For all the crap that’s over hyped, this should actually be hyped. So I’m going to appologize for doing two posts in a row on the topic… but I’m loving it.
I called and confirmed that the 2 free nights you earn can be used at any IHG property.
Not only that, but I “confirmed” that it’s virtually the same as the credit card night. Meaning, it’s a basic award night. I only mention this because the China Dreams promotion gave a free night that basically couldn’t be used anywhere. Then again, agents are only trained to do their job… When I asked about expiration, she asked her supervisor and the answer was, “you’ll be able to see when it shows up in your account.” Yea, thanks. My guess is one year.
And while each person is targeted with different promos, anyone can create an account and they’ll get a promo that’s 2 free nights in 3 cheap paid nights (plus 4,500 to 10,500 points (plus whatever points they’d earn anyways)).
Now think about that. Remember “Faster Free Nights” with Hyatt? One free night anywhere after two paid stays, with a max of 2 free nights from four paid stays. This is better. 2 free nights from a possible 3 paid stays.
And this promotion is even better in other ways. 1) More properties, and 2) more lower end properties to earn with. I have seen $50/night IHG properties. I actually stayed at one that was $42 after taxes in Bali. But I won’t assume anyone has access to these cheapos going forward.
Announcing my owning this promo
But first, before I tell you all how awesome this promo could be by showing examples… I’m going to announce my attempt to do this as cheaply as possible. I will go after the promo as smart as I can, show you how many points I earn and at what cost. And eventually I’ll be able to show how I use the points. This will allow us to see the math on both sides of the promotion and see how good a promo could be. Real examples, not just hypotheticals.
But I’ll run some numbers on hypotheticals and then get back to this.
The Promo Anyone Can Get
I’ve tested and tested and the basic promo is:
- 3 nights
- 2 saturdays
- 2 Holiday Inns
- Book 2 direct
- Download and book on the App
This will either get you:
- 4,500 points AND 50,000 points OR two free nights
- 10,500 points AND 50,000 points OR two free nights
Some other accounts that aren’t new get ones like:
- 40,000 points AND 15,000 points OR two free nights
Understand that you get points for completing goals and you get one big bonus for completing all the goals. The bonus for completing all the goals is also points OR you can take two free nights at any hotel. Even if you take the two free nights, you keep all the points that are bonuses for completing individual tasks.
Basically, I put everything into a spreadsheet and said, which account has what goals. Then made a separate area that said what do I have to do in order to do this in as few nights as possible. Knowing that a stay could qualify for multiple goals, a Holiday Inn stay on a Saturday booked direct, can knock out part of most of the goals. So the answer for a basic account is:
- 2 Holiday Inn Stays on a Saturday
- 1 free night (booked on the App)
OR
- 1 Holiday Inn Saturday
- 1 Holiday Inn
- 1 Saturday
Last time, Holiday Inn Express did not count as Holiday Inn (and vice versa). Also, I’m not sure but I’m thinking Holiday Inn resorts or anything that doesn’t say “Express” will be counted as a Holiday. As the terms in conditions talk about stays
“at InterContinental®, Crowne Plaza®, Hotel Indigo®, Holiday Inn®, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites®, EVENTM or HUALUXE TM hotels worldwide”
Running the Math
60,500 points (Into the Nights promo 10,500 + 50,000) + 4,500 points (on spend) + 10,000 points (on promos).
The basic account could yield 75,000 IHG points for $300 and 3 nights. Could be more or less points, and the cost could be more or less, but this is a good estimate.
75,000 points could get you 15 free nights with IHG PointBreaks. That’s $20 a night. And if you count the 3 paid nights, that’s $16.66 for the 18 nights.
But let’s assume you’re like me and while PointBreaks gets you more stays, the big stays bring up your average. My average redemption is about 9,000 points a night.
Therefore $300 would get you:
- 3 paid nights (to complete the promotion)
- 8 free nights
A realistic look is $300 getting you 9 nights, an average of $33.33 a night.
Taking the two free nights
Two scenarios: the first is that you’ve gotten the beginner promo (listed above), and the second is the one my wife got.
34,000 points + 16,000 points OR 2 free nights.
This is a no brainer, take the two free nights! If it’s 16,000 points or 2 free nights, even I, the cheapest of cheap, would certainly take the two free nights. Because it’s unrealistic to do better than 8,000 points a night with IHG. Totally possible, unrealistic for that to be your average. You can’t count on finding 5,000 point hotels. You can count on finding 10,000 to 50,000. In which case, 2 free nights is way better than 16,000 points.
The aspirational side of things
Again, when it’s 34,000 + 2 free nights… simply a no brainer. But even if it’s 4,500 or 10,500 + 2 free nights, it could still be a good deal.
Going back to a $300 cost, for some it may be worth it for the 2 free nights alone.
Here, I’m going through the map and unchecking all but the top couple categories. Then I’m going to run some prices. Here are some of the prices I saw:
- InterContinental Bora Bora = $1,000 a night
- InterContinental London Park Lane = $600
- InterContinental Sydney = $400 a night
- Intercontinental Paris Le Grand = $400 a night
- InterContinental Hong Kong = $300 a night
- InterContinental Tokyo = $300 a night
- InterContinental Davos = $300 – $600 a night
Now I’m not saying the value of your free night cert is $600 x2 because you’re going to the IC London. I don’t operate like that, and I’d say the value is whatever money you’d save. But try to find a hotel in downtown London for $150 a night. I checked Kayak’s 3 star hotels and sorted by distance (showing downtown hotels first) and they were $170 – $500 pre-tax on the first few pages.
Plus you get points on the stay, plus the fact that the stay you paid for has value.
Planning this out
Looking at stays coming up, I see a number of Holiday Inns in my path, and some on Saturdays… these are the things I need most. One for $76, one for $60, one for $125. I’m really truly thinking $100 is realistic for me.
With our promotions:
- I could easily earn 128,000 points
- and 4 free nights anywhere
- via 9 paid stays
- for $900
This is before promotions of other kinds, and I could very well earn more than 128,000 points.
But lets assume my average redemption is 9,000 points- that’s 14 free stays. This could potentially mean: 9 points stays, 4 free night certs, and 9 paid stays = 22 stays for $900. That’s $40 a night… which is higher than I typically go for, but understand that this is before all normal (and steroid) earnings. The sweet spot would be above and beyond earnings.
And why it’s worth it to me, even at $40/night
I’m confident I’ll come out even better than $40/night, which I guess is still fine because it’s less than we paid in rent when living in Charlottesville. But regardless this promotion provides something that I have yet to measure…
Free nights anywhere.
Because despite spending 24 straight nights in PointBreak hotels this month for 5,000 points a night, my average redemption is double that. Because as I said, 2 nights at the IC in Paris and 1 night at the IC in Davos for 50,000 each is 150,000 points. That’s more than I’m spending for 24 nights in IC hotels on PointBreaks.
And see, some people think I only go where it’s cheap. That’s not true. I love cheap places because those are generally more farflung, foreign and interesting places to me. But when we spent 6 months in Europe, we went everywhere. Paris, London, Rome, Vienna, Budapest, Berlin, Hamburg, Kiev, etc… It just happened to be that I went to Kiev when it was on PointBreaks. I have that flexibility to go where I want when I want. So when a place that intrigues me is cheap, I go during that time.
However, I still go where I want. And some of the places I like to go are expensive. I’ve been to Hong Kong maybe 7 times in the last two years and will be going again in November. And guess what, I love being downtown no matter where I am. And the IC (which is the best view in Hong Kong) is 50,000 points or $300.
What are we to do? Pay 50,000 points, $300, stay somewhere further away, or avoid Hong Kong. Well, every time we go we end up paying a ton of points. In the last two times we paid the IC on points and the Grand Hyatt on Points.
Wow. That was long winded.
All that to say, free nights have a higher value. I’m saving 50,000 points by using a free night cert.
Instead of avoiding Hong Kong, I can still go and still lower my rate.
What if?
I can easily complete a 60k promo with 3 stays, right? Let’s just focus on the promo numbers, 3 nights and the 60k bonus. I know I can find a $100/night hotel, but what do I do when I find a $50/night hotel I don’t need? Like I could stay with family, but man, they do live near a $50 hotel. Would it be worth staying there even though I don’t need to?
The question is the value of the paid nights.
$300 for 60,000 points + 3 needed nights.
$150 for 60,000 points + 0 needed nights.
The question is about when you need nights next. Do you have 3 stays coming up, and would you be able to get them for less than $50? If yes, then go ahead and complete a stay and take an unneeded vaca. But if you wouldn’t have made a stay in the first place, then you’re double paying.
My only problem is having enough free Saturdays in 2014.
Conclusion
I’m in love. This seriously could be the best hotel promotion ever. Yet, it’s not as straightforward as say “faster free nights” used to be.
Hyatt’s faster free nights got you 1 free night from 2 paid stays, or 2 free nights after 4 paid stays.
Club Carlson gave 50,000 points after 1 paid stay. My first go or two at the Club Carlson 50k promo (which started in early 2011) we completed it way before there was ever a buy-one-get-one with the credit card. If so that would have been the best ever.
As it is, Club Carlson is not as big, and their hotels aren’t as nice. In terms of actual value (free nights) it was just as good though.
But this IHG promo is the best.
10,000 points AND 2 free nights from 3 paid stays. Or Carrie’s account is 34,000 points AND 2 free nights from 3 paid stays. In terms of free night output, this is just as good as the Club Carlson promo (considering my average redemption is 9,000 points). And then consider that IHG has more than twice as many properties as Club Carlson and Hyatt combined.
You are claiming that a free night (reward night) booked on the app will count to satisfy the “download and book on the app” – it doesn’t have to be a qualifying stay? How do you know this? Please advise as this could be key for my completing this task. Thanks.
That’s not what I meant. It does indeed have to be a paid stay. Sorry for the confusion.
OK, thanks for the clarification. Would you know if points + cash counts, ? or is that not considered a qualifying stay?
Unfortunately that’s considered a points stay. You basically buy the points. So if you canceled, you’d get back no money and full points. Which is to say, it’s not qualifying.
Drew, In your math section you mention 10000 additional points from promos– what kind of promos? You also mention this is before steroids, are there any safe codes to use from your steroid strategy — ones that will not result in closure of ones account since one was not targeted for the codes did not receive them directly from IhG?
Well, I could have been indicating the points for completing the individual goals. You get points for completing small goals, and then one big bonus that’s points OR 2 free nights. Even if you take the free nights you get the points for the small goals.
I can not guarantee anything about targeted codes, but I’m certainly not worried about accounts being closed.
The variety of offers for different members seems to indicate that there will be winners and losers. Obviously, you qualify as one of the winners. My offer requires 6 nights, which makes the whole thing a lot less lucrative. As a mere platinum, this doesn’t really do much for me, but I will give IHG props for having some sort of promo, rather than none at all.
Offers that require 6 nights generally only require you to complete 5/6 or 6/7 goals. So you still may be able to do it in 6? Or are you saying, even considering that, it would require 6 nights.
Maybe you should create an account for your spouse, and get the promo I talked about for new accounts.
My Mother only has 3 goals – 8 nights, 2 international stays and 3 weekend stays. She must complete all 3. This is the worst offer in our family, but most of them are not any better – very few have choices to choose from and they all require around 7 or 8 nights.
Heck, there are some people on FT that require 54 nights! This is definitely YMMV.
Usually the ones that require higher number of nights don’t require you to complete all the goals. Obviously your mothers is an exception. But stays are over lapping, so she could do it in 8 nights (not 8+2+3).
But this promo more than any other, it’s true, YMMV. However, anyone create a new account for their spouse.
I’d need to complete 6 nights. the having the wife sign up for the promo is an excellent idea.
I have to complete 6 out of 7 and one of the 7 is to stay 10 nights!! Not such a great deal for me.
So do the 6 that don’t involve 10 nights.
I have a current IHG account that did not have a very good offer. I have never used the account, and it has no points. Would you foresee any problem creating a new account and giving it another go?
I see no problem. If I were to do it (not that I would do that), I’d probably use a different address and info. But if not, seriously would not not worry about it. Especially if you never use the account. It won’t look like your gaming them with running multiple accounts.
So the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites in Tucson, Arizona is $61.99 for Saturday. So if I stay 2 Saturdays then I don’t understand what is the requirement of the third booking?
Anywhere anytime. Just completing the 3 nights now.
@evthu – I think it’s worth the risk – maybe under the guise of a spouse, significant other, or family member?
@mike – Any other IHG stay would be fine. Seems like you have a pretty good rate there.
I was able to register 12 promo codes on my new account in just a few minutes of trying. Check the Flyertalk thread for ideas.
Holiday Inn and IHG are 4x through the Barclay Rewards Boost portal right now.
If that’s true I’m screwed screwed.
Sweet. Totally forgot. And I think through Mrrebates they are 5%. Thanks for the reminder, totally forgot.
does cash and points qualify, count for the promo ?
No. That would just be an award stay as when you do cash+points you just buy the points right away.
Drew, I posted in your other thread http://travelisfree.com/2014/08/11/overwater-bungalows-with-hotel-points/
But haven’t get a reply, maybe because it’s an old thread and you seldom check on it, so I will post it here in hoping you can help reply my question, thanks in advance!
Awesome info-graphic!! I am so amazed, it’s simple and easy to understand, very helpful! Do you learn about graphic design before? How long did it take for you to create the info-graphic?
Please pardon me but since I am new to hotel bookings, I hope you can help answer my questions:
1. What does it mean by “4 upgrades to overwater bungalow (ovb)?” does it mean that for example, if I am Hilton Gold status, when I booked standard room using points, then I can be automatically upgraded into ovb? if not, how?
2. Among all of these ovb, which one is your fave and you think the most easiest to redeem with points?
3. Looking at the properties under SPG chains, like Le Meridien Bora-bora and St Regis Bora-bora, the award night is very high, average of 100,000 points. How to easily get a starpoints to redeem enough points for 2 nights? even if by applying both SPG personal and business, each only offer 25k points so only get 50k points 🙁 what is the practical and easy way to get the remaining 150k starpoints?
Thanks John,
The 4 categories isn’t always completely relevant, it’s more a frame of reference.
1) With IHG, you can buy Ambassador status and that guarantees you a one category room upgrade. And therefore if it’s just a gap of 1 upgrade, that’s an overwater bungalow.
Otherwise it’s showing you how hopeful you are in your upgardes.
2) Well, right now you can book directly into the OVB at the IC Bora Bora. It’s 50,000 points THE most expensive IHG hotel. Plus you can use this Into the Nights promos free nights on it. However, the availability isn’t the best.
3) SPG for OVB is just a terrible waste of points. You’d spend a lifetime earning and blowem all in one night. Wouldn’t recommend it.
Thanks Drew, whew….almost blowing my starpoints! Have you wrote about how to maximize Amex SPG points and status? If so can you please share the link and if not, would you consider to write one, like an ultimate guide to SPG or something like that, since it would be useful for us newbie/beginners in this game who are not yet familiar on how to maximize the earning & redemption for Amex SPG. Since this is the most valuable points yet the hardest to earn out there, since Amex being strict (cannot MS-ing too hard on this or you will be targeted for FR, right).
My offer seems less attractive as it requires *eight* nights.
Complete 4 of 5 offers and earn 21,000 bonus points or 2 free nights:
-Stay 8 night(s) at any of IHG’s 4,700 hotels worldwide
-Book 1 stays using the Bonus Points Package with breakfast rate to earn more points faster.
-Download and sign in to the IHG App and book a stay.
-Stay at an EVEN® hotel in Norwalk, CT or Rockville, MD
-Apply here for the IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card
Looks pretty “meh”, right?
That looks awesome! You could do 4 with only one night if you stay in either of those places. And get the credit card.
Apply for the card, book a night at one of the two EVEN hotels using the app with the bonus points and breakfast rate. Less than $200 and you can get 2 free nights. Sounds amazing.
This is a one nighter! Book a bonus points package with breakast, via the app, at an even hotel and bam… done.
Is the EVEN hotel possible? If so it’s a great one.
“Apply for the card” is annoying as theres a better offer (unless it is the 80k). But I’m wondering if you could just forget your social and as long as you hit submit it goes through. It won’t be able to do a hard pull and chase will just say, “sorry nothing happened”.
Other wise you can do this in one night. Which is awesome.
Don’t try this at home, kiddies! Even if no one can prove you intentionally lied about your SS#, it’s still fraud. And the desired result here, a rejection— why is that desirable? The first question on the Chase online form is “Have you been rejected by Chase for credit in the last six months?” So you’re out of the game for that long.
I just got my first travel rewards card from Chase a month ago. I had no idea I was getting into a new hobby, but I stumbled onto Drew’s blog, and got bit by the bug.
I stupidly tried this trick last week. The minute I hit “Submit” I regretted it. The reply was “something went wrong. We’ll let you know by US Mail within 30 days.” So now I’m waiting for the mail worrying about all the possible damage that could be done to my credit rating, Chase standing, etc. Since I have the other card, Chase definitely knows who I am — all the information except the social matches.
The least negative result I now hope for is that they will “correct” my SSN, wait till my first payment on my new card posts, then approve me for the card I didn’t want, with no adverse affect on credit other than a hard pull. Then I just have to wait 2 or 3 months to apply for the card I really want, instead of six months or longer.
Well it worked out OK. They did “correct” my SSN and tried to pull a credit report but I happened to have a security freeze in effect. They sent me a letter asking me to unlock the freeze and call. I called and asked if I could cancel the application so I could apply for a different Chase card and they said, “No need. Already declined.” So the next day I unlocked the freeze and applied for the Sapphire Preferred and was approved immediately. Also checked my IHG account and they did give me points for applying. I got a little overeager as a newcomer to this game and will think twice before attempting tricky stuff in the future.
Drew, how do you receive your cards when you’re always travelling? I have this obstacle as well.
I swing back through every few months. I had 2 duffel bags waiting for me. But my dad is a hero. When ever he feels a card, he sets it in a box and when I talk to em on the phone I can ask for the number (which is all I need) or ask him to mail it to a hotel (every once in a while).
Thanks for the post! After your post yesterday, I checked and got the same promo as you. I don’t think it would be a problem for me to stay 3 nights locally for $250 or less. I kind of think it would be crazy for me NOT to do this. I was trying to explain to my husband about mattress runs and that it would be like getting a killer hotel room for $125 a night or many nights with pointbreaks (plus extra points!) This will really help him see the math. 🙂
Yea, I mean, if you would have been needing a place in London anyways, it’s a no brainer. And if PointBreaks is something that could be/typical is helpful, it’s a great way to stock up.
Just checked my husband’s account and he got the +10.5k offer. His was also broken up so complete 3 of 5 get 25k or 1 night, complete 5 of 5 for the full offer. We have a pending trip that includes some expensive places. (JFK-MXP-BUD-AMS-NRT) May sound familiar to you. 😉
Do you know if Holiday Inn Express counts towards the “Holiday Inn” requirement?
Unfortunately, no, they are two different brands via their terms and conditions. :-/
Drew, I know you’re getting so many questions…but when do you receive the 2 free nights? After you’ve completed all the tasks or after 12/31/14? Thanks so much.
After you’ve they’ve registered that you’ve completed all your tasks + a couple weeks.
Be careful – in past promos, HIX counts as a different brand than HI. I would carefully get IHG to verify in writing that HIX will count for HI before I booked a ton of those. Also, I’m not sure about Holiday Inn Resorts, whether those are considered a third brand.
HIX do not count as HI.
Not sure about the resorts either but someone said they saw t&cs that said it does count as HI. Too bad their t&cs are so buggy with me.
Any word on whether the free night has a 1 year expiration?
No, the only way we’ll ever know is after we get confirmation from someone who complete the tasks. Agents truly don’t know. Only the guy who programmed it.
Mine works out to two Sat nights and I need 1 next moth, so only need to do 1 mattress run (and have many choices for that).
The only thing that makes the less awesome than it could be is that I can only do it twice (once for me, once for spouse).
Sweet, that’s awesome.
Yea, I was thinking the same things… too bad there’s only two of us.
Thanks for bringing it to my attention, bust time of year for those of us with kids. I might have missed it!
Thank you for reading! Truly.
Very good Drew that you checked and are emphasizing the most valuable part of this promo, the two free nights option. (esp. if used at “aspirational” locations)
Good for you in being the first to catch this…. bravo. (and all the better you can illustrate it so well with your new IHG reward graphics)
We’ll aim to get four too. 😉
But as you suggest, IHG (as per usual) seems to be letting us down on key specifics….. One wonders if this sort of ambiguity is intentional, or the fruit of back office staff being scattered globally.
Best I can figure is that we’ll get these bonus rewards posted to our accounts either a. soon after we complete tasks, b. after promotional period ends (next year) or c., whenever IHG Philippines feels like it
Then too, the uncertainty about how long the free nights, once awarded, will be valid. Glad somebody told you verbally one year — after posting.
But here again, I seem to recall reading somewhere in t&c’s that it would only be for 60 days….. but once again, not finding that. Don’t think I dreamed it. It was a great concern when I saw it — now have to dig back through the IHG chaos to find it…. if it’s even still there.
To further the rant about the incompetence/chaos/imprecision of these IHG promos, from the printed T&C’s that show up from time to time, no where does it yet specify what the two free nights will constitute. Yes, it’s great you were told verbally by an un-named IHG rep that it means ANY IHG property.
If so, GREAT. Yet why the blazes couldn’t they just put that in writing?????
Last thing, has anyone yet been able to “unlock bonus offers” (which shows up for most of us after the tasks to complete/”consume”) More IHG ….. (deliberate?) sloppiness.
Found the 60 day reference, and my apologies, that applies to the time we’ll have to decide if we want the free nights, or the airline miles or the points:
“During registration members will be presented with a unique offer allowing them to win at least 2 Free Nights or 25,000 miles. Members will have the ability to choose award at time of completing the offer and must claim their reward by 60 days from the end of the campaign promotional period.”
ps, about leaving this “the guy who programs the computer,” therein precisely the gripe….. does anybody supervise/direct these back office types at IHG?
I know, take what’s given, listen…. (here) and run with it.
Ugh. San Diego never gets the cheap stays.
Just for reference, my account got this offer, fairly standard:
Book on the app
3 nights at any property
book 3 stays direct
2 saturdays
2 holiday inns
50,000 points or 2 nights.
ps, even now, when reading it in “black and white,” there’s a potential ambivalence….. is it saying members must “choose their award” (miles or nights) within sixty days, or is it saying members must “claim” (as in use) their award within the same period? I’m now presuming the former, but the terrible sentence structure leaves both interpretations as still plausible.
I got the same basic offer but I think I’ll try to get 1 free night + 1 25K points since it shows as two different award in my account (3 of 5 accomplished vs. 5 of 5). 1 free night will help with my stay in Tokyo next year (I already have one certificate from CC) and I’ll use the points to chase pointbreaks.
Thanks Drew. My offer is basically staying two Saturday nights at two Holiday Inns for earning 18,000 pts and 23,200 pts or 2 free nights. My questions is, how can we choose the final bonus between points and free nights? Is there an option to do that?
Hi Drew,
First, thanks for rocking your blog so hard lately. You’ve been on a tear and are now easily my favorite blogger.
I apologize if this was asked earlier, but I wasn’t able to find this answer in the T&Cs for the promo. Do you know what the expiration is on the Free Nights?
Hi Drew,
It seems both my boyfriend and I are unlucky as our offer are still not available. Since we both have spanking new accounts, would it be OK to assume we get the offer you tested so I can go ahead and book some cheap Saturday fares before they’re all snatched up ?
Also, someone on FT mentioned that he called and the CSA confirmed that HIX would count as a Holiday Inn stay – I guess there is no way to get a clear answer in writing? (Must admit I only scan read the T&C’s)
I contacted IHG in writing and they emailed back that Holiday Inn Express does not count toward that promo, but Holiday inn Resorts and club do. Exact wording:
Please be advised that ‘Change your view’ offer under Into the Nights Promotion will only considered any qualifying stays made at all Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Club Vacation and Holiday Inn Resort hotels. Hence, any stays made at Holiday Inn Express upon completing this offer will not be counted. We hope this clarifies your query.
Thanks! Now all I need is my actual to get started 🙂
Clicked the “Terms” button and in them there’s a clause that seems to say that the bonus points can instead be given as bonus miles if one chooses to earn miles instead of IHG pts.
That seems like a better payoff for the base points, no?
Haven’t seen you write about this aspect. Heck, haven’t seen anybody write about this…?
I got 2 offers of 25000pts or 1 nights to complete, but it doesn’t tell me what I am supposed to do. Any idea? Thank you Drew.
Alex, I got the same thing, 2 things that both say “complete 1 offer and get 25,000 points or 1 free night” then below that it has a bonus that is not revealed, but there is nothing else. Doesn’t tell me what I have to complete or what an offer is. I just emailed them to see what the deal is, no terms, no links, nothing.
Drew, any ideas?
I got a reply from IHG reward dept. They are aware of the problem, but no sure when the fix will correct that issue. I was advise to login and check from time to time.
I have an account with about 200,000 points in it. I got a lousy offer where I have to complete all tasks and one involves 5 stays at Holiday Inns. If I create a new account or two to get the more lucrative newbie offer, how much risk do you think I am taking regarding getting shutdown and losing my current 200,000 points? I remember reading about IHG shutting peoples accounts down and confiscating their points for shenanigans but do they really do that a lot? I think the two I remember are the survey that you could fill out multiple times, and using codes that were not valid for you.
Draw:
Interesting post!
My old account got an offer requiring at least 3 nights at Intercontinental brand. Not only hard to find but also expensive. Just register one new account for my wife. She got the same one as you: two Saturday nights at Holiday Inn. This is definitely worth of completing.
Do you know if the IHG account holder needs to be present to check in? I am think about paying nights for friends to complete this promotion in my account. Thank you.
I’m not very familiar with the IHG programme and I was wondering what the ” + 10,000 points (on promos)” is?
Thanks in advance!
Drew,
If I book separate reservations for Friday and Saturday night at the same Holiday Inn, are those two stays? Or does it count as one stay?
Hey Drew,
I think my promos great but not 100% sure!
16,400 points or 2 Free Night(s)
Image is here.
http://tinypic.com/r/307q8ph/8
From what I can tell, I just need to book 2 HIX’s on a Saturday with my IHG MC using the breakfast option. Am I reading this wrong? Seems too easy…
Found the snag, I knew it was too good to be true. Since HIX already serves breakfast we can’t book a breakfast option… So this will end up being way too expensive for us, we would need to book 4 nights.
Oh well 🙁
Hi Drew. This is my first ever comment, but I love your blog.
Do you think I could book to separate holiday Inns on the same Saturday? They are near each other, so I’d have no problem checking into each one and checking out of each one in person.
Hi, anyone know if AAA or Government Rate’s count towards these types of promotions? To clarify, I mean booking these rates directly off IHG site or app, not a 3rd party site.
The IHG promotion terms state, “points are not issued for Stays at the following reduced room rates (Non-Qualifying Room Rates or Non-Qualifying Stay): net wholesale individual and group rate, certain package rates, employee discount rate, friends and family rate, crew rate, special discounted contract rates, seasonal worker/crew rate, 50% travel club discount rate, travel industry discount rate, distressed passenger rate, IHG® Rewards Club Reward Nights/Airline Hotel Reward rate, most rates booked through most third party web sites, complimentary hotel Stays and any other rates not defined as a Qualifying Room Rate at IHG’s discretion. ”
The part that concerns me is the “IHG’s discretion”.
I typically use either the AAA or goverment rate (work for San Diego County) to get a better rate but don’t want to save a few $$ and not have the stay count towards the promotion. Thanks for any experience you may share.
I just read your initial post and see you mentioned AAA. Thanks. Still not sure about the government rate counting though. That question was also posed on MMS and Daraius responded as not knowing the answer to the gov’t rate but also confirmed AAA should count.
I answered this below for FWIW, I am eligible for and have booked gov’t rates for the past version of this promo and received bonuses.
Drew — did you see this yet, from John at LoyaltyLobby. He’s highlight some new T&C’s that appear to undermine a key premise of your post here, your “love” for this promotion:
http://loyaltylobby.com/2014/09/10/clarification-ihg-rewards-club-into-the-nights-award-night-expiry-availability/
Note especially this:
“The hotel rooms hotels specially provided for this promotion shall be determined at IHG’s discretion. Free Nights shall be redeemed on first-come and first-served basis. ”
at IHG’s discretion??? And after we the promotion is ended?
Are you still as hyped up, “in love” with it now? I suspect the source you called didn’t have this t&c at their disposal. Anyway you can reconcile these two? (I’d like to believe your original enthusiasm is still warranted, but not so sure now…. )
In light of johns recent up dated terms and conditions for ihg threatening account closure for using codes that one was not personally targetted for and my strong preference not to have my account closed, would it be correct to say that the total value of this promo for me might be 50000 points plus whatever points I get in my case for three nights at total 300 spend. So If I value the points at half a cent each, I am getting 250 dollars plus value for 300 spend? Is my arithmetic correct, am I missing some easy additional points, 3 unneeded stays in Bangkok in my case.
I have became obsessed with this deal looking for cheap hotel nights I can do a quick bed run to for the bonus points with my offer. One concern I have before booking that I see others have posed is if government rate is valid for the into the night promotion? Would be great if anyone found out the answer to this!
Louise–FWIW, I (am eligible for and ) have booked govt rates in past promotions and always been credited with the bonuses for them.
Drew–do you know if there is some way to double dip a reservation through a portal when making a booking through a phone app? I’m guessing not but figure it can’t hurt to ask.
Also, any luck with getting an option to notify users of new discussion board posts? Pretty please? 🙂
Drew:
Has your bonus offer changed as others have reported on FT? How are you handling the IHG change in offer terms? Anything we can do? My original offer said to book once via the App and now says 4 times.
Thanks