I strongly disagree that this is a good thing. RA should encourage new loyalty and keep the current and I mean extreme loyalty as it’s to one particular hotel brand and at the luxury end.

I guarentee that you wouldnt be saying this if you make 50 nights and 15k spend and they tell you not this year mate. You will ask why. You will also then look for a company who will reward your loyalty better.

You cant have a spend and number of night criteria if you want to be invite only. They are different beasts. Lets not fool ourselves, there are levels to reach and they are fixed. I used to think it was the top 1% or something but it can’t be as they are
manually reviewing all accounts (according to the email I got from IHG).