Quick catch up, if you’re not familiar. Read the post IHG PointBreaks for Beginners and it will catch you up to speed. Basically IHG lists about 160 hotels every 2-3 months that can be redeemed for 5,000 points. But the number of rooms that can be booked for this price are limited.
As usual I decided to make a map of all the IHG PointBreak hotels available for the next 3 months right here below.
Info is all from OneMileAtATime. I have no idea where he got the info as it wasn’t on the PointBreaks site and they took down the community site for whatever reason. So all I did is make a map.
Best Hotels
InterContinental Lhasa – Wow. I’d love to go to Tibet and I love living out of IC hotels… but this is too far and too cold. Last thing I want to do is fly all the way to Tibet and not want to leave my room, and when I do it’s gray.
Is that seriously it? This list is terrible. Not only is the list terrible (at best), but the last two lists have been 3 months long! So it will be at least 6 months between my last PointBreaks hotel and my next. Really, they have managed to go half a year without posting a nice hotel in a frequented area.
BUT, if I was in the area, I would definitely stay in many of these hotels. For example, some of these are actually decent hotels in decent areas:
- Crowne Plaza Suites Tequendama Bogota
- Holiday Inn Genoa City
- Any Crowne Plaza in China
- Or anytime I know I’m staying in a particular city anyways… might as well pay 5,000 points.
IHG hasn’t panned out for me at all in the last 8 months in terms of redemptions, and now we have to wait ’til June for the next list. This is a stealthly devaluation, in my opinion.
According to the timeline in my Feedly blog list, the first one out with the complete Pointbreaks list was Loyalty Lobby. Maybe this answers your question, impossible to know for sure but…
So where did he get it? IHG?
The list is originally from IHG’s blog . (LL, us and others got it from here)
http://blog.ihg.com/point-breaks-preview-feb-2015
Goodness. Thank you!
You’re starting to sound a little entitled here, Drew
This is a blog about travel rewards programs, and this is a devaluation… which is bad for us. I’ve not commented as to whether or not it’s fare to me. But it’s a crappy list compared to the past, again. and its longer, again.
I definitely agree with you on the three-month list problem. Really crappy when it’s compounded with a horrible list. Plus, it means trying to plan three months out instead of two, which even if there were any hotels here I really wanted to stay at would be difficult.
With the old lists, good hotels would be booked up right away. Now, all halfway moderate hotels are booked up right away :-/.
Right, I wouldn’t mind a 3month list if the most incredible hotels were on there. 😀
Your Google map has Holiday Inn Express East Greenbush(Albany-Skyline) pinned in NYC…whoops 🙂
Albany, NYC… same thing.
It’s almost like they’re using supply and demand to set the prices of their products. What crazy scheme will they come up with next!
Supply and demand is a phrase I too learned in Economics 101 class, and would likely be how the make the cash price of the hotel. But obviously not PB or they would consistently be 5,000 points.
Nope, I agree. This list is terrible.
I will be in Budapest (but staying with friends), Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Japan (Kyushu/Osaka-Kyoto/Hokkaido areas), Fiji, and Vanuatu in next 3 months- all of which have IHG properties, not one I can use. Even the Budapest one is pretty far outside the city. Good thing I have 80k pts sitting around now. Really bummed since I wanted to use them to start my nomadic life off with a bang.
I guess at least I can save them for late 2015, which is probably the next time I can actually use them (not too many IHG properties in the ‘stans….)
Never count on PointBreaks. I learned that many times now. Like the time they had zero hotels in Asia, when I was in Asia. 😀
Drew, I don’t know what you guys’ miles situation is but if you can possibly get to Lhasa you won’t regret it. The weather may not be so bad in May. I can’t remember what month I went, I think it would have been Sept-Oct but it was amazing! I had to book a backpacker style package (we’re talking mid 90’s) from a travel agency in KTM and also tagged Bhutan on. They did the visas, flights and accommodation at cheap hostels. Day trips were included and they took me to all kinds of temples and scenic drives. I struggled with altitude sickness the first day and couldn’t eat anything but soup but then I adjusted. Not sure what the visa situation is these days, if a regular Chinese visa gets you in or not. Staying at the IC would most likely be better than a hostel! LOL Seriously, go for it!
I actually read this comment and you totally swayed me. Not kidding. But then the next morning I forgot! So at noon Carrie said, “what about PointBreaks?” and I looked and the hotel was gone!
I’m not sure it woulda worked out anyways, but next time…
This map makes me want to use my points to do a long roadtrip in the US, pretty much you always are within a 2 hour drive to the next 5000 points hotel ….. perhaps in the summer too cold now
Well, this list only goes through may but there are consistently interstate hotels. But not many good for more than 1 night. We had a road trip last summer with Carrie’s family and there was always one SOMEWHERE along the way, but never close to where we wanted to be. YMMV
Thank you for the info. I always find your site very useful. We’re using the pointbreaks for a road trip through TN and the great smoky mtns. Also, will hopefully grab the Even hotel for DC during Cherry Blossom festival and spring break for the kids. I am intrigued by the concept of Even Hotels. No spectacular international trips. But since that’s not what we’re doing right now, we will make the list work to do some free road trips in the US.
I’m also intrigued by the Even hotel. So much so that I would go stay for a while if I didn’t hate the cold.
Yea, as always, half the hotels are in the US… which is great for us.
Can americans even stay at the InterContinental Lhasa? You need to be on a tour to go into Tibet, and it seems to me that these tours are always the ones arranging the hotel stays. I’m going to lhasa and the everest base camp in late June, can’t wait 🙂
Yea, you need to get a permit from a travel agent but it’s very doable.
How come IC Phnom Penh is not getting any love? I figured it being IC and during spring break time, it would be a hot commodity.
Drew, you and Carrie are living the life I wish I lived.
😀 Thanks Jay. I can’t complain although we sometimes get a grass-is-greener-effect.
Anyways, Phnom Penh is a dirty dirty place. It’s not where I would want to vacation. We enjoyed our time volunteering there but haven’t recommended it to anyone since. Siem Reap at least has the incredible Angkor Wat. PP has killing fields. IDK. Just saying, I wouldn’t book a week there.