Earning points
In Canada, unlike the Best Western Rewards or Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty programs, there is no credit card to directly earn IHG points.
Points can be earned by booking nights at IHG hotels. There are 2 categories of points: base points and bonus points.
- You can earn 10 IHG Base Points for every eligible US dollar spent on your room at most IHG hotels
- You can earn 5 IHG Base Points for every eligible U.S. dollar spent on your room at Staybridge or Candlewood Suites hotels.
If you hold elite status with the IHG Rewards loyalty program, you will be eligible for:
- accelerated base point earning: 10% (Gold Elite status), 50% (Platinum Elite status) and 100% (Spire Elite status)
Finally, it is possible to buy IHG points in 2 ways:
- through the traditional points purchase method; IHG Rewards Club regularly runs promotions
- By making a fictitious reservation that you cancel later, IHG will allow you to purchase points for 0.7 cents/point
Redeeming points
IHG has more than 5,200 hotels worldwide in 11 brands:
- Holiday Inn
- Holiday Inn Express
- InterContinental Hotels
- Crowne Plaza
- Kimpton
- Indigo Hotels
- Candlewood Suites
- Staybridge Suites
- Avid
- Even Hotels
- Hualuxe
There are 13 categories to use IHG points for a free night (in addition to the “PointsBreaks” category). To get a free night, it costs between 10,000 and 70,000 points.
As part of PointsBreaks events, some hotels are available for as little as 5,000 points per night.
Since IHG points can be purchased for as little as 0.7 cents per point, you shouldn’t have to pay more than what is shown in the chart to get a room!
| Category | IHG points required | Maximum cash price |
| Cheapest Pointsbreaks | 5,000 | 35$ |
| 1 | 10,000 | 70$ |
| 2 | 15,000 | 105$ |
| 3 | 20,000 | 140$ |
| 4 | 25,000 | 175$ |
| 5 | 30,000 | 210$ |
| 6 | 35,000 | 245$ |
| 7 | 40,000 | 280$ |
| 8 | 45,000 | 315$ |
| 9 | 50,000 | 350$ |
| 10 | 55,000 | 385$ |
| 11 | 60,000 | 420$ |
| 12 | 65,000 | 455$ |
| 13 | 70,000 | 490$ |
Status
Many benefits are available for members who have reached a certain IHG Rewards status.
- Club: the basic level that allows you to access “Your Rate”, the members-only rate, and to have free WiFi access.
- Gold Elite (10 nights or 10,000 points)
- Plus:
- Priority registration (subject to availability)
- Late departure (subject to availability)
- 10% points bonus
- Platinum Elite (40 nights or 40,000 points)
- Plus:
- Elite Nights carried over from one year to the next to get the status (over 40 nights)
- Free upgrade (subject to availability)
- Guaranteed availability (72h before)
- 50% points bonus
- Spire Elite (75 nights or 75,000 points)
- Plus:
- Elite Nights carried over from one year to the next to get the status (over 75 nights)
- Early arrival as early as 10am (subject to availability)
- Exclusive choice of benefits
- Exclusive Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Five Star Upgrade
- 100% points bonus
Credit cards
There are no credit card in Canada that allow you to earn IHG points.
If you want points for your hotel stays, here are the 3 cards available in Canada: