Originally Posted by
Tennen
How is IHG inflexible? If you're talking about redemption options, IHG is comparable to others. Obviously, you get the best value out of reward stays, but if you're desperate and don't care about horrible value, you can donate them, use them for gift cards, buy magazines/e-books, or exchange them for miles.
Sorry that IHG doesn't work for you. For all its quirks and shortcomings, IHG's free nights and points are pretty easy to use (at least for me). Personally, I feel that Marriott 35k certificates are significantly harder to use. YMMV.
Since you disagree on IHG inflexibility, here they are:
1. 12 month expiration. vs. the 24 months from Hyatt, Marriott and even Radisson
2. Only one credit card that is controlled by Chase, vs multiple Marriott cards by both Chase and AmEx.
3. The killer is that, it is absolutely impossible to transfer points in and out of IHG to any other member, even spouse. Hyatt allows free transfer and Marriott allows point transfer with some limit. I'll have to pay $$ to transfer IHG points. That is really bad.
4. The only way to add transfer points into IHG is through Chase UR. At 1:1, it is a very bad rate.
Hope by now, you know those. As to the IHG 40K FN is easier than Marriott's 35K FN, of course it is YMMV. The footprint of Marriott is much larger than IHG. So I do not know why someone would say the Marriott FN is harder to use than IHG FN.