As a member of IHG (International Hotels Group) and owners of their credit card, Lisa and I have about 100,000 points between us. With redemptions for free overnight stays around 25k – 40k, that is good for about four free nights at the low end. However, every quarter IHG releases their PointBreaks promotion where certain hotels in their portfolio are discounted to only 5,000 points per night. So conceivably, we could stretch our 100k points into twenty free hotel stays. Of course, the hotels are usually lower end properties in rural, far-off areas, and the availability is limited and runs out very quickly. However, we have gotten lucky in the past and were able to use two 5,000 point nights on our recent trip to Savannah, saving us at least $200. And we were also able to book the promotion in Eugene for two nights for the James Taylor concert, again saving us at least $200. I write this post tonight because the next batch of IHG PointBreaks should be released sometime this week, for stays November 1st – January 31st. Since Lisa and I have a week of winter break still open, plus some weekends, we are hopeful that we can find a property here in Oregon or Washington that we can take advantage of. With the Holiday Inn brand, Candlewood Suites and Staybridge Suites, there are a number of hotels that just might work and we’ll cross our fingers that we can score something good. Updates later this week to follow!