End of IHG Pointsbreak?
You have probably already read posts from fellow bloggers about the possible end of IHG Pointsbreak:
LoyaltyLobby reached out to an IHG spokesperson and received an official statement:
- We do not have a new IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks promotion planned currently. However, our guests can take advantage of our current offers, City Lights (advisory attached) and the IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card promotion. We look forward to sharing more details on other promotions in the coming weeks.
What is PointsBreak?
PointsBreak is a promotion that runs about 4 times a year where you can redeem points for a hotel room at a discounted rate. Pretty much any hotel can show up on the list and you can book for 5,000, 10,000 or 15,000 increments. Each member may only book 2 reservations per hotel during the special offer period.
What Happened?
The current offer runs out on January 31st, 2020. Historically, the new list is usually released on the last Monday of the expiring month, so we could have some overlapping dates that runs into the next promotion.
Typically, a preview is released at the end of the week before the last Monday of the month so that we get an idea of what the promotion will look like. However, January, 23 and 24 have passed and no preview. Typically, the new promotion is posted on the last Monday of the expiring month, but it is Tuesday now and still nothing.
My Phone Call
I tried to make my own phone call. I was bounced around a few times, the first 2 people I spoke to never even heard of PointsBreak. But I finally received this statement:
- I first asked, what is happening with the new PointsBreak list?
- “We double checked and we do not currently have a new PointsBreak offer. All we have is the promotion until January 31, 2020. We do not have any update on the new list.”
- Then I asked, is there any other information that you can give me:
- “We do not have any update on our end, so we cannot give you any more information.”
Thoughts
So that’s that for now. Hope to hear something soon. I really want to hold my thoughts until something is more finalized, whether it is cancelled or they are offering something else.
The challenge I’m having is that I feel like they should have at least release some sort of statement saying something… anything, at least from public relations standpoint.
By leaving people in the dark at a time when members were expecting a preview or the new list will definitely trigger negative feelings. My gut feeling tells me that IHG might be thinking, “if we have nothing good to say, better off not saying anything at all”. I hope I am wrong!
What are your thoughts about the IHG PointsBreak silence?
Pointsbreak is a major reason for me to collect points from IHG. In the last year, I have noticed this particular promotion has been watered down significantly. Unless they devise a different promotion (“sales”) that significantly enhances the value of the points, I think there will be a definite drop off of demand for IHG Rewards.
I really do hope that they have something up their sleeves.
Sad if this program is dead for good. I have booked many IHG® Rewards Club PointBreaks® Reward Nights over the years. I have found the program less useful in the last 2 years, as they seldom include decent hotels in North America.
Same here. The longer they take to make an announcement, the worse it looks.