Rocking the New IHG Big Win Promo

What happens when you don’t have hotel points?

You get more.

Seriously. IHG’s Big Win promo is the most underrated promo to date, and is a steady stream for points for us this quarter (and last quarter).

But perhaps one reason this promo doesn’t get the press it deserves is simply because it’s different for everyone. Each person must log in and view their customized promotion. Some people may get 100,000+ points after a few stays and others may get chump change for a ton of nights.

Still, in my opinion, people down play their own Big Win. On last quarter’s Big Win anyone who created a new account could get the default 50,000 point bonus after a few nights. And that’s on top of any other earnings from the IHG on Steroids tactic.

It was absolutely crazy to me that some would recommend a stupid tactic to buy 5,000 points for $40 but would then belittle the Big Win. I was able to earn points at about half that rate in Europe on paid stays. Right now I’m in Asia and should be able to do a lot less.

But the bummer of this quarter’s promotion is that the default bonus for new accounts has decreased a little. Yet, the requirement is insanely easy.

The default bonus is 34,000 points in 3 nights (on top of the steroids earnings).

Technically it’s possible in three nights if:

• 2 of those nights are Saturdays.
• 2 of those nights are at different Holiday Inn hotels.
• And 3 different brands.

But how can you do 2 different Holiday Inns and 3 different brands? As far as I know, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express both count as two different brands and completing the Holiday Inn stays. Although, when I look at the terms and conditions, it does specifically say that the Holiday Inn Express is a different brand but it doesn’t mention it as counting towards Holday Inn brands in general. So don’t count on it.

But even if it is two different Holiday Inn stays that don’t count “Express” brands, it’s still a possible 4 nights! It seems pretty easy to squeeze 70,000 points out of those 4 nights. Now how cheap can you do four nights?

So why would anyone earn their 70,000 points through buying points at $40 per 5,000 points? What’s cheaper; 4 nights at Holiday Inns or $560?

Another thing I should mention is that there seems to be some kind of bell curve for how good this bonus is. People who are full time IHGers and people who never stay at IHG got the least enticing bonuses. But people who stayed a few times (like Carrie and my Mom) got easy promotions with bonuses over 100,000 points. Total no brainers.

To show you how seriously I take this, you can see my spreadsheet. Although, if I’m honest, it doesn’t mean too much, as I have tons of spreadsheets and google docs. But I actually use this one!

Here I have it set up to quickly show me which one of the two of us should be checking in on this next stay. Who needs what and how many requirements can this next stay check off.

This month I’ll try to knock out most of the challenges. Honestly, it’s in hopes that the next IHG PointBreaks will be kind to us. Hopefully there will be something in SE Asia where we’re going anyways.

So the next few weeks will have some paid stays, including more expensive InterContinental hotels. But hopefully we’ll come out way ahead in a little bit. My hope is also only to use points on PointBreaks while in SE Asia. Hotels are cheap and there are a lot of opportunities. By not blowing my points on a few expensive hotels… I can hopefully enjoy a ton of expensive hotels. PointBreaks is a lot of luck and timing though. The last one wasn’t helpful to me at all, but here’s to hoping.

Basically you can ask yourself a couple of questions after looking at your Big Win.

1. Being conservative, how cheaply could I complete this promotion?
2. What will I redeem those points for, and how much will a night there cost me
3. And therefore how much will I spend per the set amount of points needed.

Also, what people fail to calculate is that I’d need a hotel anyways. So if you’re covering a need and earning points you’re effectively lowering the cost of earning.

Conclusion

Please at least look at your Big Win and read the post on Earning IHG Points on Steroids and IHG PointBreaks.