The Big Win returns - Spring 2014
Jan 2, 2014, 9:50 am
#406
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Princeton, NJ; Lviv Ukraine
Programs: UA 3.6MM, AF/KL Lifetime Plat, BA Gold, AA 1MM, IC Spire RA, Kimpton IC, Marriott Plat, et alia
Posts: 2,732
At least it did not for the 2013 program. I did get a separate "badge" but my HIR stay wasn't counted towards my 6 brands.
Jan 2, 2014, 9:51 am
#407
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Somewhere in Europe
Posts: 3,362
Jan 2, 2014, 9:55 am
#408
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Princeton, NJ; Lviv Ukraine
Programs: UA 3.6MM, AF/KL Lifetime Plat, BA Gold, AA 1MM, IC Spire RA, Kimpton IC, Marriott Plat, et alia
Posts: 2,732
Jan 2, 2014, 10:04 am
#409
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Somewhere in Europe
Posts: 3,362
Yeah, sorry it's been a long afternoon. The badges are all a bit pointless other than they want you to 'share' them on Facebook and of course (unless you change the settings) when you do so it jumps onto everyone you are friends with Facebook page. So really the badges are there to get you to advertise for them.
Jan 2, 2014, 12:08 pm
#410
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: SJC/SFO
Programs: WN A+ CP, UA 1MM/*A Gold, Mar LT Tit, IHG Plat, HH Dia
Posts: 6,285
Well, it's January 2 and I've already finished my first stay toward The Big Win 2014. DW and I were on a delayed flight last night and chose to stay at a HIX near the airport instead of driving home while tired and then back to work early this morning.
Jan 2, 2014, 1:58 pm
#412
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: BZN
Programs: AA:LT Platinum DL:LT Gold UA:1P MAR:LT Titanium
Posts: 8,291
For those interested, I did the full math on my previous Big Win now: All in all I've spent $ 1,532 on the necessary stays to win. This gave me 106,266 points (of which 87,800 were my Big Win), no additional codes involved, only a few bonus points here and there. So the overall cpp was 1.44 dollar cents or $ 14.41 per thousand (I prefer doing it that way)
So for me the question "Was it worth it?" is actually a resounding YES.
So for me the question "Was it worth it?" is actually a resounding YES.
Jan 2, 2014, 2:35 pm
#413
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Amsterdam, Asia, UK
Programs: IHG RA (Spire), HH Diamond, MR Platinum, SQ Gold, KLM Gold, BAEC Gold
Posts: 5,072
Jan 2, 2014, 4:30 pm
#414
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: UK
Programs: BA S, VS S, SQ G, HH D, IHG D/A, Marriott G, Radisson G, Hertz PC
Posts: 3,945
I am a UK IHG member. One of the offers on my 2014 Big Win Promo is unclear.
The offer suggests that I must 'Get the Priority Club Rewards Black Visa, brought to you by IHG® Rewards Club, use it to book and pay for 1 stay and earn 10,000 points.'
However the terms and conditions state that I must 'Make a purchase with your new Priority Club® Rewards Visa® credit card, get 20,000 bonus points. To qualify and receive your bonus points, you must be a new Priority Club® Rewards Visa® credit cardholder (opened account in the last 90 days) and reached a minimum spend of 20,000 on your new credit card between 01/01/2014 and 30/04/2014 and not in default at the time of fulfillment. Please allow 6 to 8 weeks for bonus points to be posted onto your account. Most hotels are independently owned and operated. Barclaycard may close your credit card account or suspend your right to use your credit card account, at any time for any reason, including account inactivity. This exclusive offer is valid and applies to the original recipient only'
I have just opened a new Priority Club® Rewards Visa® credit card so I am unable to open the Priority Club Rewards Black Visa.
I have 5 offers in the promo and I need all 5 to 'win big' 47,000 points. I am hoping to 'win big' and complete all of my 5 offers so it is important to me that I don't miss out on the Priority Club® Rewards Visa® credit card offer. However I don't know what I need to do.
I tried writing to IHG Customer service and they suggested I contact Chase bank. This is ridiculous because it is Barclays not Chase that run the Priority Club® Rewards Visa® credit card in the UK and, in any case, Barclays will not know about the terms of this IHG promotion.
Any ideas?
The offer suggests that I must 'Get the Priority Club Rewards Black Visa, brought to you by IHG® Rewards Club, use it to book and pay for 1 stay and earn 10,000 points.'
However the terms and conditions state that I must 'Make a purchase with your new Priority Club® Rewards Visa® credit card, get 20,000 bonus points. To qualify and receive your bonus points, you must be a new Priority Club® Rewards Visa® credit cardholder (opened account in the last 90 days) and reached a minimum spend of 20,000 on your new credit card between 01/01/2014 and 30/04/2014 and not in default at the time of fulfillment. Please allow 6 to 8 weeks for bonus points to be posted onto your account. Most hotels are independently owned and operated. Barclaycard may close your credit card account or suspend your right to use your credit card account, at any time for any reason, including account inactivity. This exclusive offer is valid and applies to the original recipient only'
I have just opened a new Priority Club® Rewards Visa® credit card so I am unable to open the Priority Club Rewards Black Visa.
I have 5 offers in the promo and I need all 5 to 'win big' 47,000 points. I am hoping to 'win big' and complete all of my 5 offers so it is important to me that I don't miss out on the Priority Club® Rewards Visa® credit card offer. However I don't know what I need to do.
I tried writing to IHG Customer service and they suggested I contact Chase bank. This is ridiculous because it is Barclays not Chase that run the Priority Club® Rewards Visa® credit card in the UK and, in any case, Barclays will not know about the terms of this IHG promotion.
Any ideas?
Make a purchase with your new Priority Club® Rewards Visa® credit card, get 20,000 bonus points. To qualify and receive your bonus points, you must be a new Priority Club® Rewards Visa® credit cardholder (opened account in the last 90 days) and reached a minimum spend of a night on your new credit card between 01/01/2014 and 30/04/2014 and not in default at the time of fulfillment. Please allow 6 to 8 weeks for bonus points to be posted onto your account. Most hotels are independently owned and operated. Barclaycard may close your credit card account or suspend your right to use your credit card account, at any time for any reason, including account inactivity. This exclusive offer is valid and applies to the original recipient only
Jan 2, 2014, 5:37 pm
#415
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 394
The mobile app bookings, to be safe, should be made in 2014, so I canceled out the previous ones I had done successfully on the mobile app. Then I go to rebook and find that 2 out of the 4 I had just canceled had lost the rate still showing on the regular website, which I had obtained the first time when I mobile booked in December.
Apparently, the IHG mobile app (should I try the HI or HIX apps?) now doesn't recognize the discounted rates, like Senior, AAA, Entertainment. These new, refundable rates were about $10 higher than now showing on the regular website. (I'm not paying any "saver" rates that are non-refundable. International travel is too vulnerable to changes.)
Actually, the other two nights only gave me the rate I wanted to keep because I chose the 5000 points bonus (which did show up) for about $20 above the rate it should have given me anyway.
Fortunately (?), only 4 of my 7 nights have to be mobile-booked, so if I keep my bookings count carefully through April, I won't have to give them extra bucks for their programming errors. I was going to do it all mobile, just to be safe on that goal, but now, no-o-o-o-o...
This is like having a 2nd (time-consuming, non-paying) job, QA'ing for IHG...
Apparently, the IHG mobile app (should I try the HI or HIX apps?) now doesn't recognize the discounted rates, like Senior, AAA, Entertainment. These new, refundable rates were about $10 higher than now showing on the regular website. (I'm not paying any "saver" rates that are non-refundable. International travel is too vulnerable to changes.)
Actually, the other two nights only gave me the rate I wanted to keep because I chose the 5000 points bonus (which did show up) for about $20 above the rate it should have given me anyway.
Fortunately (?), only 4 of my 7 nights have to be mobile-booked, so if I keep my bookings count carefully through April, I won't have to give them extra bucks for their programming errors. I was going to do it all mobile, just to be safe on that goal, but now, no-o-o-o-o...
This is like having a 2nd (time-consuming, non-paying) job, QA'ing for IHG...
Jan 2, 2014, 7:14 pm
#416
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 394
And, just to refresh, the T&C says: "booked on any IHG web or mobile apps between January 1, 2014 and April 30, 2014" but the panel on the BW front page says "IHG mobile app booking: Book 4 separate stays through our IHG® app and earn 6,400 points" so are they just "suggesting" we use their mobile app, but doesn't really matter if we do?
I sort of doubt that their res system can even record whether we booked it mobile or web. But, I don't want to end up arguing with some rep on the phone in May, so I'll try to get this one checked off safely as early as possible.
I sort of doubt that their res system can even record whether we booked it mobile or web. But, I don't want to end up arguing with some rep on the phone in May, so I'll try to get this one checked off safely as early as possible.
Jan 2, 2014, 7:24 pm
#417
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: In the air
Programs: Occasional RTW club
Posts: 6,924
This was asked earlier, but I don't think a definitive answer was provided: for the breakfast challenge, is it sufficient to choose "best flex" rate and tick the "breakfast" box? Before the ihg.com redesign, there used to be a SEPARATE rate category called "best flex with breakfast", but I no longer see it in any hotels that I have access to, be it IC or HI or whatever.
Jan 2, 2014, 7:44 pm
#418
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,934
This was asked earlier, but I don't think a definitive answer was provided: for the breakfast challenge, is it sufficient to choose "best flex" rate and tick the "breakfast" box? Before the ihg.com redesign, there used to be a SEPARATE rate category called "best flex with breakfast", but I no longer see it in any hotels that I have access to, be it IC or HI or whatever.
(The only way I know to do a search which will give you "best flex w/ breakfast" rates directly -- though it will also give you a bunch of unrelated rates at hotels that don't have "best flex w/ breakfast" is to use the link in the T&Cs for that task.)
Now, one of the advantages of the extra step of ticking the box is that you see very clearly how much extra they are charging for the breakfast. I've seen it vary from as little as $5 to as much as $20, I think, at different hotels and/or on different dates in SoCal!
Jan 2, 2014, 8:15 pm
#419
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: VPS
Programs: IHG Diamond, Delta PM, Hilton Gold, Accor Gold, Marriott Silver
Posts: 7,269
This was asked earlier, but I don't think a definitive answer was provided: for the breakfast challenge, is it sufficient to choose "best flex" rate and tick the "breakfast" box? Before the ihg.com redesign, there used to be a SEPARATE rate category called "best flex with breakfast", but I no longer see it in any hotels that I have access to, be it IC or HI or whatever.
Jan 2, 2014, 9:21 pm
#420
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: In the air
Programs: Occasional RTW club
Posts: 6,924
If you watch carefully, as soon as you tick the "breakfast" box, the wording on the left changes from "best flex" to "best flex w/ breakfast". So you are getting the "best flex w/ breakfast" rate, it's just a roundabout way of selecting it.
(The only way I know to do a search which will give you "best flex w/ breakfast" rates directly -- though it will also give you a bunch of unrelated rates at hotels that don't have "best flex w/ breakfast" is to use the link in the T&Cs for that task.)
Now, one of the advantages of the extra step of ticking the box is that you see very clearly how much extra they are charging for the breakfast. I've seen it vary from as little as $5 to as much as $20, I think, at different hotels and/or on different dates in SoCal!
(The only way I know to do a search which will give you "best flex w/ breakfast" rates directly -- though it will also give you a bunch of unrelated rates at hotels that don't have "best flex w/ breakfast" is to use the link in the T&Cs for that task.)
Now, one of the advantages of the extra step of ticking the box is that you see very clearly how much extra they are charging for the breakfast. I've seen it vary from as little as $5 to as much as $20, I think, at different hotels and/or on different dates in SoCal!
But thanks for these - @sdsearch, looks like ticking the box covers that part, so I'm just going to book two HI's with that box ticket, and that should take care of those two challenges for me, since I tend to book Club in ICs anyway (which sadly, don't count for breakfast included 
).