Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: San Juan, PR
Programs: MR AMB/LT, AA EP, TK EP, DL D, B6 M4, F9 100K, IHG AMB/D, HH D, CZR D, FndCd, Sixt D, NTL E, Hz PC
Posts: 428
I do IHG as a secondary, since it's cheap to get Platinum (the IHG Chase credit card, $49/yr) and then optionally also pay for Ambassador ($200 or something). There are some good properties in Europe even in Holiday Inn (eg. HI Milan near the airport); plenty of cheap/good HIx/HI and extended stay choices. ICs are often great, especially if you are Ambassador and book a club floor. Kimpton is nice too.
IHG also often runs high-return promos ("Accelerate") which are easy to game, and if you stay infrequently, they often give you better/easier promos.