Last edit by: soitgoes
IHG Account Termination Fact Summary
1) IHG has been terminating accounts due to abuse since approximately 2010 (#244).
2) IHG account terminations happen suddenly and without warning. If your account is terminated, you will not be able to login. You will have to call customer service, who will either reinstate your account and warn you, or refer your case to another office, in which case your account is probably permamently closed.
3) No one except for IHG knows exactly what the trigger for account cancellation is. The reason given is usually excessive use of promo codes. In the past, it was thought that most of the people who got their accounts canceled was due to either selling points or excessive point break bookings, but it appears that mere registration of promo codes now can sometimes trigger a cancellation.
Who has gotten their account terminated?
(If you, or someone you know has got their account terminated, please list your username here, and reference the post you made on this thread).
bgmike (#1)
lcpteck (#5)
DavidAL - father - (#85)
Dolphinyong - friend - (#155)
Bakkie (#180)
Tim O'Brien (#187) reinstated
chongcao - good summary, esp. of events from flyertea forum (#244)
soitgoes (#262) deactivated temporarily; reactivated after phone call
travelismylife - brother inlaw - (#329)
Also, LoyaltyLobby has a number of data points in the comment thread.
FlyerTea (a Chinese site) also has a number of data points.
What do we know about terminations
1) The usual reason IHG gives is non-targeted promo code usage. We don't know which promo codes IHG considers invalid, although IHG told Bakke (#180), that he used a code that was supposed to be for platinum members when he was not.
2) Status does not matter. Gold members, Platinum members, even RAs have all had their account terminated.
3) Credit card does not matter. Some people terminated did not have the IHG Chase card, some did, for more than 3 years (#329).
4) Stay history does not matter. Some people had their accounts terminated before any stay, some had their accounts terminated after one stay that accrued many points, and some had a history of lot of paid stays.
5) Termination usually doesn't cause a loss of booked nights. Apparently, even though your points are gone, any nights reserved stay booked in the system.
6) Some account terminations are caused by calling customer service on incorrectly credited nights. A number of people who had their accounts terminated called in on a stay that posted as non-qualifying, only to have their account cancelled shortly thereafter.
IHG Terms and Conditions downloadable PDF, including:
1) IHG has been terminating accounts due to abuse since approximately 2010 (#244).
2) IHG account terminations happen suddenly and without warning. If your account is terminated, you will not be able to login. You will have to call customer service, who will either reinstate your account and warn you, or refer your case to another office, in which case your account is probably permamently closed.
3) No one except for IHG knows exactly what the trigger for account cancellation is. The reason given is usually excessive use of promo codes. In the past, it was thought that most of the people who got their accounts canceled was due to either selling points or excessive point break bookings, but it appears that mere registration of promo codes now can sometimes trigger a cancellation.
Who has gotten their account terminated?
(If you, or someone you know has got their account terminated, please list your username here, and reference the post you made on this thread).
bgmike (#1)
lcpteck (#5)
DavidAL - father - (#85)
Dolphinyong - friend - (#155)
Bakkie (#180)
Tim O'Brien (#187) reinstated
chongcao - good summary, esp. of events from flyertea forum (#244)
soitgoes (#262) deactivated temporarily; reactivated after phone call
travelismylife - brother inlaw - (#329)
Also, LoyaltyLobby has a number of data points in the comment thread.
FlyerTea (a Chinese site) also has a number of data points.
What do we know about terminations
1) The usual reason IHG gives is non-targeted promo code usage. We don't know which promo codes IHG considers invalid, although IHG told Bakke (#180), that he used a code that was supposed to be for platinum members when he was not.
2) Status does not matter. Gold members, Platinum members, even RAs have all had their account terminated.
3) Credit card does not matter. Some people terminated did not have the IHG Chase card, some did, for more than 3 years (#329).
4) Stay history does not matter. Some people had their accounts terminated before any stay, some had their accounts terminated after one stay that accrued many points, and some had a history of lot of paid stays.
5) Termination usually doesn't cause a loss of booked nights. Apparently, even though your points are gone, any nights reserved stay booked in the system.
6) Some account terminations are caused by calling customer service on incorrectly credited nights. A number of people who had their accounts terminated called in on a stay that posted as non-qualifying, only to have their account cancelled shortly thereafter.
IHG Terms and Conditions downloadable PDF, including:
4. Membership Cancellation. SCH reserves the right to cancel any IHGRewards Club membership and revoke any and all unredeemed IHG Rewards Club points collected by any member for reasons that include, but are not limited to: 1) violation of these Terms and Conditions; 2) misrepresentation of any information or any misuse of this Program; 3) violation of any national, state or local law or regulation in connection with the use of membership privileges; 4) failure to pay for hotel charges; 5) a check to a participating hotel brand that is returned for insufficient funds or is invalid for any reason; 6) commission of fraud or abuse involving any portion of this Program; 7) more than one active account per member; or 8) physical, verbal, or written abuse of hotel or IHG personnel; or 9) action, in any other way, to the detriment of the Program or any of its alliances; all as may be determined by SCH in its sole discretion.
IHG Account Terminated (after registering for several promotion codes)
#121
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Auckland NZ
Programs: SQ TPPS, EK Gold, IHG RA, Marriott Gold Hyatt Diamond, HHonors Gold, UA Premier Gold, TG Silver
Posts: 1,092
It's easy to resort to "heavy" terms like ethics, but you haven't explained your reasoning. It's not about agreeing to disagree. There aren't two sides to this. IHG is not behaving unethically.
Last edited by Wan1dap; Jun 6, 2014 at 8:36 pm
#122
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,720
Whether or not IHG is acting wrongly, shouldn't those who post these codes post a warning, as well, that if you did not receive these codes via e-mail, you run the risk of having your account terminated if you use them?
#123
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Of course they should. But, that doesn't absolve individuals of their own duty to check out the codes. Needless to say, OP didn't pick up the phone and ask IHG. Likely because he knew the answer.
#124
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: ORD
Programs: AA Ex Plat, IHG Platinum, Marriott Gold, Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 54
very rarely and not by terminating accounts - it is done in indirect way like closing unprofitable stores or decreasing certain marketing
terminating accounts of supposedly unprofitable clients without a very strong case of program violation is an invite to PR and possibly legal disaster
terminating accounts of supposedly unprofitable clients without a very strong case of program violation is an invite to PR and possibly legal disaster
#125
Join Date: Aug 2005
Programs: UA*G(1K), PC Diamond Amb, Marriott Titanium, Accor Platinum
Posts: 4,664
HTB.
#126
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: AA EXP (owe), BA Silver (ows), AB Silver (owr), WN A+/CP, IHG Spire AMB, Avis First
Posts: 1,414
So abandon this silly view of 'targeted promotions' and 'fraud' already. It seems like IHG thinks promo codes found online just fine.
#127
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Amsterdam, Asia, UK
Programs: IHG RA (Spire), HH Diamond, MR Platinum, SQ Gold, KLM Gold, BAEC Gold
Posts: 5,072
1. if code was not provided directly first hand to you by IHG or an IHG branded hotel, then one can have absolutely no expectation whatsoever that you are entitled to use that code.
2. and yes you can check out if you are allowed to use code, you simply ring/email IHG helpdesk .... OH WAIT , you know the answer already to that question so you won't do that check !
3. you can opt to
a)use blogged codes you were not directly given, and take ownership of
said risk to your IHG account
b)decide to play safe and first ask IHG for permission to use each code
c)be happy with the normal IHG points earning opportunities and the low ratio of stays/nights to free award nights needed.
That said I agree historically IHG were happy for IHGers to sign for all known codes, I just think too many people are opening multiple accounts to stay one night, grab 25-30K bonus points, and redeem against PB's.
I would think IHG IT software is now checking for duplicate accounts, comparing names/addresses/CC's of all accounts against other accounts, possibly checking just non/low profit accounts initially. IHG may further decide to increase checks of registered addresses in countries where such abuse is more frequent, eg apparrently China at start of April PB's.
Should be easy to see if an IHG account books PB's at different hotels for the same night(s) and occupies both rooms. A few such instances may be valid bookings, but the majority not.
#128
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: HEL
Programs: AY, SK, TK
Posts: 7,581
Just curious about the speculation on whether IHG takes under radar those accounts which are not profitable to them. What is actually a profitable account?
I can see some people (who stay A LOT, whether Royal Ambassadors or other) posting here many many BRGs and sweet upgrades + club access and this and that, which makes me think. How profitable are these heavy-users for IHG in the end then? Savvy people know how to get the most out of the least money spent.
I assume a rookie who "don't know/care how to play the game" pays rack rate 150€ stays, say, 15 times a year with no upgrades no nothing - compare to a travel hacker who stays, say 50, but with numerous BRGs and double-upgrades, free minibars, club etc. + other requests and tricks. Those stays must be costly to IHG?
I can see some people (who stay A LOT, whether Royal Ambassadors or other) posting here many many BRGs and sweet upgrades + club access and this and that, which makes me think. How profitable are these heavy-users for IHG in the end then? Savvy people know how to get the most out of the least money spent.
I assume a rookie who "don't know/care how to play the game" pays rack rate 150€ stays, say, 15 times a year with no upgrades no nothing - compare to a travel hacker who stays, say 50, but with numerous BRGs and double-upgrades, free minibars, club etc. + other requests and tricks. Those stays must be costly to IHG?
#129
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Bargara Australia
Programs: VA, SQ, IHG, HH,ALL, Europcar
Posts: 1,530
I think many regular heavy hitters are very profitable for the Hotel Chain.
For instance on our last stay in MEL our welcome gift was 2 glasses of very good red wine in the wine bar, we went and had them, they were yummy, we ordered some snacks as well, and seconds on the wine. We would have most likely had the food and drinks from somewhere else - so that was $60 spend the hotel got that it would not have got otherwise.
Lots of business travellers, come in late at night, sleep, maybe eat breakfast, check out - and never use all the Club facilities and extras they get given.
Trust me - no business would be offering the extras if it was not profitable.
For instance on our last stay in MEL our welcome gift was 2 glasses of very good red wine in the wine bar, we went and had them, they were yummy, we ordered some snacks as well, and seconds on the wine. We would have most likely had the food and drinks from somewhere else - so that was $60 spend the hotel got that it would not have got otherwise.
Lots of business travellers, come in late at night, sleep, maybe eat breakfast, check out - and never use all the Club facilities and extras they get given.
Trust me - no business would be offering the extras if it was not profitable.
#130
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: AA EXP (owe), BA Silver (ows), AB Silver (owr), WN A+/CP, IHG Spire AMB, Avis First
Posts: 1,414
'head buried in the sand' comment from you on this subject. Why do so many people have a totally unjustified feeling of entitlement to freebies. Yes you are welcome to try codes, but don't scream at IHG for something that is a calculated risk decision to use a code not directly provided.
1. if code was not provided directly first hand to you by IHG or an IHG branded hotel, then one can have absolutely no expectation whatsoever that you are entitled to use that code.
2. and yes you can check out if you are allowed to use code, you simply ring/email IHG helpdesk .... OH WAIT , you know the answer already to that question so you won't do that check !
1. if code was not provided directly first hand to you by IHG or an IHG branded hotel, then one can have absolutely no expectation whatsoever that you are entitled to use that code.
2. and yes you can check out if you are allowed to use code, you simply ring/email IHG helpdesk .... OH WAIT , you know the answer already to that question so you won't do that check !
I don't think IHG even knows who is 'entitled' to use codes. My conclusion is that IF IHG is actually cancelling due to multiple promos then they are doing that ex post facto, after they discover accounts are unprofitable. But based on information from this thread, it seems that the criteria is really just unprofitability and multiple promos is a red herring.
#131
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 5,041
I'm an infrequent guest at IHG properties and, from memory, did not have many accrued points. I recently stayed at a property for work and before doing so, signed up for a number of active promos found on Gary Leff's blog. Not surprisingly, the system rejected me for several. The week following the stay, I tried logging into my account and was given a password error. This problem continued for a week so I emailed IHG support. The next correspondence I received was an email: "It has come to our attention that some of your recent IHG Rewards Club account activities are in violation of the terms and conditions of IHG Rewards Club. Such violations are considered fraudulent by IHG Rewards Club and IHG. As such we have terminated your IHG Rewards Club account, including forfeiture of all points accrued."
I called the customer care rep on the email and long-story short, my account has been terminated for 'signing up for offers that I was not targeted'. I was informed the decision is final. The rep was very straight to the point. I've found a couple of references to members having their accounts terminated online but scant information if they were able to have their account re-instated. Has anyone else had their account terminated? Were they able to have their accounts/points re-instated? Any suggestions?
Thanks for your help!
I called the customer care rep on the email and long-story short, my account has been terminated for 'signing up for offers that I was not targeted'. I was informed the decision is final. The rep was very straight to the point. I've found a couple of references to members having their accounts terminated online but scant information if they were able to have their account re-instated. Has anyone else had their account terminated? Were they able to have their accounts/points re-instated? Any suggestions?
Thanks for your help!
And the REAL reason that your account was closed was?
Perhaps that you had opened multiple accounts and sold pointbreaks nights.
#132
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: AA EXP (owe), BA Silver (ows), AB Silver (owr), WN A+/CP, IHG Spire AMB, Avis First
Posts: 1,414
Just curious about the speculation on whether IHG takes under radar those accounts which are not profitable to them. What is actually a profitable account?
I can see some people (who stay A LOT, whether Royal Ambassadors or other) posting here many many BRGs and sweet upgrades + club access and this and that, which makes me think. How profitable are these heavy-users for IHG in the end then? Savvy people know how to get the most out of the least money spent.
I assume a rookie who "don't know/care how to play the game" pays rack rate 150€ stays, say, 15 times a year with no upgrades no nothing - compare to a travel hacker who stays, say 50, but with numerous BRGs and double-upgrades, free minibars, club etc. + other requests and tricks. Those stays must be costly to IHG?
I can see some people (who stay A LOT, whether Royal Ambassadors or other) posting here many many BRGs and sweet upgrades + club access and this and that, which makes me think. How profitable are these heavy-users for IHG in the end then? Savvy people know how to get the most out of the least money spent.
I assume a rookie who "don't know/care how to play the game" pays rack rate 150€ stays, say, 15 times a year with no upgrades no nothing - compare to a travel hacker who stays, say 50, but with numerous BRGs and double-upgrades, free minibars, club etc. + other requests and tricks. Those stays must be costly to IHG?
I think many regular heavy hitters are very profitable for the Hotel Chain.
For instance on our last stay in MEL our welcome gift was 2 glasses of very good red wine in the wine bar, we went and had them, they were yummy, we ordered some snacks as well, and seconds on the wine. We would have most likely had the food and drinks from somewhere else - so that was $60 spend the hotel got that it would not have got otherwise.
Lots of business travellers, come in late at night, sleep, maybe eat breakfast, check out - and never use all the Club facilities and extras they get given.
Trust me - no business would be offering the extras if it was not profitable.
For instance on our last stay in MEL our welcome gift was 2 glasses of very good red wine in the wine bar, we went and had them, they were yummy, we ordered some snacks as well, and seconds on the wine. We would have most likely had the food and drinks from somewhere else - so that was $60 spend the hotel got that it would not have got otherwise.
Lots of business travellers, come in late at night, sleep, maybe eat breakfast, check out - and never use all the Club facilities and extras they get given.
Trust me - no business would be offering the extras if it was not profitable.
I think points only cost IHG a lot when they are redeemed not owned by them where the BAR is high and the occupancy is >90%. When the occupancy is <90% I think the rooms are almost free or very,very cheap for IHG.
In regards to per night profits, LoyaltyLobby has a post about how fat hotel margins are (http://loyaltylobby.com/2013/05/02/h...hotel-margins/) and Expedia's margins were 25%. My guess IHG's margins are a little better than that.
And we have no idea how much chase pays IHG for hotel signups. That $49 free night might not actually cost IHG much, if most people redeem at low occupancy hotels.
But anyway, the point is that it's pretty hard for us to know whether we are actually profitable or not. Sure, there are some example of those who seem to be clearly unprofitable, but I think many who think they are unprofitable might actually be profitable for IHG. And then again, there are some industries where the top 10% of customers make 90% of the revenue stream. But you can't attract those top 10% of customers unless you have break-even or slightly unprofitable customers that make all your properties sustainable. A complex system to be sure. Which I think makes it all the more important to protest against draconian policies like this...
Last edited by no2chem; Jun 7, 2014 at 1:01 am
#133
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: AA EXP (owe), BA Silver (ows), AB Silver (owr), WN A+/CP, IHG Spire AMB, Avis First
Posts: 1,414
He even answers your questions in his FIRST POST, where he explicitly says he doesn't have multiple accounts nor has he acted as a broker. Do you not believe him????
Come on, again we come down to accusing the guy. He seemed to be quite honest and forthcoming, and there were at least two other similar accounts in this thread. What purpose does your post serve, anyway? Do you feel that you really are adding to the discussion?
Sigh, I should stop feeding the trolls.
#134
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Auckland NZ
Programs: SQ TPPS, EK Gold, IHG RA, Marriott Gold Hyatt Diamond, HHonors Gold, UA Premier Gold, TG Silver
Posts: 1,092
#135
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: ARN
Programs: BAEC Gold, TK*Elite+, EBD, FBG, EKS, IHG Royal Ambassador
Posts: 768
I just have to say one thing: We know we have IHG representatives here in this forum. I find it interesting that they NEVER talk in any of these threads, This is not exactly the first thread about this subject...