Chase to IHG 80% Bonus: Kimpton Seafire for 39,000 Points? Buy Instead

Chase is adding 80% to IHG transfers through December 3, 2026, and the Kimpton Seafire in Grand Cayman really does price at 70,000 IHG points, or 39,000 Chase points, on three January dates where cash is $1,591 a night. The cheaper way: IHG's points sale, up to 100% bonus through 11:59 pm ET November 5, puts the same night under $400 while you keep the Chase points. IHG's own pages, with screenshots.

By Vamsi, RewardsGuru.club. Published November 1, 2026.

Read November 1, 2026 on IHG's own booking pages for the Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa (signed out), Chase's Sapphire Reserve and IHG Premier card pages, and Roame's transfer-bonus page for the Chase bonus, which sits behind a Chase login. Facts are as of November 1, 2026.

There is a reel going around tonight with one line: the Kimpton Seafire in Grand Cayman costs over $1,000 a night, and Chase's new 80% transfer bonus to IHG makes it 39,000 Chase points. We checked it on IHG's own site, and it is true. On January 3, 11 and 24, 2027 the resort shows reward nights at 70,000 points, which is 39,000 Chase points after the bonus, and the cash rate for January 3 to 6 is $1,591 a night. That is a real seat at a real price.

It is still the expensive way to pay for it. At our values, 39,000 Chase points are worth about $780. IHG is running a points sale through Thursday, November 5, with bonuses up to 100% on targeted accounts, and at the top tier 70,000 IHG points cost about $350. Buy the points, keep the Chase points, and the same night costs less than half as much in value. The rest of this article is the math, IHG's own screens, and the one card that cuts the price by another quarter.

The short version:

Roame is the tool we use to read transfer bonuses the banks keep behind a login. If you want it, our referral link with the code REWARDSGURUCLUB takes 10% off a plan, and we earn a referral. It does not change the bonus.

The claim, checked on IHG's site

We searched the Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa on ihg.com, signed out, on November 1. With the Points filter on, a January 15 to 18 search returned "Rooms are not available for Reward Nights on one or more of the selected dates" and a cash rate of $1,575 a night.

IHG's search for the Kimpton Seafire, January 15 to 18, 2027: no reward nights on those dates, cash from $1,575 a night

The "View available dates" calendar, set to a three-night stay, shows where the reward nights are: January 3, 11 and 24 at 70,000 points, with every other date in the month struck through.

IHG's reward-night calendar for the Kimpton Seafire, January 2027: 70K on January 3, 11 and 24, other dates unavailable

Searching January 3 to 6 directly gives the like-for-like pair. Reward Nights: an Essential Room at 70,000 points a night, with the footnote "Excludes 95 USD Amenity Fee per night. Excludes 12% Service Charge." Cash: from $1,591 a night, shown as $1,496 room plus $95 fees.

IHG's reward-night rate for the Kimpton Seafire Essential Room, January 3 to 6, 2027: 70,000 points a night, amenity fee and service charge excluded

IHG's cash rate for the Kimpton Seafire, January 3 to 6, 2027: from $1,591 a night

So the reel's number is right. 70,000 IHG points with an 80% bonus is 38,889 Chase points, rounded up to 39,000 because Chase transfers move in thousands. The reel's price is right too: $1,575 to $1,591 a night in January.

Why the transfer still loses at our values

We value a Chase Ultimate Rewards point at 2.0 cents and an IHG One Rewards point at 0.6 cents, and we publish both on our program pages. On those numbers, 39,000 Chase points are worth about $780 and 70,200 IHG points are worth about $421. A bare 80% bonus does not close that gap, which is why our transfer-bonus ledger has never called a Chase to IHG bonus a reason to transfer, and why this month's Capital One to Flying Blue bonus only worked with a priced seat behind it. A $1,591 night does close it: $1,591 for 39,000 points is about 4.1 cents per Chase point, twice our value. If the only two choices were pay cash or transfer, you transfer.

They are not the only two choices.

The cheaper way: IHG's points sale, through Thursday

IHG is selling points this week with a bonus that points blogs report at up to 100%, tiered by the amount bought (80%, 90% or 100%, with the top tier from 40,000 points) and targeted by account, through 11:59 pm Eastern on Thursday, November 5, 2026. At 100%, a point costs 0.5 cents, so 70,000 points cost about $350. At 90% they cost about $370, and at 80% about $390.

The offer screen inside your IHG One Rewards account is the fact; we could not read it signed out, and the terms above are what blogs reported on November 1. Check the bonus you are shown before you count on $350.

The comparison, one night at the Seafire in January:

How you pay What it costs you Our value of what you give up
Cash $1,591 plus 12% service $1,591
39,000 Chase points transferred at 1:1.8 39,000 Chase points, plus $95 amenity fee and 12% service about $780
70,000 IHG points bought in the sale about $350 to $390, plus $95 amenity fee and 12% service about $350 to $390

Buying the points beats transferring them by roughly $400 a night, and you keep 39,000 Chase points that still move to Hyatt at 1:1 any day of the year.

The quarter off: the IHG Premier card's fourth night

Chase's page for the IHG One Rewards Premier card, the $150 card we compared with the $350 Premier Select last month, says it plainly: "Redeem 3 Nights, Get 4th Night Free." The terms add that every fourth night is free on reward stays of four or more nights, and that the benefit does not apply to paid stays or Points & Cash bookings. The card's annual fee is $150.

Four Seafire nights at 70,000 points cost 210,000 points with the card instead of 280,000. Bought in the sale at the top tier, that is about $1,050 for four nights at a resort listing $1,591 a night, or about $262 a night. Transferred from Chase, it is 117,000 points, or 29,250 a night. The reel does not mention the card; it is the biggest lever in the stack.

The points purchase can pay for a welcome offer too

Chase's page for the IHG One Rewards Premier Select card, read November 1, shows "Earn 200,000 Bonus Points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening," plus 10,000 points for adding an authorized user, on a $350 annual fee. The $150 Premier shows 180,000 points after $3,000 in the same window. Neither offer carries an end date on Chase's pages today.

Here is how the sale and the offer fit together. Chase's offer terms say "purchases are when you, or an authorized user, use a card to make purchases of products and services," and that "balance transfers, cash advances, cash-like transactions" and "fees of any kind" do not count. A points purchase from IHG's points store is a product charged to the card, and it is not on that exclusion list, so the $1,050 of points for four Seafire nights counts as $1,050 of the $5,000 on a new Premier Select, or a third of the $3,000 on a new Premier. The welcome offer then lands 200,000 points, which is two more 70,000-point Seafire nights with 60,000 left over, or almost three, on top of the four nights you bought.

The catches on this leg are Chase's, not ours. The card is "not available to either (i) current cardmembers of this credit card" or previous cardmembers who received a new cardmember bonus on it within the last 24 months. The bonus posts "6 to 8 weeks" after you qualify, so it does not help a January booking made this week; it helps the next trip. And we have not run a points purchase through a brand-new IHG card ourselves, so check your first statement: if the charge posts as a purchase, it counts.

The status perk is real, and it needs enrollment

Chase's Sapphire Reserve page lists "complimentary IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite Status with your Sapphire Reserve card through December 31, 2027," activated by linking your IHG account on chase.com or in the Chase app, and only from enrollment forward. The IHG Premier card carries Gold Elite automatically. Neither status changes the points price.

The catches, in IHG's own words

How to do it, in order

  1. Search the dates on ihg.com with the Points filter on. If the Seafire shows 70,000, hold the dates in your head, not in a cart; reward nights are not held until booked.
  2. Open your IHG One Rewards account and read the points-sale offer. Note the bonus tier and the price for 70,000 points, or 210,000 if you are using a Premier card's fourth night.
  3. If the price is under about $780 for 70,000 points, buy the points and book. The points post to your account and the reward night books from there.
  4. If you are not shown the sale, or it is under 80%, the transfer is the fallback: send 39,000 Chase points at 1:1.8, wait for them to post, and book the same way. Do the transfer only after the search shows the night.
  5. Either way, enroll the Sapphire Reserve's IHG Platinum status before the stay, and do not count the amenity fee as waived until the booking screen says so.

Sources

Our point values: Chase Ultimate Rewards 2.0 cents, IHG One Rewards 0.6 cents, from our program pages, last reviewed May 19 and July 7, 2026.

Cover: AI-generated beach, not the resort.

Not financial advice. Terms apply.

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