VegasGambler

Why not do both?

You are forgetting about the 50% bonus to earned points. As platinum, you get 15pts per dollar spent instead of 10. That is worth a lot more than the 500 bonus pts, unless if you are doing a lot of 1 night stay at cheap properties.

And free upgrades (not guaranteed, but frequent).

Well, someone who earns it through stays still gets the 50% bonus to earned points, the 500 bonus points, and the free upgrades when available.

Having said that, if someone stays there enough to earn plat, and they qualify for the card (live in the US and have sufficient credit), why would they NOT get the credit card? If nothing else, it's $50 per year for a free night at any IHG Hotel.

BlondeBomber

not second tier in IC program, second tier relative to other programs . . .

Baze

Ah, ok.

satman40

They always upgrade me just like they do at Hilton,

Now I wonder what type of a room I would get if I just walked in off the street.

Hilton does have a better breakfast.

patchan8984

I have no qualms with Platinum (even when I was RA, and now A). I think I qualify on base points, something like 120k this year (over the 60k plat req).

sdsearch

I meant second tier counting from the bottom. (Ie, it was no a value judgement phrase, it was a counting from the bottom up as opposed to "top tier" which counts from the top down. My whole point was that comparing "top tier" between a two-elite-tier program like IHG and a three-elite-tier program like Hilton was unfair.)

At IHG, the first elite tier is Gold (Club is just membership, it's not an elite tier). The second elite tier is Platinum (at which you get a bit more points, but that's about it).

At Hilton, the first elite tier is Silver, the second elite tier is Gold (at which you get free breakfast at most brands worldwide).

At Marriott, the first elite tier is Silver, the second elite tier is Gold (at which you get lounge access or free breakfast at most brands worldwide).

sdsearch

I either do 1 night stays at cheap properties, or even more often I do award stays. Plus most of my stays are during promos, where I earn way more from the promo than from the "normal" earning. I guess that's why I forget about the 50% bonus.

But in any case, it's just more points. Blah. I already have so many points, I can go years between paid IHG stays (during Crack the Case or Big Win promos where my points increase a whole bunch again with just a few paid stays).

And free upgrades at HIE? Yes, I did get upgraded on a Staybridge stay this year (on a 1-night reward stay), but since I'm tending to stay at properties without much to upgrade to (because of the lack of a free breakfast or lounge access policy for elites at other properties, or because properties with nothing to upgrade to are the only ones in my price range), I tend not to see that many upgrades that I can notice (would I have gotten that particular room without an upgrade???).

VegasGambler

I stay at IHG properties very infrequently (which is why I love the credit card -- I can get status without having to be a frequent customer)

All my stays have been at HIX. I have certainly gotten some nice free upgrades. I always book the cheapest room. I have ended up in some rather large suites before. I can't remember if I have ever been refused for an upgrade. Probably I have (due to availability) but I have certainly never had a problem getting an upgrade when one was available.

I'm not saying that it is the greatest status in the world. All I'm saying is that Platinum + 10% rebate + 1 free night is a pretty sweet deal for $49 per year. I plan to use my free night at one of the ICs in Seoul next year (I'm taking a 2+ week trip) so that will save me around $250. While I agree with you that the free night + rebate are worth more than the platinum status, I see the platinum status as a nice little add-on. It's basically free, so I am not about to complain that it is not as good as some other statuses that are much harder to get.

htb

And that's exactly the problem. For everyone, who cannot apply for a $49 credit card, aquiring Platinum status is equally difficult than on the other chains. Either spend $6000 (60k points) or stay 50 nights (40 when fast-tracked). It's not really fair that butt-in-bed Platinums get poor recognition because IHG gives away Platinum status pretty much for free for getting a credit card. Especially in view of the fact that IHG just made it much more difficult to earn the status (most bonus points don't count any more).

HTB.

VegasGambler

I'm not quite sure what you mean by they "don't get recognition". Everyone gets everything that's specified in the terms. The main benefits are the bonus points and the upgrades when available.

I get the idea that most of the complaining comes from the fact that people expect automatic upgrades on every stay, but that's just not one of the benefits.

Are you saying that the benefits would be better if you couldn't get it just by signing up for a card? Maybe they would, but that's not clear to me at all. If this is just about getting free breakfast... I dunno. I've eaten the free breakfast at the HIX, and it's really not worth making a big deal out of. You are better off spending $7 at McDonald's for some mcmuffins and hash browns.

sdsearch

No, your "because" is totally wrong.

Here's how I know: The credit card giving status has existed for only a few years*. I remember how Platinum was before the credit card gave status, and it was exactly the same. There was no dimunition of benefits when the credit card started giving Platinum status. The benefits were just as poor when there was no status at all with the credit card.

However, there were other alternative for earning Platinum status back then, because back then all points from all sources (including all bonuses) counted toward status qualification, and there were threads in this forum of people competing to see how early in the year they could qualify for Platinum based on how many bonus points they stacked (this was also many years before IHG started terminating accounts for people stacking bonuses they were not targeted for).

The only dimunition in benefits came last year, as a so-called "enhancement" or "standardization": IHG told hotels to give Platinums 500 points at check-in, and as a result those hotels which had individually given free breakfast to Platinums before mostly stopped doing so. But again, this had nothing to do with how Platinum is earned, it had to do with IHG mandating one benefit so hotels taking away another. But: Even before that, it was a tiny fraction of hotels that gave Plats free breakfast, and so if you wanted that benefit, you'd have to research which hotels gave it and only stay at those.

*This thread from early 2012 documents the credit card first adding the Platinum Elite status benefit:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/inter...um-status.html

Maluku_Flyer

And sometimes you get a cookie and a bottle of water.

Not renewing this year, which also has a lot to do with IHG terminating people for using promo codes AND changing the T&Cs after the fact.

htb

I don't think so. It is correct that the benefits have been like that for years, but nobody really complained because it was so easy to get Platinum status within the first two months of the new year by signing up for promotions.

Now that attaining Platinum status is as difficult as with other chains, there is an expectation that recognition should be better as well. However, as long as IHG (or Chase) is pretty much paying customers (free night, 10% points back) to get Platinum status, I don't see the benefits to become any better.

The card is nice for those who are able to apply for it, of course. For all other Platinums it's a barrier on the path towards better recognition.

HTB.

Carel1

I agree, more platinum members make platinum membership less exclusive.

nacho

I don't agree, those members have to stay at ihg hotels in order to get the benefits. More members doesn't mean that they are using the hotels. I don't believe that half of all ihg members are platinum, for us who are not us/uk/china based we can't get a credit card to give us plat status.