One of the many perks of being an IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card holder is the free night award certificate. The award is given annually on your card-opening anniversary and must be used within a year of receipt. It’s valid at hotels costing up to 40,000 points a night. However you can add any number of points from your IHG Rewards account to redeem the free night award at hotels above the 40,000 point redemption limit.

Most years, I use the free night award to erase the cost of a night on an already planned hotel stay. That method has historically provided at least 3x the value of the $99 annual credit card fee. Last year it provided way more than that! In December of 2022, I added 30,000 IHG points to my free night award to stay in the Bungalow Suite at Casa Laguna Hotel & Spa, which had a cash price of $1,015 per night.

Unfortunately, this year I have no planned hotel stays before the expiration date of my award. What I do have are tickets for the Nate Bergatze comedy show in downtown Chicago in early November. So instead of saving money on a necessary hotel stay, I booked an optional one at the Kimpton Hotel Monaco Chicago.

If I didn’t have a free night award, Annie and I would’ve returned home after the show. Instead we’re going to turn the show into a two-day event by staying downtown and having some extra fun. We can drive down Saturday afternoon, have a nice dinner, enjoy the show and then do something fun Sunday morning.

Plus IHG is probably the most dog-friendly hotel chain in the U.S., so we can bring our golden doodle, Murray, along for the ride. This is IHG’s pet policy, taken directly from their website:

We invite you to bring your pet no matter their size, weight, or breed, all at no extra charge. If your pet fits through the door, we will welcome them in.
InterContinental Hotels Group

The Redemption

The cash price for that Saturday night at the Kimpton Hotel Monaco was $300, inclusive of taxes and fees. Conversely, I was able to use my free night award plus only 1,000 points to book the same room.

Bottom Line

Of course I wish I had an existing hotel reservation to use my free night award on. However, in the absence of that, I’m very excited about staying downtown on a Saturday night and having fun in Chicago! The Kimpton Hotel Monaco is in a terrific location, close to the Chicago Theatre and lots of other attractions. It’ll be a nice night out for Annie and I (and Murray) before winter sets in.