When IHG acquired Kimpton back in 2014, the company announced that they would keep the Kimpton Karma Rewards program intact. They’ve kept true to their word. This has kept Kimpton fans happy but left IHG loyalists disappointed because it hasn’t been possible to redeem IHG points for Kimpton hotel says. Except, there are now several ways to redeem points for award stays at Kimpton Hotels:
Redeem IHG Points for Award Stays at Kimpton Hotels
Yes, it’s totally possible to redeem IHG points at Kimpton hotels. You just have to do it via Hotels Anywhere. I’ve written extensively about how Hotels Anywhere can save you points and cash. It can be a great option (and the only current way) to redeem IHG points for Kimpton hotel stays.
For those who are unfamiliar with this, Hotels Anywhere is basically IHG’s version of the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal. IHG Rewards Club members can usually redeem IHG points for Anywhere hotels at rate of less than 0.5 cents each. While that may not sound great, it often works out cheaper than redeeming points through IHG Rewards Club.
The great thing about IHG’s Hotels Anywhere portal is that points can be used for both IHG and non-IHG affiliated hotels. This means you can redeem IHG points for Kimpton hotel stays!
There are thousands of hotels in IHG’s Hotels Anywhere database and members must have at least 10,000 points in their accounts to be able to book a hotel stay. These hotels are then booked through various OTA’s, like Priceline, Expedia, and HotelsCombined.
While randomly searching rates in Chicago for February 21 – 23, I found the Kimpton Hotel Allegro for 40,000 IHG points per night. The hotel itself was going for about $150 per night including taxes. Clearly, that’s not the best use of IHG points but considering the Holiday Inn Chicago-Mart Plaza North and Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Chicago-Downtownrequire the same number of points, t he Kimpton Hotel Allegro is a much better alternative.
Redeem Arrival Miles for Award Stays at Kimpton Hotels
The easiest way to redeem points for Kimpton hotel stays is via the Barclay Arrival Plus card. Simply charge your stay to the card, redeem Arrival miles, and get a 5% travel redemption rebate. Since Arrival miles are earned at 2 miles per $1 spent, you’ll want to do the math to make sure this is the best option. Most of us earn our miles via manufactured spending, so I would take the cost of liquidating Visa gift cards into account.
Redeem Karma Rewards for Award Stays at Kimpton Hotels
Earning free nights via Kimpton Karma Rewards is a bit different than most other hotel rewards programs. Points are not awarded but members earn a free night after 7 stays or 20 nights. So while there are no points to redeem, it’s possible to redeem Arrival Miles for 7 paid Kimpton stays and earn an additional free night that way.
Redeem Ultimate Rewards for Award Stays at Kimpton Hotels
When stayed at the Kimpton Ink 48 in New York in January, I got a pretty terrific deal. The hotel was going for ~$180 per night or ~12,000 points through the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal. That’s a pretty awesome deal considering my other option was redeeming 25,000 points per night at one of the Hyatt hotels in the city.
Actually, the Hyatt Place Midtown was available for just 8,500 points through the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal due to ridiculously low paid rates.
But back to Kimpton: The Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal is a great place to redeem points for award stays at Kimpton hotels. Rates can be very reasonable (especially if you have a Sapphire Reserve card), Ultimate Rewards points are fairly easy to earn, and while you won’t receive elite night credit towards Karma Rewards status, you’ll still qualify for the $10 Raid the Minibar credit.
Final Thoughts
Are you earning points and miles via credit card spending? Take into account how much spending would be required to earn those points back. For example, if you book the Kimpton Ink 48 for just ~12,000 points per night like I did (for a stay that cost ~$180 per night), then your comparison would look like this:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve: Spend $12,000 on non-bonus categories or $4,000 on travel and dining.
- Chase Ink Plus: Spend $2,400 in the office supply store category.
- Barclay Arrival Plus: Spend $8,550 to earn 17,100 Arrival miles.
Do the math based on your point-earning habits, and you can get amazing value redeeming points for award stays at Kimpton hotels.
Which of these options have you utilized to redeem points for award stays at Kimpton hotels?
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