Jun 24, 2014, 2:19 am
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 IHG®Rewards 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)
Sep 14, 2014, 12:11 pm
#616
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 4,431
Nothing to stop you from (probably in this order)
1)Open another NEW wife IHG account
2)Update existing Reservation to change the IHG @Rewards account number to newer wifes account number
You can always modify/cancel reservations online as "nor logged in" by providing a)Reservation #Number b)Family Name of booker
(If unable to change online to new wifes account number, hotel can change during checkin)
3)Sign up wifes new account number to Nights Promo
I don't think there is any delete account option, but if created + dormant, IHG won't use it to penalise your wifes other new account.
1)Open another NEW wife IHG account
2)Update existing Reservation to change the IHG @Rewards account number to newer wifes account number
You can always modify/cancel reservations online as "nor logged in" by providing a)Reservation #Number b)Family Name of booker
(If unable to change online to new wifes account number, hotel can change during checkin)
3)Sign up wifes new account number to Nights Promo
I don't think there is any delete account option, but if created + dormant, IHG won't use it to penalise your wifes other new account.
Sep 14, 2014, 1:08 pm
#617
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: UK
Posts: 11,969
I notice that LoyaltyLobby has picked up in the latest T&C changes that registering for targeted codes not explicitly sent to you will now result in account suspension.
http://loyaltylobby.com/2014/09/11/i...ember-10-2014/
http://loyaltylobby.com/2014/09/11/i...ember-10-2014/
The penalty is clearer, but it would be better for both them and their members if they simply added the process in their IT that enabled targeted offers to only be used for whom they were targeted. That seems like a reasonable approach if they feel this to be so important that they will close someones account who unwittingly falls fowl of this.
Sep 14, 2014, 2:52 pm
#618
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,600
Regardless, anyone using codes not obtained directly from IHG cannot try to argue that it is not a breach of the terms
Sep 14, 2014, 4:43 pm
#619
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
As such the fact that booking is viaApp remains associated with booking and and app credit is still allocated.
Sep 15, 2014, 12:20 am
#620
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 4,431
I see you're RA...How sure are you about this process? Can someone else confirm that this is accurate?
Sep 15, 2014, 1:23 am
#621
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: LUX
Programs: AF/KL Plat for Life, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Accor Diamond, Avis PC, Hertz PC
Posts: 327
What scubaccr is saying makes sense and is perfectly consistent with what is required: changing the IHG number doesn't change the booking number and your booking will still have been coming from the app, which seems to satisfy the requirements of the T&Cs.
For the IT App flagging, log-in and pass question, I am afraid nobody will have this level of knowledge without working for IHG IT services.
Just be ready to make your case on the phone if your stay doesn't post as app-booked.
On a sidenote and without targeting any post in particular, I find the perfect balance of utter recklessness and extreme paranoia displayed along this thread marvelously entrancing
For the IT App flagging, log-in and pass question, I am afraid nobody will have this level of knowledge without working for IHG IT services.
Just be ready to make your case on the phone if your stay doesn't post as app-booked.
On a sidenote and without targeting any post in particular, I find the perfect balance of utter recklessness and extreme paranoia displayed along this thread marvelously entrancing
Basically, you're saying that transferring the reservation to another IHG account will keep the reservation number the same, and that the reservation number will remain linked to an App booking-- even though it was booked from a different IHG log in than the one it is now assigned to?
I see you're RA...How sure are you about this process? Can someone else confirm that this is accurate?
I see you're RA...How sure are you about this process? Can someone else confirm that this is accurate?
Sep 15, 2014, 12:15 pm
#622
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
Basically, you're saying that transferring the reservation to another IHG account will keep the reservation number the same, and that the reservation number will remain linked to an App booking-- even though it was booked from a different IHG log in than the one it is now assigned to?
I see you're RA...How sure are you about this process? Can someone else confirm that this is accurate?
I see you're RA...How sure are you about this process? Can someone else confirm that this is accurate?
All that hapens when "correcting" IHG Member-number on checkin is to alter the IHG membership account to which that reservations stay credit is posted on checkout.
Sep 16, 2014, 9:32 am
#623
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 4,431
The reservation is not being altered at all and remains as originally reserved online and created.... Same res-number , same dates, same rates per night, same booking terms etc etc.
All that hapens when "correcting" IHG Member-number on checkin is to alter the IHG membership account to which that reservations stay credit is posted on checkout.
All that hapens when "correcting" IHG Member-number on checkin is to alter the IHG membership account to which that reservations stay credit is posted on checkout.
Sep 16, 2014, 9:37 am
#624
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: IHG, RC, HH, AA, QF, UA, Aeroplan
Posts: 2,690
I called the hotel manager to see if he would refund the fare, and not surprisingly, he was reluctant to do so. I explained the situation very briefly, and he said he could easily transfer the res to the new IHG account number like you said. It still shows it was booked via app. However, when I logged in to the IHG accounts, the upcoming reservation is still showing in the old account, not the new one. I called the hotel to for reservation info, and sure enough, it is linked to the new account. The stay is on 9/27. I'm thinking of contacting IHG in a few days if it doesn't switch to the new log-in upcoming stays. Or should I expect it to make it to the new account after the stay is complete?
Sep 16, 2014, 1:00 pm
#625
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
I called the hotel manager to see if he would refund the fare, and not surprisingly, he was reluctant to do so. I explained the situation very briefly, and he said he could easily transfer the res to the new IHG account number like you said. It still shows it was booked via app. However, when I logged in to the IHG accounts, the upcoming reservation is still showing in the old account, not the new one. I called the hotel to for reservation info, and sure enough, it is linked to the new account. The stay is on 9/27. I'm thinking of contacting IHG in a few days if it doesn't switch to the new log-in upcoming stays. Or should I expect it to make it to the new account after the stay is complete?
Contacting IHG is best avoided, IHG Cust Svcs will see 2x brand new accounts for same person , one primed with non-targetted promos, just not worth it when you have no need to contact IHG
Sep 16, 2014, 1:18 pm
#626
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: ARN
Programs: BAEC Gold, TK*Elite+, EBD, FBG, EKS, IHG Royal Ambassador
Posts: 768
I recently opened a new IHG account for my wife to take advantage of Into the Nights promo, and like a fool, signed her up for a few promo codes. I think only 2 of 12 or so were accepted. I wish I could just open a new account for her now and start over, but I've already booked a non-refundable advance purchase stay with her account. What should I do now? My options are
1. wait and see,
2. Try to cancel the booking and then create a new IHG account
3 contact IHG and ask to have promo codes removed from account. A commenter on a blog did this by writing to IHG. He was told that they couldn't remove the codes and would let it slide this time.
1. wait and see,
2. Try to cancel the booking and then create a new IHG account
3 contact IHG and ask to have promo codes removed from account. A commenter on a blog did this by writing to IHG. He was told that they couldn't remove the codes and would let it slide this time.
Sorry, bad joke.
Sep 16, 2014, 1:31 pm
#627
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 4,431
It is registered acct number at checkout time that counts. Just make sure to check wifes new ihg number is on stay at checkin (and checkout)
Contacting IHG is best avoided, IHG Cust Svcs will see 2x brand new accounts for same person , one primed with non-targetted promos, just not worth it when you have no need to contact IHG
Contacting IHG is best avoided, IHG Cust Svcs will see 2x brand new accounts for same person , one primed with non-targetted promos, just not worth it when you have no need to contact IHG
Sep 17, 2014, 2:08 am
#628
FlyerTalk Evangelist & Ambassador: China
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: DEN
Programs: DL DM/MM, UA 1K, AA Exp, HH Dia, WOH Glob, IHG Plat, Marriott Gold, NA EE, Hertz PC
Posts: 17,423
Sep 19, 2014, 8:43 am
#629
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 5
Just read 42 pages of this! I signed up for the IHG card last month and did the spend to get the 80k points. First thing I did was google "promo code IHG" and got 3 (anniversary bonus offer, new member bonus promotion, and new stay bonus) out of the bunch I tried. Now I got 80k points in my account and a pre-paid booking next week.
I'm worried after my stay they will close my account
I wish there was a way to delete the codes. I guess I'll just wait and see.
I'm worried after my stay they will close my account
I wish there was a way to delete the codes. I guess I'll just wait and see.
Last edited by marvd00d; Sep 19, 2014 at 8:48 am
Sep 20, 2014, 9:35 am
#630
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 117
Wrong thread
Last edited by notahappycamper; Sep 20, 2014 at 10:29 am Reason: wrong thread