The Chase IHG transfer bonus fell from 100% to 70% at midnight on July 31, and it runs at that reduced rate through 11:59 PM ET on August 31, 2026. Every 1,000 Ultimate Rewards points now becomes 1,700 IHG One Rewards points instead of 2,000.
When we covered the 100% window, we told you that if you found yourself considering a transfer in August, the honest answer was that you probably should not. That verdict mostly holds, and the math below shows exactly how much worse the trade got. But “mostly” is doing real work in that sentence, because IHG prices awards dynamically and there is a narrow set of circumstances where 70% still clears every alternative use of a Chase point.
There is also a wrinkle this month that did not exist during the 100% window, and it makes the case against transferring considerably stronger for most people.
The Chase IHG Transfer Bonus at a Glance
The 70% bonus applies to transfers completed between 12:00 AM ET on July 31 and 11:59 PM ET on August 31, 2026. The minimum transfer is 1,000 Ultimate Rewards points, and transfers move in 1,000-point increments.
Two pieces of fine print carry over from the earlier window and still matter. First, base points typically land in your IHG account within hours, but Chase’s terms allow up to 7 days for the bonus portion to post. If you need the full 1,700 to book something, do not assume the whole balance appears at once. Second, transfers are one way and permanent. Once your Ultimate Rewards become IHG points, there is no reversal.
What IHG Points Are Actually Worth
IHG runs fully dynamic award pricing with no award chart, so an IHG point is worth whatever the spread between the cash rate and the points rate happens to be on your specific dates at your specific property. There is no program-wide answer.
There is, however, a floor. IHG sells points outright at 0.5 cents apiece during its recurring 100% buy points sales, and it has run six of these in 2026 alone. LoyaltyLobby reports the current sale runs through August 17, 2026, though we have not independently verified that on IHG’s site and these offers are frequently targeted, so log in and check what bonus your own account shows before treating 0.5 cents as a price available to you.
That 0.5 cent figure is the number that should govern this entire decision. You should never spend a more valuable currency to acquire points you can buy outright for half a cent.
The Math At 70%: When This Transfer Wins And When It Loses
Your baseline for Ultimate Rewards is 1 cent per point as cash back, guaranteed, with zero effort and zero risk. Any transfer landing below that is a losing trade by definition.
Start at the program floor. Transfer 1,000 Ultimate Rewards points and you receive 1,700 IHG points, which are worth $8.50 at the 0.5 cent purchase price. That is 0.85 cents per Chase point, and it is below the cash-back floor. Speculative transfers during this window are not a close call. They lose.
Now run real properties. The InterContinental New York Times Square can price as low as 55,000 points on nights when the cash rate sits near $291. At 70%, that costs 32,353 Ultimate Rewards, returning 0.90 cents per Chase point. Below cash back. Pay cash and keep your points.
The Kimpton® Seafire Resort + Spa in Grand Cayman is where the math turns. It prices fairly consistently at 70,000 points per night while the cash rate for the same room swings between roughly $600 and $1,400 across the year. At 70%, a night costs 41,177 Ultimate Rewards. On a $600 night that returns 1.46 cents per Chase point, which is fine but not compelling. On a $1,400 peak night the same transfer returns 3.40 cents per Chase point, which beats almost anything else you can do with Ultimate Rewards.
The entire difference between those two outcomes is the cash rate, not the points rate. That is the whole game with IHG.
One detail the table below does not capture: because transfers move in 1,000-point increments, you cannot transfer exactly 41,177 points. You would move 42,000 and end up with 71,400 IHG points, which drops the peak-night return from 3.40 to 3.33 cents per Chase point. Small, but it always cuts against you, never for you.
The Fourth Night Free Stack
If you hold the IHG One Rewards Premier® Credit Card, the IHG One Rewards Premier Business® Credit Card, or the IHG One Rewards Traveler® Credit Card, you get the fourth night free on award stays, and dynamic pricing means the free night can be the most expensive one in the stay.
Stack that on the Seafire scenario. Four peak nights at 70,000 points would normally run 280,000 points, but a cardholder pays 210,000. Through the 100% transfer bonus, that is 105,000 Ultimate Rewards for four nights that would cost $5,600 in cash at peak rates. That is 5.3 cents per Chase point. Even at $600 cash rates the stack returns 2.29 cents per point, which still beats the Reserve portal.
This stack is the single best use of this promotion, and it is only available if you already hold one of the IHG cards. Also remember that transferred points do not count toward elite status, so do not plan on this transfer moving you up a tier.
Who Should Skip This
Skip this transfer if you do not have a specific award already priced out on specific dates, because a speculative transfer at the program floor returns 0.85 cents per Chase point, which is worse than cash back with none of the risk.
Skip it if you are eligible for a 100% IHG buy points bonus and have room under the annual cap, because paying 0.5 cents in cash beats spending Chase points at 0.85 cents of implied value on nearly every single-night scenario in this post.
Skip it if your target property prices the way the Times Square example does, where the points rate tracks the cash rate closely and the math lands below your cash-back floor.
Skip it if you need points to book in the next few days, since the bonus portion can take a week to post. And skip it if you were hoping this would help with IHG status, because transferred points are not elite qualifying.
This one is for cardholders stacking the fourth night free on a dated, priced, verified peak-rate redemption. That is a genuinely small group, and if you are not in it, keep your Ultimate Rewards where they are flexible.
How to Transfer Chase Points to IHG
Log in to your Chase account, open the Ultimate Rewards portal for your card, and select the option to transfer points to travel partners. Choose IHG One Rewards, link your loyalty account if you have not already, and enter the amount in increments of 1,000. You must be enrolled in IHG One Rewards before you transfer, and you can join for free on IHG’s site if you are not a member yet. The base points typically land quickly, and the bonus points follow within 7 days.
Before you hit confirm, do the division one last time. Cash rate on your dates, divided by the Ultimate Rewards you are about to spend after the bonus. If that number does not comfortably beat what your card pays you through the portal, close the tab and keep your points where they are flexible.
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