Members can choose to earn either IHG Rewards Club points or airline miles for their stays. Stays at InterContinental Hotels & Resorts earn 2,000 points at properties outside the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Latin America and Caribbean or 10 points for every dollar spent on eligible charges within these locales. Stays at all other brands earn 10 points per dollar spent, except for Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites where members earn five points per dollar. Members earn 600 to 2,000 points per stay at ANA Hotels in Japan depending on the hotel, or members may opt for airline miles. Eligible charges include food and beverage, telephone, laundry and in-room movies charged to the member’s room.

If you enroll at the time of your first stay at any IHG-branded hotel worldwide, excluding ANA partner hotels, you’ll earn 1,000 points for the stay. Members also can collect points or miles for multiple hotel rooms (fewer than 10) in the U.S. provided the rooms are used in conjunction with the member’s stay at the same hotel and under the member’s hotel bill.

Members can earn additional points through partnerships including a co-branded credit card, car rentals, dining, cruises, retail, energy services, Diners Club, e-Rewards and e-Miles.

Through IHG Meeting Rewards, meeting planners can earn three points per dollar spent on qualifying meetings at over 3,800 hotels worldwide. Active meeting planners receive Gold Elite status when hosting one qualified meeting, or Platinum Elite status when hosting two or more in a calendar year.

As an IHG Rewards Club member, you can pay to join InterContinental Ambassador, a program that offers special benefits at InterContinental Hotels & Resorts. InterContinental Ambassadors can earn 20,000 IHG Rewards Club bonus points for every 15 qualifying nights at InterContinental Hotels & Resorts properties.

Award nights start at 10,000 points for Category 1 hotels, up to 50,000 points for Category 9 hotels. In the past, the points required for a redemption were tied to the brand, but that’s no longer the case. All-inclusive resorts require an additional 10,000 points.

PointBreaks awards offer a good value by requiring only 5,000 points per night. PointBreaks are available at select locations for a limited time. Find current offers at http://www.ihgrewardsclub.com/pointbreaks. Another way to save points is through Last-Minute Reward Nights. These are nights at select IHG properties offered at 50-percent fewer points during the first full weekend of each month. Find details at http://www.ihgrewardsclub.com/lastminuterewardnights. Additionally, limited-time Flash Sales offer award night discounts of 25 to 75 percent.

Points & Cash is another option, which allows members to redeem points from their account plus cash for a variety of awards. For hotel stays, members can purchase 5,000 points for $40 or 10,000 points for $70 to reach the total required for an award night.

IHG Rewards Club members also can take advantage of Hotels Anywhere awards with redemption rates starting at 10,000 points per night at thousands of competitor hotels. Our search for one night in a London hotel in May resulted in options from 25,000 points for a three-star hotel to 593,000 points for The Savoy.

You can use your points for an Any Hotel, Anywhere Prepaid MasterCard, which is a prepaid card valid for checkout at any lodging establishment that accepts MasterCard (35,000 points for $100 card).

You can use points or points plus cash for Flights Anywhere awards, starting at 20,000 points, on over 250 airlines worldwide. In most cases, you also can earn frequent flyer miles on these flights. Cars Anywhere allows members to use points for car rentals for as few as 5,000 points. Members can convert their IHG Club Rewards points to airline miles/points on more than 30 airlines, such as 10,000 IHG points for 2,000 miles in United MileagePlus, US Airways Dividend Miles, Lufthansa Miles & More, Delta SkyMiles and other programs.

Merchandise Rewards offer members the ability to turn their points, or points plus cash, into brand-name merchandise. For example, you can redeem 25,000 points for a cordless driver drill or 12,500 points plus $36. Members can redeem points for gift cards, such as 10,000 points for a $25 iTunes card, or for digital awards like music, e-books, software and games starting at 300 points.

IHG also offers Experience Rewards with options to spend points for exclusive experiences like a golf lesson with a pro or a picnic in a vineyard. And if you still can’t find what you wish for, an IHG Rewards Club Concierge can assist you in finding items like sporting event tickets or the latest electronic gadget, starting at 35,000 points.

IHG Meeting Rewards members can redeem their points for Meeting Credits—prepaid MasterCard cards valid toward future meetings.

Charitable members can donate points, starting at 2,500 points, to the IHG Shelter in a Storm Program established in 2011 to enable IHG hotels to help communities affected by disasters.

Members who choose to earn airline miles for IHG stays can earn them in over 45 frequent flyer programs. The amount earned per stay varies by airline, but for Aeromexico, Alaska, American, Delta, LAN, United and US Airways, the rate of earning is two miles per dollar spent on most IHG hotel stays. Missing from the list of airline partners is Southwest Rapid Rewards, JetBlue True Blue and Virgin America Elevate (Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia are both partners).

The IHG Rewards Club Credit Card is available to members in the U.S. The card currently offers 60,000 bonus points when spending $1,000 in the first three months, Platinum Elite status, annual free-night certificate upon card anniversary, up to five points per dollar spent at IHG hotels, two points per dollar at gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants and one point per dollar spent on all other purchases. There is an automatic point rebate of 10 percent when redeeming awards, even for PointBreaks awards, and there is no foreign transaction fee. There is no annual fee for the first year, and subsequent years are $49. Other cards are available for residents of Canada, the U.K. and Asia. The program does not offer a co-branded business card.

Members can earn points at participating IHG Rewards Club Dining establishments or when buying wine through Vinesse, flowers with FTD, Teleflora or 1-800-FLOWERS.com, shipping with FedEx, and various gift and retail items through IHG Rewards Club Shopping online. Members can earn points through IHG Rewards Club Cruises, starting at 3,000 points for cruises of one to five days, up to 20,000 points for cruises of 13 or more days.

Avis, Budget and Hertz are car rental partners and members earn 125 base points per rental day. Members earn 500 points for rides with Groundlink and also earn through e-Rewards and e-Miles. Members can transfer 1,250 Diners Club points for 1,500 IHG Rewards Club points. American Express Membership Rewards is not an IHG Rewards transfer partner.