Jun 24, 2014, 2:19 am
Last edit by: soitgoes
IHG Account Termination Fact Summary
1) IHG has been terminating accounts due to abuse since approximately 2010 (#244).
2) IHG account terminations happen suddenly and without warning. If your account is terminated, you will not be able to login. You will have to call customer service, who will either reinstate your account and warn you, or refer your case to another office, in which case your account is probably permamently closed.
3) No one except for IHG knows exactly what the trigger for account cancellation is. The reason given is usually excessive use of promo codes. In the past, it was thought that most of the people who got their accounts canceled was due to either selling points or excessive point break bookings, but it appears that mere registration of promo codes now can sometimes trigger a cancellation.
Who has gotten their account terminated?
(If you, or someone you know has got their account terminated, please list your username here, and reference the post you made on this thread).
bgmike (#1)
lcpteck (#5)
DavidAL - father - (#85)
Dolphinyong - friend - (#155)
Bakkie (#180)
Tim O'Brien (#187) reinstated
chongcao - good summary, esp. of events from flyertea forum (#244)
soitgoes (#262) deactivated temporarily; reactivated after phone call
travelismylife - brother inlaw - (#329)
Also, LoyaltyLobby has a number of data points in the comment thread.
FlyerTea (a Chinese site) also has a number of data points.
What do we know about terminations
1) The usual reason IHG gives is non-targeted promo code usage. We don't know which promo codes IHG considers invalid, although IHG told Bakke (#180), that he used a code that was supposed to be for platinum members when he was not.
2) Status does not matter. Gold members, Platinum members, even RAs have all had their account terminated.
3) Credit card does not matter. Some people terminated did not have the IHG Chase card, some did, for more than 3 years (#329).
4) Stay history does not matter. Some people had their accounts terminated before any stay, some had their accounts terminated after one stay that accrued many points, and some had a history of lot of paid stays.
5) Termination usually doesn't cause a loss of booked nights. Apparently, even though your points are gone, any nights reserved stay booked in the system.
6) Some account terminations are caused by calling customer service on incorrectly credited nights. A number of people who had their accounts terminated called in on a stay that posted as non-qualifying, only to have their account cancelled shortly thereafter.
IHG Terms and Conditions downloadable PDF, including:
1) IHG has been terminating accounts due to abuse since approximately 2010 (#244).
2) IHG account terminations happen suddenly and without warning. If your account is terminated, you will not be able to login. You will have to call customer service, who will either reinstate your account and warn you, or refer your case to another office, in which case your account is probably permamently closed.
3) No one except for IHG knows exactly what the trigger for account cancellation is. The reason given is usually excessive use of promo codes. In the past, it was thought that most of the people who got their accounts canceled was due to either selling points or excessive point break bookings, but it appears that mere registration of promo codes now can sometimes trigger a cancellation.
Who has gotten their account terminated?
(If you, or someone you know has got their account terminated, please list your username here, and reference the post you made on this thread).
bgmike (#1)
lcpteck (#5)
DavidAL - father - (#85)
Dolphinyong - friend - (#155)
Bakkie (#180)
Tim O'Brien (#187) reinstated
chongcao - good summary, esp. of events from flyertea forum (#244)
soitgoes (#262) deactivated temporarily; reactivated after phone call
travelismylife - brother inlaw - (#329)
Also, LoyaltyLobby has a number of data points in the comment thread.
FlyerTea (a Chinese site) also has a number of data points.
What do we know about terminations
1) The usual reason IHG gives is non-targeted promo code usage. We don't know which promo codes IHG considers invalid, although IHG told Bakke (#180), that he used a code that was supposed to be for platinum members when he was not.
2) Status does not matter. Gold members, Platinum members, even RAs have all had their account terminated.
3) Credit card does not matter. Some people terminated did not have the IHG Chase card, some did, for more than 3 years (#329).
4) Stay history does not matter. Some people had their accounts terminated before any stay, some had their accounts terminated after one stay that accrued many points, and some had a history of lot of paid stays.
5) Termination usually doesn't cause a loss of booked nights. Apparently, even though your points are gone, any nights reserved stay booked in the system.
6) Some account terminations are caused by calling customer service on incorrectly credited nights. A number of people who had their accounts terminated called in on a stay that posted as non-qualifying, only to have their account cancelled shortly thereafter.
IHG Terms and Conditions downloadable PDF, including:
4. Membership Cancellation. SCH reserves the right to cancel any IHG®Rewards Club membership and revoke any and all unredeemed IHG® Rewards Club points collected by any member for reasons that include, but are not limited to: 1) violation of these Terms and Conditions; 2) misrepresentation of any information or any misuse of this Program; 3) violation of any national, state or local law or regulation in connection with the use of membership privileges; 4) failure to pay for hotel charges; 5) a check to a participating hotel brand that is returned for insufficient funds or is invalid for any reason; 6) commission of fraud or abuse involving any portion of this Program; 7) more than one active account per member; or 8) physical, verbal, or written abuse of hotel or IHG personnel; or 9) action, in any other way, to the detriment of the Program or any of its alliances; all as may be determined by SCH in its sole discretion.
IHG Account Terminated (after registering for several promotion codes)
Jun 16, 2014, 9:47 am
#271
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 4,477
Maybe it's just me, but if they really didn't want you to sign up for a promo or promos for that matter couldn't they just make it not valid for your account. Like they do with ones that are targeted to UK customers as opposed to US customers. It can't be that hard to program their system or accounts like that.
Again if you read my post #244, you may understand there seems to be more reasons of why account was terminated due to codes. They are certainly cleaning up some member accounts with excessive loading of codes registration, I still believe currently it remains a regional problem, with small possibilities of becoming a global action.
Jun 16, 2014, 11:37 pm
#272
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: LAX
Posts: 10,909
can we get back on topic please...
it is right that
1) accounts are flagged manually by CSR after unrelated calls
2) unless it's first stay on a recently created account
and
3) primarily china based accounts get canceled after being flagged (US-based get a 'warning')?
This whole story is incredibly bizarre - i can not quite comprehend the notion of "we cancel whatever account we want". If true it is quite unprecedented for loyalty programs...
it is right that
1) accounts are flagged manually by CSR after unrelated calls
2) unless it's first stay on a recently created account
and
3) primarily china based accounts get canceled after being flagged (US-based get a 'warning')?
This whole story is incredibly bizarre - i can not quite comprehend the notion of "we cancel whatever account we want". If true it is quite unprecedented for loyalty programs...
Jun 17, 2014, 12:04 am
#273
Moderator: InterContinental Hotels and Germany
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 6,552
Please follow the discussion of Marriott vs IHG in this thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/inter...ed-thread.html
Thank you
FLYGVA
co-moderator IHG Forum
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/inter...ed-thread.html
Thank you
FLYGVA
co-moderator IHG Forum
Jun 17, 2014, 3:34 am
#274
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 4,477
can we get back on topic please...
it is right that
1) accounts are flagged manually by CSR after unrelated calls
2) unless it's first stay on a recently created account
and
3) primarily china based accounts get canceled after being flagged (US-based get a 'warning')?
This whole story is incredibly bizarre - i can not quite comprehend the notion of "we cancel whatever account we want". If true it is quite unprecedented for loyalty programs...
it is right that
1) accounts are flagged manually by CSR after unrelated calls
2) unless it's first stay on a recently created account
and
3) primarily china based accounts get canceled after being flagged (US-based get a 'warning')?
This whole story is incredibly bizarre - i can not quite comprehend the notion of "we cancel whatever account we want". If true it is quite unprecedented for loyalty programs...
1>, Accounts were audited at some stage of the time. Criteria unknown. Possible due to a combination of length of the account and balance of the account
2>, Accounts then were divided into two action groups: suspension or termination.
3>, Accounts holder will not be able to log in to their accounts if being flagged in the system due to suspension and termination.
4>, Accounts holder then contact IHG regarding the issue (can not log in), local call centre staff will give a warning (so far only Chinese members have reported) if the account is not marked as referral to Atlanta, in this case it is temporary suspension. Call centre staff then manually reinstate the account. However, if the account is marked as referral to Atlanta, the call centre staff will have no authorities to reinstate the account. And this case accounts got terminated most likely.
5>, No evidence suggest different treatments to members from different regions. Above procedure seems to be standard since late 2013. However, it is unknown what is the criteria for IHG to determine to suspend or terminate member account. And such criteria is what we are trying to establish. But one thing is certain, if your account is fairly new (since 2011) and you have registered almost all the codes available, your account will be terminated immediately (according to about 4 or more reported case in Chinese forum).
Jun 18, 2014, 7:39 am
#275
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP, IHG PL, SPG G, MR G, HH G, CC G, AMEX PL
Posts: 1,465
Well, how about this. I logged into my AwardWallet account and right away there was an add from IHG asking to register with a code 6636 to get 1K withing 60 days. My name and account number were pre-populated. Is this a new "bait-n-audit-n-close" IHG scheme?
Jun 18, 2014, 7:48 am
#276
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 47
Unfortunately this topic has not been able to draw conclusions. Do we have the whole story behind each closure? Probably not. Is IHG just telling people a line, "Because of signing up for promos you were not targeted for" whether it is true or not? Probably.
Obviously just signing up for promos targeted for others doesn't sack every account that has done it.
Searching other forums for the stories behind closed IHG accounts brings up serious offenses: selling free nights, using multiple accounts so one person is earning repeat points for the same promos, things that would close any frequent flyer or hotel loyalty account.
Stories about brand new accounts being closed for signing up for multiple promotions may be true, but that is not something most of us with 10+ year old accounts need worry about.
I simply can't see IHG shuttering accounts which contain a JP Morgan Chase free night certificate paid for with the credit card annual fee-- no big bank would go along with that kind of behavior and have to deal with the calls about people demanding their $49 back because their accounts were closed because they entered in an online promo code? Never happen.
Obviously just signing up for promos targeted for others doesn't sack every account that has done it.
Searching other forums for the stories behind closed IHG accounts brings up serious offenses: selling free nights, using multiple accounts so one person is earning repeat points for the same promos, things that would close any frequent flyer or hotel loyalty account.
Stories about brand new accounts being closed for signing up for multiple promotions may be true, but that is not something most of us with 10+ year old accounts need worry about.
I simply can't see IHG shuttering accounts which contain a JP Morgan Chase free night certificate paid for with the credit card annual fee-- no big bank would go along with that kind of behavior and have to deal with the calls about people demanding their $49 back because their accounts were closed because they entered in an online promo code? Never happen.
Jun 18, 2014, 8:39 am
#277
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 4,477
You are targeted. Use it without worries.
Jun 18, 2014, 9:58 am
#278
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
Wrong. Please read my post #244 again. If I was not clear please let me know. The process since 2013/2014 is like this:
1>, Accounts were audited at some stage of the time. Criteria unknown. Possible due to a combination of length of the account and balance of the account
2>, Accounts then were divided into two action groups: suspension or termination.
3>, Accounts holder will not be able to log in to their accounts if being flagged in the system due to suspension and termination.
4>, Accounts holder then contact IHG regarding the issue (can not log in), local call centre staff will give a warning (so far only Chinese members have reported) if the account is not marked as referral to Atlanta, in this case it is temporary suspension. Call centre staff then manually reinstate the account. However, if the account is marked as referral to Atlanta, the call centre staff will have no authorities to reinstate the account. And this case accounts got terminated most likely.
5>, No evidence suggest different treatments to members from different regions. Above procedure seems to be standard since late 2013. However, it is unknown what is the criteria for IHG to determine to suspend or terminate member account. And such criteria is what we are trying to establish. But one thing is certain, if your account is fairly new (since 2011) and you have registered almost all the codes available, your account will be terminated immediately (according to about 4 or more reported case in Chinese forum).
1>, Accounts were audited at some stage of the time. Criteria unknown. Possible due to a combination of length of the account and balance of the account
2>, Accounts then were divided into two action groups: suspension or termination.
3>, Accounts holder will not be able to log in to their accounts if being flagged in the system due to suspension and termination.
4>, Accounts holder then contact IHG regarding the issue (can not log in), local call centre staff will give a warning (so far only Chinese members have reported) if the account is not marked as referral to Atlanta, in this case it is temporary suspension. Call centre staff then manually reinstate the account. However, if the account is marked as referral to Atlanta, the call centre staff will have no authorities to reinstate the account. And this case accounts got terminated most likely.
5>, No evidence suggest different treatments to members from different regions. Above procedure seems to be standard since late 2013. However, it is unknown what is the criteria for IHG to determine to suspend or terminate member account. And such criteria is what we are trying to establish. But one thing is certain, if your account is fairly new (since 2011) and you have registered almost all the codes available, your account will be terminated immediately (according to about 4 or more reported case in Chinese forum).
Common theme is someone called in to inquire something on his account and the next thing he knew, his access was evoked.
HOWEVER, at least the poster whose account was reinstated after a warning, did NOT call in for anything. The trigger seems to be the 80K Chase credit card bonus posting. Shortly afterward, the person's account was suspended, then being audited and a stay with untargeted codes in Feb 2013 was discovered. There was also a PB stay in Feb 2014 that a sibling was the additional guest and the poster not present. But that stay was never mentioned in the 2 hours phone call - the only violation mentioned was the registration of codes in a Feb 2013 pay stay which less than 5K pts earned. Incidentally the poster has an Asian last name if that matters.
What is bothersome is, it seems very likely the 80K bonus from Chase has triggered the account review probably because the account is only a few years old and the holder has an Asian last name. And the account also has gotten 80K in the past. Chase has no problem to hand out bonus again because the previous one was from Visa and the latest one is from MC - a product change, so the person is entitled the 2nd bonus when the Visa was canceled a few weeks before applying MC.
Yet, that could trigger the IHG audit. This is very aggressive behavior by IHG, especially the points are not from them but from Chase who pays IHG for those points.
Airlines make far more money selling their miles to the partners than actually flying the plane if filled with low-fares passengers. Years ago there was a documentary called A day in American Airlines or something like that - AA made $200 net profit on a FULL Transcon flight!
So I dont understand IHG's logic in picking on the Chase bonus posting. Hilton has no problem with people staying largely on points earned from their 2 co-branded credit cards. One currently has the Fast Track to Gold with 4 stays within 90 days at Hilton properties - HHonors Gold is Head and Shoulder ABOVE the crummy IHG Platinum.
So what is IHG thinking? Alienating its customers and pushing them to other chains by aggressively auditing accounts?
They should spend some real efforts and money to improve its IT system. SPG would not let you register any promotion code that is not targeted to you. Why cannot IHG implement such feature?
Last edited by Happy; Jun 18, 2014 at 6:54 pm
Jun 18, 2014, 11:50 am
#279
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: AL
Programs: All of the Above
Posts: 1,374
As for my Dad's account, nothing was ever inquired about. The facts are pretty basic. New account, 2 weeks after creating the account he added promo codes, but had not stayed 1 night yet, 1 week later tried logging in and couldn't. Never contacted IHG, nor had any stays. It's obvious that SPG/Hyatt wants his business more than IHG, so he will stick with them.
Jun 18, 2014, 12:56 pm
#280
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: PARIS (France)
Programs: AF/KLM Club 2000 | InterContinental Diamond RA |AMEX Plat | Visa Infinite |Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 10,963
Jun 18, 2014, 1:19 pm
#281
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Moscow
Programs: DL GM and so on
Posts: 1,200
Usually only financial pain causes businesses to make such reckless decisions. Do they try to increase their profits or minimise losses?
Maybe the situation is not so rosy in the IHG-land after minting of trillions of Big Lose points?
Maybe the situation is not so rosy in the IHG-land after minting of trillions of Big Lose points?
Jun 18, 2014, 4:23 pm
#283
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 4,477
I quickly read thru the thread on posts that have relevant information On The Topic, but find one important thing that no one seems to mention / speculate on - WHAT may trigger an account being audited?
HOWEVER, at least the poster whose account was reinstated after a warning, did NOT call in for anything. The trigger seems to be the 70K Chase credit card bonus posting. Shortly afterward, the person's account was suspended, then being audited and a stay with untargeted codes in Feb 2013 was discovered. There was also a PB stay in Feb 2014 that a sibling was the additional guest and the poster not present. But that stay was never mentioned in the 2 hours phone call - the only violation mentioned was the registration of codes in a Feb 2013 pay stay which less than 5K pts earned. Incidentally the poster has an Asian last name if that matters.
What is bothersome is, it seems very likely the 70K bonus from Chase has triggered the account review probably because the account is only a few years old and the holder has an Asian last name. And the account also has gotten 70K in the past. Chase has no problem to hand out bonus again because the previous one was from Visa and the latest one is from MC - a product change, so the person is entitled the 2nd bonus when the Visa was canceled a few weeks before applying MC.
HOWEVER, at least the poster whose account was reinstated after a warning, did NOT call in for anything. The trigger seems to be the 70K Chase credit card bonus posting. Shortly afterward, the person's account was suspended, then being audited and a stay with untargeted codes in Feb 2013 was discovered. There was also a PB stay in Feb 2014 that a sibling was the additional guest and the poster not present. But that stay was never mentioned in the 2 hours phone call - the only violation mentioned was the registration of codes in a Feb 2013 pay stay which less than 5K pts earned. Incidentally the poster has an Asian last name if that matters.
What is bothersome is, it seems very likely the 70K bonus from Chase has triggered the account review probably because the account is only a few years old and the holder has an Asian last name. And the account also has gotten 70K in the past. Chase has no problem to hand out bonus again because the previous one was from Visa and the latest one is from MC - a product change, so the person is entitled the 2nd bonus when the Visa was canceled a few weeks before applying MC.
So far, I knew people got audited at when:
1>, called help line to ask for manually adjust stay due to incorrect online stay post (this is especially the case last year)
2>, recently made several redemption stays
3>, Booked PB (especially the case of IC Hangzhou this year)
4>, A particular stay pattern was discovered due to murky situation of multiple accounts (husband and wife for example)
5>, Relatively new account with code registration that yield large number of points in one go
6>, New IHG branded credit card that caused multiple accounts
AND MOSTLY SEEM TO BE THE CASE OF 7>, no apparent reason (although you can almost be certain that a large number of balance is with that account)
Like many others, I am eager to learn what is exactly the reason IHG decide to do the audit and what criteria accounts got suspended. But so far, conclusion can not be reached.
Jun 18, 2014, 5:07 pm
#284
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 47
So far, I knew people got audited at when:
1>, called help line to ask for manually adjust stay due to incorrect online stay post (this is especially the case last year)
2>, recently made several redemption stays
3>, Booked PB (especially the case of IC Hangzhou this year)
4>, A particular stay pattern was discovered due to murky situation of multiple accounts (husband and wife for example)
5>, Relatively new account with code registration that yield large number of points in one go
6>, New IHG branded credit card that caused multiple accounts
AND MOSTLY SEEM TO BE THE CASE OF 7>, no apparent reason (although you can almost be certain that a large number of balance is with that account)
1>, called help line to ask for manually adjust stay due to incorrect online stay post (this is especially the case last year)
2>, recently made several redemption stays
3>, Booked PB (especially the case of IC Hangzhou this year)
4>, A particular stay pattern was discovered due to murky situation of multiple accounts (husband and wife for example)
5>, Relatively new account with code registration that yield large number of points in one go
6>, New IHG branded credit card that caused multiple accounts
AND MOSTLY SEEM TO BE THE CASE OF 7>, no apparent reason (although you can almost be certain that a large number of balance is with that account)
Jun 18, 2014, 5:27 pm
#285
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: IHG, RC, HH, AA, QF, UA, Aeroplan
Posts: 2,690