Originally Posted by NJUPINTHEAIR

No, the hotel will not cancel your reservation and yes, it should be fine. I did this at the I/C Westminster and had no problems.

FWIW, IHG interprets the language differently than does Chase (or for that matter, Marriott, which also gives an annual free night from a Chase credit card, but unlike IHG, Marriott follows the language to the letter and the award does expire -- even though one can book an award reservation on Marriott.com, like you can on IHG.com, past the certificate's expiration date. However, when you go to the hotel -- poof, there is no free night award holding your Marriott booking!)

However, if you change your IHG award booking and the expiration date of the certificate has actually passed, you will lose the award certificate and not get another one to replace it.