There’s a new transfer bonus out this morning: Chase Ultimate Rewards is offering an 80% transfer bonus to IHG Rewards, but most people probably shouldn’t consider using this transfer bonus except to top off for a highly valuable award given the fact that IHG points have relatively low value and can at times (including through 7/3/24) be purchased for just 0.5c per point.
The Deal
- Chase Ultimate Rewards is offering an 80% transfer bonus when you convert Chase Ultimate Rewards points to IHG Rewards points from 12:00am ET on July 1, 2024 to 11:59pm ET on July 31, 2024.
Key Terms
- Only valid for transfers from 7/1 to 7/31/24
- Bonus is awarded by IHG after the transfer is complete
Quick Thoughts
As noted at the outset, this offer isn’t great. Our Reasonable Redemption Value for IHG points is 0.63c per point. That means that even at an 80% transfer bonus, you’re on average only going to get around 1.13c per point in value. You’d need to have cherry-picked an excellent IHG redemption to do well enough to consider the 80% bonus.
IHG used to almost always have their points on sale for 0.5c per point. We’ve seen the velocity and length of those sales decrease significantly over the past couple of years, but you can currently purchase IHG points on sale for just 0.5c per point (which has been extended to 7/3/24). If you cashed out Ultimate Rewards points for a statement credit at $0.01 per point and bought IHG points during a sale like that, you’d effectively end up with 2 IHG points for every 1 Ultimate Rewards point you cashed out — a better deal than this 80% transfer bonus. If you need points before 7/3/24, then you should cash out and buy rather than transfer!
Of course, if you need points for a highly valuable redemption and can’t buy them on sale cheaply, this bonus might make sense. However, I think that in most cases you’d be better off keeping a stash of IHG points by strategically purchasing during sales and either cashing out your points to reimburse yourself or keeping your Ultimate Rewards points for a more valuable redemption.
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