Originally Posted by DaveInLA

I'm going to try to get my Big Win Q1 2014 and also want to redeem my IHG free certificate within the next several months. I'm going to take a short trip to Vegas in Feb or March and want to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. I think award or certificate stays don't count toward Big Win, but my plan is for a 2-3 night stay, and redeeming my free night for 1 of the nights, and pay for the other night(s). Should I book a single stay and use my certificate to pay for 1 night, or should I book 2 separate stays for this trip (1 free, 1 paid)?

The second question is regarding the brands. For Big Win, I need 4 brands. On the IHG website, the Palazzo and Venetian are both "Intercontinental Alliance Resorts". Will this count as a regular Intercontinental hotel? Will it count as an IHG brand at all? I don't know what "alliance" means in this situation.