven't seen any DPs yet either. If the 10% points rebate is indeed still in effect and not replaced by the features of the new Premier card, by now I would've thought we'd have some DPs of the 10% rebate still being applied for those having both cards because the Premier card was introduced over 2 months ago now. Maybe the absence of DPs indicates, by default, that it's actually not stackable.

2) Unfortunately that statement in the TPG post was incorrect. The 20% discount mentioned there had nothing to do with this new "feature" (below) on the new cards:
"Save at least 20% on points purchases when you pay for those points with your IHG® Rewards Club Premier or Traveler Credit Cards. Point purchase amounts are subject to change by IHG® Rewards Club. These points are Non-Qualifying points and do not count towards Elite qualification. Upon completion of the points purchase, you agree that the total dollar amount will be immediately charged to your credit card. The cost for the points purchased is non-refundable."
The screenshot shown in the post was actually reflecting this periodic IHG promo mentioned here in late April by Loyalty Lobby: https://loyaltylobby.com/2018/04/26/...k-by-april-30/
Furthermore, (1) at this early point in the IHG booking process (shown by the screenshot), the credit card being used to pay for the cash portion has not even been selected yet (and even if the card is saved in the user's profile it can be changed later in the booking process), and (2) there is no mention anywhere that the 20% savings/discount/rebate (whatever it is) would apply to the cash portion of Points & Cash bookings. In addition, I still haven't seen any DPs yet regarding this new "feature" being successfully processed. However, the lack of DPs for this item is not that surprising to me - mainly because IHG runs "points purchase bonus" promotions so very frequently and, according to Chase via DPs here in FT, only when IHG does NOT have an active points purchase bonus promotion would this discount or rebate be applied. Probably also because nobody in the points & miles game would ever buy IHG points at the "normal" price anyway - unless they truly just wanted to challenge Chase on this feature during a non-promotion period, but I doubt anybody wants to waste their time on this. My opinion is that the technology to systematically administer this feature has simply not been implemented yet and/or this was purely a sales gimmick anyway, but perhaps I'm wrong.

Dadofsix

Yes - based on my post above, I agree.

Yes - based on my post above, I would say it's entirely worthless. There are more inexpensive methods in which to buy points if one needs to.

travel4free

I wouldn't jump to that conclusion quite yet. Keep in mind that for most people it was taking more than a week after applying before they received the card and had the ability to book the 4th night free award. From there, someone would have to book and then complete a 4 night award stay. In my experience, the 10% rebate has always taken at least a few weeks, if not longer, to post following a stay. Combining all those things that have to happen, we are probably just now getting to the point where we could start to see some data points for those that immediately booked and completed a stay. Keep in mind there are probably a fairly limited number of people who meet all of the following conditions that would have to be in place:
1. Already had the old credit card.
2. Immediately applied for new credit card.
3. Already had enough points for 4(actually 3) night award.
4. Immediately booked 4 night award.
5. Completed 4 night stay shortly after booking.
I too am anxiously awaiting some data points, but I think we are just now getting to the point where we might start seeing some. I wouldn't jump to conclusions until people start sharing their experiences.

Super Mario

Appears to be completely worthless unless you buy points at the normal rate. Seems like a silly offer. CC perks are usually paid for by the CC issuer independent of existing offers. I really hope they evolve this one.

rct12345

6. Wait about 3 weeks for the 10% rebate.

Dadofsix

My thinking is that 3, 4, & 5 above are not truly required though just to determine whether or not the 10% points rebate on the old Select card still remains in effect after IHG records the presence of the new card for the member, which I think is all we're trying to figure out here.

We already know that the new 4th night free feature will for sure be in effect for new cardholders after a short period of time has passed.

As a 10% rebate DP from before the new cards came out: I had a reward stay on Jan. 4, Chase statement closed on Jan. 18, and points rebate posted in my IHG account on Feb. 1 (less than 1 month altogether). But I know that timing of the reward stay and Chase statement close date comes into play here too so I guess in theory it could be 1-2 months from date of reward stay to date of points rebate posting. I do hope that I am wrong here, but I guess we'll know for sure either way fairly soon.

tomasdev

I have the old one and 200k points. Want to apply for new one to use 4th night free on a 4 nights stay in early July to get 50k back (if double dipping 10% is possible, even more)

But, help me out.

I am 6/24 and would be 4/24 in late July. Maybe I should just pay the stay? Because I dont have CFU, CSR and technically could churn a new CSP (3 years old my current one) - next 4/24 would be 2019

Get the new IHG? Wait? Pay with money? Be honest!

thealphalion

If the difference in cash rate and points value (assuming 0.6 cents per IHG point) is not too different, I would pay cash for the stay and get CSR+CFU in late July. Also note that there's a new one Sapphire card rule, so you'd need to close CSP before applying for CSR. Also, if the cash stay can contribute to the Accelerate promo, even better.

SEAfarer

I registered my new Premier card on my IHG account on last Friday and caught the 100% bonus purchase on its last day. But no 20% discount. I've seen the 20% before when they had it as a promo for Points & Cash, so I know what it should look like. This time, though, when I saw it go to the Points.com site, I suspected something might be amiss. I was right, but at least I caught the deadline.

The 4th night free on rewards is working alright, so my IHG account knows I have the card, But it doesn't show the 20% on P&C attempted bookings.

So it's either IHG not syncing its advertised benefits, or possibly the handoff to Points.com on that purchase that was the problem. I'm guessing it's a call/email to IHG first, as Chase probably won't know anything about it. Hopefully I don't have to reach Points.com -- don't know anything about their service.

Whoever it is, they owe me $140. So far. I'll wait on any new bookings until they sort this out.

Dadofsix

blitzen

SEAfarer

Nothing like just honoring the plain language of an offer, eh? My patience can't handle more than one hotel/airline customer service duel in a week, so I'll wait a bit and see how things shake out.

Oh, and btw, this is dealing with my first hotel card, and where to charge between different cards. Some back of the envelope math: IHG points ain't cashback dollars, not by a long stretch.

For charging at their hotels, fine; it's like a 5-6% discount. But for the other 1 or 2 IHG point credits for non-hotel expenses, it's .5 to .6%, up to 1-1.2%. I have trouble remembering when to use my other cards, but they're all 2-3-5%, so it'll be an easy call to put my IHG card away after my first $2000 is done.

RobertHanson

IHG cards are not valuable for non-hotel spend. Just do al little spend now and then to keep Chase happy, you don't want them to cancel your cards for non-use. But doing spend for "free" rooms makes no sense, you will pay far more than if you just paid cash for the room. Lots of better places to put any significant spend IMHO.