Typically, offers to buy elite status aren’t compelling. For example, American Airlines AAdvantage’s offers to buy elite status are usually laughably bad. However, IHG One Rewards is giving select members an offer — first reported by LoyaltyLobby — that is compelling.
If IHG targeted you for this offer to buy status, you likely received an email. The title of this email is likely similar to the one TPG senior editor Christine Gallipeau got titled “Don’t lose your Diamond Elite status, Christine,” or the one TPG managing editor Matt Moffitt got titled “Upgrade to Diamond Elite status, Matthew.”
These emails clearly state how many elite qualifying points you’d need to buy by Dec. 31, 2024, to secure a specified status through 2025. However, the elite qualifying points listed in your email are based on your account status as of Dec. 6, so the number won’t be accurate if you’ve earned elite qualifying points since then.
Related: IHG elite status: What it is and how to earn it
Targeted members will also see a tile when they log in to their IHG account, click on their name in the upper right-hand corner and scroll down.
If you click the link in the email, tile or here, you’ll land on a page where you can buy the required points. However, only targeted members will see an offer after logging in on that page. Sadly, I’m not targeted, so I can’t take advantage of this offer.
As a reminder, you’ll need 40,000 elite qualifying points for Gold Elite, 60,000 for Platinum Elite and 120,000 for Diamond Elite. When you consider that the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card and IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card offer complimentary Platinum Elite status to cardholders — and members who aren’t eligible for either of these cards can get Platinum Elite status as a benefit of paid InterContinental Ambassador membership — the primary status you might be interested in buying elite qualifying points to claim is Diamond Elite status.
Normally, when you buy IHG points, the points aren’t elite qualifying points. However, during this offer, select members can purchase elite qualifying points that are both redeemable and count toward elite status qualification. The terms for this offer state, “EQP Points are not refundable and are applicable toward all IHG One Rewards redemptions,” where the terms previously defined EQP as elite qualifying points. The terms also state you can only make one purchase of elite qualifying points during this offer, so be sure to buy all that you need at once.
Related: When does it make sense to buy points and miles?
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Christine said she’s currently at 20 elite qualifying nights and 69,470 elite qualifying points, but she plans to stay four more nights with IHG in 2024, which should get her an additional 37,822 elite qualifying points. As such, she told me, “After this stay, I plan on buying the remaining 15,000 points needed to retain my status. I have a two-night mattress run stay I had planned for the very end of the month, but the buy points offer will cost less than that stay, so I plan on canceling it now to instead buy the remaining points.”
Meanwhile, Matt currently has Platinum Elite status through a credit card and has accrued 13 elite qualifying nights and 12,597 elite qualifying points to date in 2024. Matt said he doesn’t currently have any additional stays booked with IHG through the end of 2024 but is strongly considering buying elite qualifying points through this offer, noting, “Given I’ll be traveling full-time for at least Q1 and Q2 next year (potentially into the second half of the year), I’m sure I can get value out of the points and status.”
My husband JT is also targeted for this offer. He accrued 61 elite qualifying nights and 17,265 elite qualifying points through Dec. 16, but he enrolled in a targeted offer to get Diamond Elite status after 10 paid stays between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31. We just checked out of the stay for the 10th night on Sunday, so we won’t have any use for his offer.
Select IHG cardholders enjoy a 20% discount when purchasing points, too, which makes this offer particularly compelling. If Matt has an eligible IHG card that gives the 20% discount, he could buy 110,000 elite qualifying points — which cost $770 — for an effective cost of $616 after the 20% discount. That’s 0.56 cents per redeemable point, just 0.06 cents per point higher than TPG’s December 2024 valuation of IHG points.
Related: Last-minute strategies for earning IHG One Rewards elite status
Bottom line
If IHG has targeted you for this offer, it’s seriously worth considering. Through this offer, targeted members can buy elite qualifying points at a rate close to — if not lower than — the rate at which they can redeem them.
Even though my husband will requalify for Diamond Elite status, I’d likely buy 120,000 elite qualifying points during this offer to also requalify for Diamond Elite status if IHG had targeted me for this offer. After all, 120,000 elite qualifying points cost $800 — effectively $640 after the 20% discount — and I usually get at least 0.7 cents per point when redeeming IHG points and utilizing the fourth-reward-night-free benefit. So, without even considering the value of Diamond Elite status, I’d value the points higher than the cost I’d need to pay.
IHG Diamond Elite status continues to offer my husband and me a ton of value, including a choice of complimentary breakfast for two as a welcome amenity at pretty much any IHG hotel or resort that doesn’t offer free breakfast for all. We’ve found we also frequently get an upgraded room or suite upon request at check-in if the property is still currently selling that room type for our dates. Also, earning 100% bonus points on paid stays is a valuable Diamond Elite perk.
Related: How much value does IHG One Rewards status provide when you book directly?
As for IHG Diamond Elite members who have earned (or planned to earn) the 70 elite qualifying nights or 120,000 elite qualifying points through stays, this offer likely feels like a slap in the face. But these members do get some consolation in that IHG Milestone Rewards are based on elite qualifying nights, not points. So, even if you buy up to a status via purchasing elite qualifying points, you still won’t get access to valuable Milestone Rewards such as an annual lounge membership.
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