Holiday Inn Time share perks / benefits? Possibly buying

[MichaelS]

We are somewhat familiar with timeshare with Wyndham(been to a couple presentations, and read on here). I support the system, but couldn't justify buying into it since a lot of our travel (for ministry) didn't match up with resort locations. We now rent from a fantastic owner, and we love it! However, while talking to my HR lady about timeshares, she said she bought into Holiday Inn points last year. I didn't even know they offered it. She bought at Orange Lake in Orlando but is deeded to Arizona. One of the perks that caught my attention is that she said she can stay at any holiday inn for $39/night if they have room( and she isn't VIP or higher up in their system, she has 125k points).

Now, I know how these things typically work, and it's never simple. I assume it's not ALL holiday inn's (owners have to agree to it?), and I assume the hotel only has a certain number of those rooms available (meaning if they only have 1 room left, and it doesn't qualify, you don't get it).

We enjoy Wyndham a lot (Been to Bonnet Creek twice in a 3BD PR), but we do a lot of ministry travel around the southeast as well. Having that option to grab a cheap hotel room is a big plus for us. I have four kids ages 11, 10, 3, 1. It's getting hard to all stay in a single room somewhere, and after getting Wyndham rooms so cheap we are getting spoiled.

What are the in's and out's of holiday inn points, and why would this not work for a family?

 

[tschwa2]

I don't think the $39 hotel room is a real thing. Maybe it is a cash and points through the hotel rewards side. Certainly not a reason to spend $20,000+ for HICV points.

 

[MichaelS]

I don't think the $39 hotel room is a real thing. Maybe it is a cash and points through the hotel rewards side. Certainly not a reason to spend $20,000+ for HICV points.

I was going to look used market, but didn't know if there was much of that really since they are not very big.

As for the $39 stay, can someone confirm with Holiday Inn TS if it is legit, or just a gimmick?

 

[silentg]

We own at Orange Lake and are members of Holiday Inn Club. We convert some of our point to IHG for hotel stays. We have never been told about a $39.00 dollar stay. We use points to stay at hotels and some offer less point with a cash amount. Like 10,000 points and 70 dollars.

This might be what your asking.
Silentg

 

[Tank]

I am a big fan of the Holiday Inn vacation club system and IHG Holiday Inn hotel system

No such thing as a $39 night

Best I have ever seen in 5000 point nights way off season using IHG. They are rare and will probably not find it when traveling much, I've never seen one in all my searches. Most normal stays are 30,000 to 50000 points by big city's 15,000 to 30,000 outside areas. Up to 70,000 points now.

As a member you get a few dollars off for a discount only.

You can get hotel points build up if you apply for the IHG card and use it with the Holiday Inn brand hotels without being a timeshare owner. Same rights as I have really. I also have found in most cases I am better off paying for the room vs what points cost me for that room. It cost me $690 for 60,000 points , they will offer a bonus buy giving extra points with the purchase at times up to 100% so if you bought right you could get 120,000 points for the $690

I would start with the IHG card, to joins you could get 80,000 points, membership cost $50 a year but you get a free hotel night stay for the membership. As you use the card it builds points for more stays.

Hotel stays is defiantly not a good reason to buy into the HIVC system.

Finding a " fantastic owner" to rent from like you have is pretty clutch especially if you can plan ahead. I rent a few myself and this is most important in being able to fulfill a request. You already built trust.

I have found owning more points is easier to make plans than when I had only a couple weeks worth.

Good luck
Dave

 

[iwanttoflyaway]

I am a big fan of the Holiday Inn vacation club system and IHG Holiday Inn hotel system

No such thing as a $39 night

Best I have ever seen in 5000 point nights way off season using IHG. They are rare and will probably not find it when traveling much, I've never seen one in all my searches. Most normal stays are 30,000 to 50000 points by big city's 15,000 to 30,000 outside areas. Up to 70,000 points now.

As a member you get a few dollars off for a discount only.

You can get hotel points build up if you apply for the IHG card and use it with the Holiday Inn brand hotels without being a timeshare owner. Same rights as I have really. I also have found in most cases I am better off paying for the room vs what points cost me for that room. It cost me $690 for 60,000 points , they will offer a bonus buy giving extra points with the purchase at times up to 100% so if you bought right you could get 120,000 points for the $690

I would start with the IHG card, to joins you could get 80,000 points, membership cost $50 a year but you get a free hotel night stay for the membership. As you use the card it builds points for more stays.

Hotel stays is defiantly not a good reason to buy into the HIVC system.

Finding a " fantastic owner" to rent from like you have is pretty clutch especially if you can plan ahead. I rent a few myself and this is most important in being able to fulfill a request. You already built trust.

I have found owning more points is easier to make plans than when I had only a couple weeks worth.

Good luck
Dave

You can buy IHG points for ~. 6c each just as a guy off the street - I've frequently done so in the past. Those 5000pt nights you mention are certainly rare - IHG actually just changed up that program and now offers three tiers of discounted awards at 5k, 10k, and 15k. It's still better to see if you can make a trip around them (Google 'IHG point breaks' - they're released every couple/few months and worthwhile destinations book up fast) but they can work pretty well for road trips. I rarely if ever find them in a destination I was going to visit for some other reason. I did once get a Denver property during Great American Beer Fest, but the location was definitely suboptimal.

I know nothing at all about HIVC points, but I'm very familiar with IHG points. You can redeem them for a good value - even a couple of cents apiece - but since you can buy them with cash for .6c each, they're never actually worth more than that.

 

[MichaelS]

I Priceline specials and get really good rates most of the time for hotels. I have a friend who likes to use choice hotels and eventually gets some free nights. But he also pays a good bit more per room than I do. the last time we both needed a room for the same function (church function) he spent 120+ tax using the choice system, and I spent around 54+tax for a similar quality room. The only downside is not knowing for sure because I end up using the express deals option (as long as I have a rating to go off). All these hotel rewards clubs end up having you spend a lot more to get a free room than just shopping around online.

 

[silentg]

We used our IHG points to stay at Crowne Plaza in London and Rome. We pared the stays with vacation packages and timeshare stays. We found this a good value for us as we travel to timeshares and get a few extra nights at IHG resorts too.
We leave some points in HIVC they are good for stays at other affiliated resorts besides Orange Lake.
We live in central Florida so we use the facilities at Orange Lake quite often too, golfing, restaurants and the water park there.
Silentg

 

[Tank]

But if you are going to compare what your able to get for $54 + tax non holiday inn, your talking about the benefit of owning a system to get you Holiday Inn brand rooms for what they said $39. not something comparable.

Sounds like you have a good grip on getting good deals. People actually loose money lots of times just to recoup some money they already paid out on these timeshares.

Your working the system with no hassles of ownership. You are able to utilize all the systems as it is. Way more opertunity using all systems

Sounds like a good gig to me!

 

[jackio]

We are heading to Chicago in September. It might be a popular weekend, but the rate is over $300 per room per night. The reward nights are 50,000 per, or 40,000 for a Holiday Inn Express. My 98000 points transfer in to 78,400 IHG points. For my 3 nights, I can use 75,000 and pay $297. I pay approx $650 in maintenance fees (not including club fee) so it would actually cost me $947, which is just about the same as if I purchased the rooms, plus I would earn more points if I use my IHG card.
I think converting the points is worth it if you have expiring points, or want to book rooms in an area that is very expensive, like San Francisco or Manhattan. I have never seen the 5000 point rooms, but I will be looking out for them. Thanks for the tip.

 

[jackio]

We are heading to Chicago in September. It might be a popular weekend, but the rate is over $300 per room per night. The reward nights are 50,000 per, or 40,000 for a Holiday Inn Express. My 98000 points transfer in to 78,400 IHG points. For my 3 nights, I can use 75,000 and pay $297. I pay approx $650 in maintenance fees (not including club fee) so it would actually cost me $947, which is just about the same as if I purchased the rooms, plus I would earn more points if I use my IHG card.
I think converting the points is worth it if you have expiring points, or want to book rooms in an area that is very expensive, like San Francisco or Manhattan. I have never seen the 5000 point rooms, but I will be looking out for them. Thanks for the tip.