Latest InterContinental PointBreaks Offer Disappoints

Earlier this week, Priority Club Rewards published its list of PointBreaks hotels available for winter stays for fewer reward points.

Program members who have become accustomed to great deals on stays at InterContinental family hotels are likely to be underwhelmed by this latest PointBreaks iteration.

Offer Details

Through February 28, Priority Club Rewards members can stay at 55 hotels—31 in the U.S., 24 outside the country—for just 5,000 points per night.

As always with PointBreaks stays, the caveat: Rooms are limited, and it’s first-come, first-served. So review the list and book ASAP to avoid disappointment.

Deal or No Deal

Priority Club award nights are normally priced at between 10,000 and 40,000 points, so a hotel room night for 5,000 points is a deal. Period.

It’s only a great deal, however, if there are plenty of participating hotels to choose from, and if there’s adequate time to take advantage of the discounted rate.

But with just 55 participating hotels—out of InterContinental’s network of more than 4,500 properties—this PointBreaks offering is pretty slim pickings.

And a five-week window to book and stay at the discounted rate further detracts from the offer’s viability.

For comparison, the previous PointBreaks offer was in place for stays during the entire fourth quarter of 2010, and encompassed 125 hotels.

Why did Priority Club so drastically scale back such a valuable and popular feature of the program? And why did they do it now, during a perennially slow travel period, when hotels have a surplus of empty rooms?

Priority Club members can only wonder, and hope that this is a temporary aberration.

Reader Reality Check

Have you taken advantage of past PointBreaks opportunities?

Will you take advantage of this one?

This article originally appeared on FrequentFlier.com.