Chase Ultimate Rewards has launched its latest hotel transfer promotion, offering an impressive-sounding 80% bonus when transferring points to IHG One Rewards through October 22, 2025. While the percentage bonus appears generous, this promotion highlights the importance of understanding point values rather than just focusing on bonus percentages.
The limited three-week window for this promotion creates urgency, but rushing into transfers without proper value analysis could result in significant opportunity costs. Unlike airline transfer bonuses that often provide clear value, hotel point transfers require careful mathematical evaluation to determine if they make financial sense.
This IHG promotion serves as an excellent case study in why bigger bonus percentages don’t always translate to better deals. Let’s examine the economics behind this offer and explore why your Chase points might be better used elsewhere, even with an 80% bonus attached.
The Chase to IHG transfer bonus transforms the standard 1:1 transfer ratio into a more attractive 1,000:1,800 ratio through October 22, 2025. This means every 1,000 Ultimate Rewards points becomes 1,800 IHG One Rewards points, representing the substantial 80% increase that gives this promotion its headline appeal.
Key promotion details include:
Chase typically offers IHG transfer bonuses 2-3 times annually, with bonuses ranging from 50-100%. The current 80% bonus sits in the middle of this historical range, making it neither exceptional nor disappointing from a frequency perspective.
The fundamental issue with this transfer bonus lies in the significant value gap between Chase Ultimate Rewards and IHG One Rewards points. Recent redemption data shows Chase points averaging 1.97 cents in value per point, while IHG points typically provide only 0.68 cents per point.
Even with the 80% bonus, you’re essentially trading premium currency for budget currency. The math works out to approximately 1.22 cents in IHG value per Chase point transferred (0.68 × 1.8), which represents a significant value loss compared to other redemption options available to Chase cardholders.
This value disparity exists because:
Chase Ultimate Rewards cardholders have access to several redemption methods that consistently outperform IHG transfers, even with the 80% bonus. The Chase Travel Portal provides guaranteed value that often exceeds what you’d achieve through IHG point transfers.
Chase Travel Portal redemption values include:
These guaranteed redemption rates make it difficult to justify IHG transfers under most circumstances, as you’d need to consistently achieve exceptional IHG redemption values to match what’s readily available through other channels.
Rather than transferring valuable Chase points, consider IHG’s co-branded credit cards for building your hotel point balance. These cards offer substantial welcome bonuses that provide better value than point transfers.
Current IHG credit card offers include:
These welcome bonuses provide more IHG points than most travelers would ever transfer from Chase, while also offering ongoing earning rates and elite status benefits that enhance the overall value proposition.
IHG regularly offers point purchase promotions at rates around 0.5 cents per point, sometimes with additional bonus points included. These direct purchases often provide better value than transferring Chase points, even with the 80% bonus factored in.
When IHG runs purchase promotions, you might buy points at effective rates of 0.4-0.45 cents each, making cash purchases significantly more attractive than sacrificing premium transferable points for hotel currency.
While generally not recommended, a few specific scenarios could justify taking advantage of this transfer bonus:
Even in these scenarios, carefully calculate the opportunity cost of using Chase points versus alternative redemption methods before committing to transfers.
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