Interestingly I came across a youtube video by a retired couple who booked 40 nights in a sale for a crown plaza in Vietnam 67 usd per night with lounge in order to get the lounge pass for all thier upcoming IC stays for later in the year.
Few more vlogs like that and IHG will surely up the nights required for the pass or stop the hang on until January to select it to get 2 years out of it feature.