HotelChatter

Flights in the U.S. will start at about 40,000 points. A round-trip flight from Dallas to Denver will cost 40,000 points plus $76 in cash. To us, that seems like an awful lot of points to use on a short trip, especially if you can find a sale going on at Southwest. New York to Las Vegas is 60,000 points plus $106 in cash which might be a more reasonable deal.

Some more flight examples? Chicago to Miami for 60,000 points and Atlanta to LA for 86,000 points.

And just so you know, the point-earning structure for IHG hotels works like this: You earn 10 points for every $1 you spend at a Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza or Hotel Indigo. You earn 5 points for every $1 you spend at Candlewood Suites and Staybridge Suites. At Intercontinental, you can earn 2,000 points per stay at qualifying room rates.

So if you've been skimping on your vacations and business trips all this time by staying at the Holiday Inn, then you may just have enough points to fly yourself on a dream vacation somewhere. But remember, the points don't cover the dreaded checked baggage fees.