Cookie cutter just doesn’t cut it anymore, not during pandemic, or when it comes to your precious vacation time. Sure, sometimes a big box hotel with a comforting name you know is just what you need in a major city, but what about options in small and remote stretches of more exotic destinations?
To answer that question, Intercontinental Hotels Group, better known as mega brand IHG, partnered with Mr. & Mrs Smith – a trusted curator of boutique and luxury options in more off path destinations. For the first time since the exciting partnership began, you can now use your IHG Points to book these hotels online, and earn points at more of them too…
IHG And Mr & Mrs Smith Online Booking
In short – you can now use your IHG Rewards Points online at many more hotels, even many which you wouldn’t typically associate with the IHG brands you know, such as Intercontinental, Kimpton, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, etc. There’s also now 11 more countries you can book hotels in, using IHG Points or cash.
The partnership has long allowed cash bookings online, but more hotels can now be booked with points too. Think: a lovely manor house in the Cotswolds, rather than a central London hotel.
In general, you’ll get around half a cent per point of value using IHG Points to book Mr. & Mrs Smith Hotels, which means standards options like Kimpton or Intercontinental, which have fixed point values – aka 50,000 points per night, regardless of price – may be a better option, depending on the stay.
As an example, a $500 a night Mr. & Mrs Smith hotel booked with IHG Points would cost around 100,000 points, while an IHG Hotel booked with IHG Points might cost 70,000 points, even if the cash price is higher. You can check out the details here.
Still, it means so many more hotels, in more remote parts of the globe are now accessible with IHG Points.
When all is said and done, IHG plans to have over 400 Mr & Mrs. Smith hotels available for points bookings using the IHG Rewards Program. They’re a ways off of that for now, but each week bring more functionality, and more options for your points or cash, and also options where you can still earn nights and points when you do book.
Bookings at these hotels include standard perks for elite IHG members and welcome amenities as well. Cash bookings also earn points in the IHG Rewards Program, though double, triple and other bonuses do not count, nor do free night certificates from IHG credit cards.
IHG Rewards Points are getting a lot more fun to use online with each booking, and as more countries around the globe open up via this partnership, IHG Points become more worthwhile to earn.
If you’re looking to rack up some extra points, which would give you at least $700 to play with when booking these Mr. & Mrs Smith Hotels via IHG Points, the IHG Premier Card currently offers 140,000 points and Platinum status as a welcome bonus. Not bad…
