IHG HACKS | Credit Card BS Podcast Ep. 1 | Stanford and Berkeley Students Discuss Free Travel

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A UC Berkeley graduate and a Stanford student talk about the ways they are able to travel for free (or at least at significant discounts) by using their knowledge of credit card points and loyalty programs. Today's topic is IHG Hacks. IHG stands for Intercontinental Hotel Group and they own hotels across the planet all the way from ultra-luxury options like Six Senses to budget-friendly choices such as Holiday Inn Express.

Stanford student Sherwin Lai has over nine credit cards and has planned trips all over the world for himself and his family. Sherwin has visited world-class resorts such as Alila Ventana just by properly utilizing his knowledge of credit cards and loyalty programs.

UC Berkeley graduate Shaun Lane created a full college-level course on utilizing credit cards for ultra-cheap luxury travel. Students at Berkeley earned real units for taking this class and it be found at: creditcal.org/fullcourse


0:00 Intro
1:48 IHG One Status
5:49 IHG Ambassador Status
10:57 Unofficial Award 'Sales'
12:19 Dynamic Award Pricing
13:39 Buying IHG Points on Sale (Don't ever transfer)
15:58 Purchase Unlimited IHG Points at $0.006
19:25 Rebook When The Price Drops
21:23 Nonrefundable Rates Can Be More Expensive Than Refundable
21:55 Points are Fully Flexible
23:00 Credit Cards for Massively Discounted IHG Stays
29:58 Spend $40,000 to Get IHG Diamond
32:39 United Travel Bank $25 Credit
33:41 Stacking Both IHG Credit Cards
36:20 Amazing Trips Possible with IHG
39:42 People are Wasting Money by NOT Buying Points
42:52 IHG Does NOT Waive Resort Fees
46:25 Ranking of Hotel Loyalty Programs
47:15 Diamond Free Breakfast Benefit
48:16 Is Diamond Status Worth It
50:00 Milestone Rewards
53:49 Summary
54:32 Outro