I'm going to be travelling to Melbourne and Auckland a few times this year for business, and we usually stay at an IHG Hotel. I'm wondering whether its better value for me to be accruing the points directly into IHG Rewards or straight into Velocity?
You’ll receive 600 Velocity points per stay abroad and 3 points per $ at IHG hotels in Australia, from memory.
So this all hinges on whether you are of the mindset to engage in IHG Rewards points beyond your hotel stays you have planned. IHG can be lucrative for consistent stayers who work their way through bonus promotions and promo codes to maximise their points earn and potential for free nights. It’s a time suck to figure out but can be useful, alongside buying IHG points in their 100% bonus promos or using the IHG points + pay and cancel ‘trick’ to buy points at a similar cost.
If that all sounds like a bit of a pain, it’s because it is - you’ll need to invest some time in looking for the deals to earn and use the points. Otherwise if you are engaged in Velocity and don’t want to point your attention anywhere else, just stick them there.
Worth noting - IHG offers you 1,000 Qantas Points for overseas stays, whereas Velocity offers 600 Velocity points. Might sway your earn preference.