Originally Posted by
JapanFlyerT
I too am frustrated by IHG. Some places have larger rooms, but won't allow them to be booked with points. Instead, we can only get a basic room with a ridiculously high 3rd person fee.
That said, I have been on a points stay a couple times before and upgraded to a room with a sofa bed. In those cases I was permitted to have a 3rd person stay at no extra cost. They even threw in breakfast for a 3rd for free. Not a policy to depend on though.
While I have seen both IHG and Marriott limit the room types available on points, it is definitely more prevalent with IHG. I.e. it is fairly common for IHG to permit an award stay for a king room but not for a two bed room. So there are limits on even basic room types. It is one of the reasons, but certainly not the only or most important reason why Marriott is my primary program. IHG is my secondary program. In my mind, the basic one and two bed room types should always be permitted for awards stays. Of course neither Marriott nor IHG has to listen to me (and they don't LOL).
--Jon