Nov 2, 2015, 8:31 am
Last edit by: Suite Disposition
ALL THE URLS AND LINKS IN YOUR EMAILS ARE THE SAME. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO "REPLAY" A GIVEN EMAIL.
Plays are linked to your IHG account number and your IHG link you receive in the email. The links contained are unique to each IHG account number and cannot be "shared".
If you didn't receive all your plays and think that HW might have gotten your email address incorrect, then simply click the link again in your email.
Their email is [email protected].
Quantity of emails received does not always equal quantity of plays available. Emails received does imply that you have plays available.
If you click on your email links and receive a screen with the below message then you do not have plays available.
We love your enthusiasm!
However, you do not have any instant win chances to use.
Complete a qualified stay before February 15 to earn another chance to win.
Prizes:
Chances of winning:
500 pts 1:1.18 or 84.75% (This does not mean you will be guaranteed 500 pts per play)
1000 Pts 1:14.29 or 6.7%
2000 Pts 1:28.57 or 3.5%
5000 Pts 1:42.86 or 2.33%
Other prizes or no prizes: depends on number of entries
5B Prizes= 1,000, 2000, 5,000, $50 GC & Free night
BE SURE TO REGISTER BEFORE SENDING IN ENTRIES!
Leave Surprises here:
500 points (x1098)
1000 points (x42)
2000 points (x26)
5000 points (x17)
$50 Prepaid MasterCard (x13)
1 free night at any IHG hotel (x6)
$2500 Gilt.com GC (x1)
Sony Package (x1)
No Win (x7)
Official Rules
Logistics of the Mail-In Option:
Index Cards Okay? YES (I used 3x5 blank index cards and they were accepted)
Lined Index Cards Okay? Yes, of course, enough with the index cards!
OK to mail cards not inside an envelope? Not according to the rules, which state they must be inside envelopes, one card per envelope
Need to write title before each line? NO
Need second phone number? NO
Middle name required? NO (Left mine out, still got emails. If it's part of your account info, maybe leave it.)
Printed Destination Address Okay? YES (I used printed a bunch of sticker labels and put them on envelopes, accepted)
Printed Return Address Okay? YES (I used an ink stamp)
No Return Address Okay? Yes
Envelope size? Doesn't seem to matter
Non-IHG MasterCard Okay? YES
Debit MasterCard Okay? YES (I used an Ally Bank issued Debit MasterCard)
Use somebody else's MasterCard first 6 digits? YES
There have been reports of mail-in entry emails being sent out on 12/4 and 12/11, and the emails came in rapid succession. This is indicative of HelloWorld batching these out.
Initially batches of emails sent out was on Fridays but as of of 1/6/16 appears to be Wednesdays
#1 Batch=12/4
#2 Batch= 12/11
#3 Batch= 12/18
#4 Batch(xmas)= 12/23
#5 Batch(New Years Day)=12/30
#6 Batch= 1/6
#7 Batch= 1/13
#8 Batch= 1/18-1/24 (emails appear to be arriving daily)
#9 Batch= 2/3-2/5
As of 1/5, points have been posting within a week(ish) of playing and getting confirmation that you've won points.
Points will be paid out without additional email
Some points have been distributed (probably in batches on either Monday or Tuesday)
Points Payout Batches:
#1 12/28 & 12/29--500 pts, 1000pts, 2,000 & 5,000pts (plays before 12/25)
#2 1/4 & 1/5 (plays 12/25-12/30?)
#3 1/11(free nights & pts) & 1/12 (plays from 12/31-1/8)
#4 1/15 (limited due to MLK holiday on 1/18) (for plays from until 1/14)
#5 1/19 (plays from 1/15 til?)
#6 1/29 (plays until 1/24)
#7 2/3 (plays until 1/29)
#8 2/5 (plays until 1/31?)
Has anyone received email with instructions on how to redeem prize? YES ($50 MC redemption instructions received 12/28)
STATUS:
--As of 1/19/16 10:00 am et(estimated) all plays were showing up as no wins. . The play site seems to be undergoing maintenance. Best not to use up the majority of your plays until things smooth out.
--As of 2:45 pm ET on 1/19 play site appears to be back up.
--as of 4:17pm ET on 1/19 500 point plays seems to be working again. No 5B prizes seem to be won at this time
--As of 6pm ET on 1/19 emails being received for wins during the morning hours of 1/19 where it stated no win after select elevator.
--As of 2:30pm EST on 1/20 still reports of nearly 100% 500 pt wins only. Best not to play alot of plays unless you only want 500 pt wins
--As of 8:00 pm EST on 1/20 multiple reports of 5B prizes being won again. Seems to be back to normal.
--As of 2:00 pm EST on 1/21 reports of $50, 2k, 5k, 1k pt wins (unsure of free night wins)
--As of 6:00 pm est on 1/22 everything seems to be working as usual(although very few mentions of free night)
--As of 2:00 pm EST on 1/25 seems like daily emails have been sent out since 1/18 until now.
--As of 6pm EST on 1/29 reports of emails being received from mailed in entries from around mid January. So turnaround for new mailings appear to be about 1 week.
--As of 5pm EST on 2/2 appears that emails have stopped arriving daily with many reporting last email received on 1/29.
Plays are linked to your IHG account number and your IHG link you receive in the email. The links contained are unique to each IHG account number and cannot be "shared".
If you didn't receive all your plays and think that HW might have gotten your email address incorrect, then simply click the link again in your email.
Their email is [email protected].
Quantity of emails received does not always equal quantity of plays available. Emails received does imply that you have plays available.
If you click on your email links and receive a screen with the below message then you do not have plays available.
We love your enthusiasm!
However, you do not have any instant win chances to use.
Complete a qualified stay before February 15 to earn another chance to win.
Prizes:
Chances of winning:
500 pts 1:1.18 or 84.75% (This does not mean you will be guaranteed 500 pts per play)
1000 Pts 1:14.29 or 6.7%
2000 Pts 1:28.57 or 3.5%
5000 Pts 1:42.86 or 2.33%
Other prizes or no prizes: depends on number of entries
5B Prizes= 1,000, 2000, 5,000, $50 GC & Free night
BE SURE TO REGISTER BEFORE SENDING IN ENTRIES!
Leave Surprises here:
500 points (x1098)
1000 points (x42)
2000 points (x26)
5000 points (x17)
$50 Prepaid MasterCard (x13)
1 free night at any IHG hotel (x6)
$2500 Gilt.com GC (x1)
Sony Package (x1)
No Win (x7)
Official Rules
Logistics of the Mail-In Option:
Index Cards Okay? YES (I used 3x5 blank index cards and they were accepted)
Lined Index Cards Okay? Yes, of course, enough with the index cards!
OK to mail cards not inside an envelope? Not according to the rules, which state they must be inside envelopes, one card per envelope
Need to write title before each line? NO
Need second phone number? NO
Middle name required? NO (Left mine out, still got emails. If it's part of your account info, maybe leave it.)
Printed Destination Address Okay? YES (I used printed a bunch of sticker labels and put them on envelopes, accepted)
Printed Return Address Okay? YES (I used an ink stamp)
No Return Address Okay? Yes
Envelope size? Doesn't seem to matter
Non-IHG MasterCard Okay? YES
Debit MasterCard Okay? YES (I used an Ally Bank issued Debit MasterCard)
Use somebody else's MasterCard first 6 digits? YES
There have been reports of mail-in entry emails being sent out on 12/4 and 12/11, and the emails came in rapid succession. This is indicative of HelloWorld batching these out.
Initially batches of emails sent out was on Fridays but as of of 1/6/16 appears to be Wednesdays
#1 Batch=12/4
#2 Batch= 12/11
#3 Batch= 12/18
#4 Batch(xmas)= 12/23
#5 Batch(New Years Day)=12/30
#6 Batch= 1/6
#7 Batch= 1/13
#8 Batch= 1/18-1/24 (emails appear to be arriving daily)
#9 Batch= 2/3-2/5
As of 1/5, points have been posting within a week(ish) of playing and getting confirmation that you've won points.
Points will be paid out without additional email
Some points have been distributed (probably in batches on either Monday or Tuesday)
Points Payout Batches:
#1 12/28 & 12/29--500 pts, 1000pts, 2,000 & 5,000pts (plays before 12/25)
#2 1/4 & 1/5 (plays 12/25-12/30?)
#3 1/11(free nights & pts) & 1/12 (plays from 12/31-1/8)
#4 1/15 (limited due to MLK holiday on 1/18) (for plays from until 1/14)
#5 1/19 (plays from 1/15 til?)
#6 1/29 (plays until 1/24)
#7 2/3 (plays until 1/29)
#8 2/5 (plays until 1/31?)
Has anyone received email with instructions on how to redeem prize? YES ($50 MC redemption instructions received 12/28)
STATUS:
--As of 1/19/16 10:00 am et(estimated) all plays were showing up as no wins. . The play site seems to be undergoing maintenance. Best not to use up the majority of your plays until things smooth out.
--As of 2:45 pm ET on 1/19 play site appears to be back up.
--as of 4:17pm ET on 1/19 500 point plays seems to be working again. No 5B prizes seem to be won at this time
--As of 6pm ET on 1/19 emails being received for wins during the morning hours of 1/19 where it stated no win after select elevator.
--As of 2:30pm EST on 1/20 still reports of nearly 100% 500 pt wins only. Best not to play alot of plays unless you only want 500 pt wins
--As of 8:00 pm EST on 1/20 multiple reports of 5B prizes being won again. Seems to be back to normal.
--As of 2:00 pm EST on 1/21 reports of $50, 2k, 5k, 1k pt wins (unsure of free night wins)
--As of 6:00 pm est on 1/22 everything seems to be working as usual(although very few mentions of free night)
--As of 2:00 pm EST on 1/25 seems like daily emails have been sent out since 1/18 until now.
--As of 6pm EST on 1/29 reports of emails being received from mailed in entries from around mid January. So turnaround for new mailings appear to be about 1 week.
--As of 5pm EST on 2/2 appears that emails have stopped arriving daily with many reporting last email received on 1/29.
Priceless Surprises Promotion
Nov 25, 2015, 10:37 am
#151
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2001
Location: MSY; 2-time FT Fantasy Football Champ, now in recovery.
Programs: AA lifetime GLD; UA Silver; Marriott LTTE; IHG Plat,
Posts: 14,518
Nov 25, 2015, 5:59 pm
#153
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 12
Similarly, I checked out last Wednesday and got an e-mail congratulating me on 1k Priceless points but they haven't actually posted. Haven't heard anything from my 12 letters yet either.
Nov 25, 2015, 6:46 pm
#154
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: SFO
Programs: OZ Diamond/*G, IHG Diamond Amb, Hilton Gold
Posts: 2,239
The first stay isn't part of the game. Everyone gets 1000 pts for first stay.
Nov 26, 2015, 5:13 am
#155
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: MN, USA
Posts: 246
What did the Instant Win Game email say?
Nov 26, 2015, 5:37 am
#156
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 8,460
The subject says: Priceless Surprises Mail Entry - Game Prize
First 6 digits were not from IHG Mastercard. Just a Citi AA Mastercard
Nov 26, 2015, 11:34 am
#157
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: MN, USA
Posts: 246
Maybe I'm being paranoid (probably am), but I sure hope the body of the email doesn't state something like "your mail entry has been disqualified to receive a game prize due to" this and/or this and/or this....
Unless the vendor isn't following IHG's contest rules, I don't think reading the email itself will reveal your prize. The rules state "Once you receive an email inviting you to participate in the Game, click on the link found within the email and follow the links and instructions to play the Game." But to each his/her own.
I hope we start seeing other data points very soon. It seems strange to have only 1 so far when it appears that several FT'ers dumped a lot into mailboxes on 11/15-11/16. I'm just holding off on doing another 70+ until I have an idea of which type of entries have been successful (since there are several potential "technicalities" that the vendor could be nitpicky about if they wanted to).
Nov 26, 2015, 3:54 pm
#158
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2003
Location: AA Plat / UA NOTHING / Alaska 75K / Hyatt Diamond / SPG LT Plat / Marriott Gold / Priority Club Plat / Hertz Pres
Posts: 24,707
Nov 26, 2015, 4:40 pm
#159
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Oregon, USA
Programs: Hilton Honors
Posts: 162
I'm torn between "seems silly" and "seems like b.s." although I'm leaning toward the latter. Until proven otherwise.
Nov 26, 2015, 4:49 pm
#160
Join Date: Jul 2012
Programs: Delta Gold, Alaska Gold 75K, LATAM Black
Posts: 3,393
Quote:
Originally Posted by fireworksboy
Exactly, saving an email to open later seems kind of silly to me. Esp considering other folks here are waiting for data points to rely on. But to each their own....
I'm torn between "seems silly" and "seems like b.s." although I'm leaning toward the latter. Until proven otherwise.
Originally Posted by fireworksboy
Exactly, saving an email to open later seems kind of silly to me. Esp considering other folks here are waiting for data points to rely on. But to each their own....
I'm torn between "seems silly" and "seems like b.s." although I'm leaning toward the latter. Until proven otherwise.
Nov 26, 2015, 6:34 pm
#161
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: 718
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, IHG Diamond
Posts: 967
I mailed my entries on 11/16 monday. Have yet to receive any email from ihg. Used ihg cc #
Nov 27, 2015, 12:43 am
#162
Join Date: Sep 2011
Programs: Virgin Atlantic Silver, IHG Diamond, Bonvoy Gold, Hilton Diamond, AA Platinum Pro
Posts: 1,386
Actually, the subject of that email makes it sound like you won a prize. I'd open it if I were you. If it's a "big prize" there may be action required on your part to claim it and not be disqualified.
Nov 27, 2015, 7:51 am
#163
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 286
I'm pretty sure you wouldn't find that out until you click through the website.
Nov 27, 2015, 2:04 pm
#164
Join Date: May 2009
Location: HNL
Programs: HA, DL, UA, PC Gold, A/club Plat, HH Gold, Hyatt Pl
Posts: 1,461
So I also mailed mine out (10) on 11/14..and another 10 on 11/19. Nothing yet...Will wait to mail out rest until I hear anything..
Nov 27, 2015, 8:31 pm
#165
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 394
I had been thinking that these early entries by mail, sending in bulk, were mostly foolish, but a couple of scenarios occur to me.
So far, two weeks into this, almost no one reports receiving an entry. If I were managing for IHG, I would instruct the company to hold back on processing the mail entries, until the flow of stay entries was well under way.
Someone whose 70-90 cards get scanned early on has a high probability of beating others to that day's prizes. Or, another possibility, just wasting them.
Those stay entries should be happening rather automatically from IT processes, as in normal stay postings, and be fairly distributed among (paying and staying) members.
If the mail-in entries were allowed to precede this, and some had sent in bulk numbers, those emails would be hitting their mailboxes in large numbers, and then the question arises: Have they been doing their random prize drawings all this time, since Nov. 15? Or, otherwise, when do they turn that feature on? And how do we know when that is?
If it is active already, and you manage to "open" your emails before anyone else, you have a good chance of being the lucky dog. What is it, 1108 prizes as I recall, over 90-something days. That's one on average about every two hours. (And are prizes just "disappearing" because it has been turned on, but no one has received email entries? OK, that's a little ridiculous, but then, IHG = IT bedlam.)
That's why I would hope they would coordinate the sending of the emails with the turning on of the prizes. (You could be hitting those one-use links and there's nothing there for you.) And why they would try to prioritize the stay entries over the mail in entries.
Maybe there's one word to describe IHG promo games: Daring. (Or, "risky"?)
So far, two weeks into this, almost no one reports receiving an entry. If I were managing for IHG, I would instruct the company to hold back on processing the mail entries, until the flow of stay entries was well under way.
Someone whose 70-90 cards get scanned early on has a high probability of beating others to that day's prizes. Or, another possibility, just wasting them.
Those stay entries should be happening rather automatically from IT processes, as in normal stay postings, and be fairly distributed among (paying and staying) members.
If the mail-in entries were allowed to precede this, and some had sent in bulk numbers, those emails would be hitting their mailboxes in large numbers, and then the question arises: Have they been doing their random prize drawings all this time, since Nov. 15? Or, otherwise, when do they turn that feature on? And how do we know when that is?
If it is active already, and you manage to "open" your emails before anyone else, you have a good chance of being the lucky dog. What is it, 1108 prizes as I recall, over 90-something days. That's one on average about every two hours. (And are prizes just "disappearing" because it has been turned on, but no one has received email entries? OK, that's a little ridiculous, but then, IHG = IT bedlam.)
That's why I would hope they would coordinate the sending of the emails with the turning on of the prizes. (You could be hitting those one-use links and there's nothing there for you.) And why they would try to prioritize the stay entries over the mail in entries.
Maybe there's one word to describe IHG promo games: Daring. (Or, "risky"?)