Nov 2, 2015, 8:31 am
Last edit by: Suite Disposition
ALL THE URLS AND LINKS IN YOUR EMAILS ARE THE SAME. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO "REPLAY" A GIVEN EMAIL.
Plays are linked to your IHG account number and your IHG link you receive in the email. The links contained are unique to each IHG account number and cannot be "shared".
If you didn't receive all your plays and think that HW might have gotten your email address incorrect, then simply click the link again in your email.
Their email is [email protected].
Quantity of emails received does not always equal quantity of plays available. Emails received does imply that you have plays available.
If you click on your email links and receive a screen with the below message then you do not have plays available.
We love your enthusiasm!
However, you do not have any instant win chances to use.
Complete a qualified stay before February 15 to earn another chance to win.
Prizes:
Chances of winning:
500 pts 1:1.18 or 84.75% (This does not mean you will be guaranteed 500 pts per play)
1000 Pts 1:14.29 or 6.7%
2000 Pts 1:28.57 or 3.5%
5000 Pts 1:42.86 or 2.33%
Other prizes or no prizes: depends on number of entries
5B Prizes= 1,000, 2000, 5,000, $50 GC & Free night
BE SURE TO REGISTER BEFORE SENDING IN ENTRIES!
Leave Surprises here:
500 points (x1098)
1000 points (x42)
2000 points (x26)
5000 points (x17)
$50 Prepaid MasterCard (x13)
1 free night at any IHG hotel (x6)
$2500 Gilt.com GC (x1)
Sony Package (x1)
No Win (x7)
Official Rules
Logistics of the Mail-In Option:
Index Cards Okay? YES (I used 3x5 blank index cards and they were accepted)
Lined Index Cards Okay? Yes, of course, enough with the index cards!
OK to mail cards not inside an envelope? Not according to the rules, which state they must be inside envelopes, one card per envelope
Need to write title before each line? NO
Need second phone number? NO
Middle name required? NO (Left mine out, still got emails. If it's part of your account info, maybe leave it.)
Printed Destination Address Okay? YES (I used printed a bunch of sticker labels and put them on envelopes, accepted)
Printed Return Address Okay? YES (I used an ink stamp)
No Return Address Okay? Yes
Envelope size? Doesn't seem to matter
Non-IHG MasterCard Okay? YES
Debit MasterCard Okay? YES (I used an Ally Bank issued Debit MasterCard)
Use somebody else's MasterCard first 6 digits? YES
There have been reports of mail-in entry emails being sent out on 12/4 and 12/11, and the emails came in rapid succession. This is indicative of HelloWorld batching these out.
Initially batches of emails sent out was on Fridays but as of of 1/6/16 appears to be Wednesdays
#1 Batch=12/4
#2 Batch= 12/11
#3 Batch= 12/18
#4 Batch(xmas)= 12/23
#5 Batch(New Years Day)=12/30
#6 Batch= 1/6
#7 Batch= 1/13
#8 Batch= 1/18-1/24 (emails appear to be arriving daily)
#9 Batch= 2/3-2/5
As of 1/5, points have been posting within a week(ish) of playing and getting confirmation that you've won points.
Points will be paid out without additional email
Some points have been distributed (probably in batches on either Monday or Tuesday)
Points Payout Batches:
#1 12/28 & 12/29--500 pts, 1000pts, 2,000 & 5,000pts (plays before 12/25)
#2 1/4 & 1/5 (plays 12/25-12/30?)
#3 1/11(free nights & pts) & 1/12 (plays from 12/31-1/8)
#4 1/15 (limited due to MLK holiday on 1/18) (for plays from until 1/14)
#5 1/19 (plays from 1/15 til?)
#6 1/29 (plays until 1/24)
#7 2/3 (plays until 1/29)
#8 2/5 (plays until 1/31?)
Has anyone received email with instructions on how to redeem prize? YES ($50 MC redemption instructions received 12/28)
STATUS:
--As of 1/19/16 10:00 am et(estimated) all plays were showing up as no wins. . The play site seems to be undergoing maintenance. Best not to use up the majority of your plays until things smooth out.
--As of 2:45 pm ET on 1/19 play site appears to be back up.
--as of 4:17pm ET on 1/19 500 point plays seems to be working again. No 5B prizes seem to be won at this time
--As of 6pm ET on 1/19 emails being received for wins during the morning hours of 1/19 where it stated no win after select elevator.
--As of 2:30pm EST on 1/20 still reports of nearly 100% 500 pt wins only. Best not to play alot of plays unless you only want 500 pt wins
--As of 8:00 pm EST on 1/20 multiple reports of 5B prizes being won again. Seems to be back to normal.
--As of 2:00 pm EST on 1/21 reports of $50, 2k, 5k, 1k pt wins (unsure of free night wins)
--As of 6:00 pm est on 1/22 everything seems to be working as usual(although very few mentions of free night)
--As of 2:00 pm EST on 1/25 seems like daily emails have been sent out since 1/18 until now.
--As of 6pm EST on 1/29 reports of emails being received from mailed in entries from around mid January. So turnaround for new mailings appear to be about 1 week.
--As of 5pm EST on 2/2 appears that emails have stopped arriving daily with many reporting last email received on 1/29.
Plays are linked to your IHG account number and your IHG link you receive in the email. The links contained are unique to each IHG account number and cannot be "shared".
If you didn't receive all your plays and think that HW might have gotten your email address incorrect, then simply click the link again in your email.
Their email is [email protected].
Quantity of emails received does not always equal quantity of plays available. Emails received does imply that you have plays available.
If you click on your email links and receive a screen with the below message then you do not have plays available.
We love your enthusiasm!
However, you do not have any instant win chances to use.
Complete a qualified stay before February 15 to earn another chance to win.
Prizes:
Chances of winning:
500 pts 1:1.18 or 84.75% (This does not mean you will be guaranteed 500 pts per play)
1000 Pts 1:14.29 or 6.7%
2000 Pts 1:28.57 or 3.5%
5000 Pts 1:42.86 or 2.33%
Other prizes or no prizes: depends on number of entries
5B Prizes= 1,000, 2000, 5,000, $50 GC & Free night
BE SURE TO REGISTER BEFORE SENDING IN ENTRIES!
Leave Surprises here:
500 points (x1098)
1000 points (x42)
2000 points (x26)
5000 points (x17)
$50 Prepaid MasterCard (x13)
1 free night at any IHG hotel (x6)
$2500 Gilt.com GC (x1)
Sony Package (x1)
No Win (x7)
Official Rules
Logistics of the Mail-In Option:
Index Cards Okay? YES (I used 3x5 blank index cards and they were accepted)
Lined Index Cards Okay? Yes, of course, enough with the index cards!
OK to mail cards not inside an envelope? Not according to the rules, which state they must be inside envelopes, one card per envelope
Need to write title before each line? NO
Need second phone number? NO
Middle name required? NO (Left mine out, still got emails. If it's part of your account info, maybe leave it.)
Printed Destination Address Okay? YES (I used printed a bunch of sticker labels and put them on envelopes, accepted)
Printed Return Address Okay? YES (I used an ink stamp)
No Return Address Okay? Yes
Envelope size? Doesn't seem to matter
Non-IHG MasterCard Okay? YES
Debit MasterCard Okay? YES (I used an Ally Bank issued Debit MasterCard)
Use somebody else's MasterCard first 6 digits? YES
There have been reports of mail-in entry emails being sent out on 12/4 and 12/11, and the emails came in rapid succession. This is indicative of HelloWorld batching these out.
Initially batches of emails sent out was on Fridays but as of of 1/6/16 appears to be Wednesdays
#1 Batch=12/4
#2 Batch= 12/11
#3 Batch= 12/18
#4 Batch(xmas)= 12/23
#5 Batch(New Years Day)=12/30
#6 Batch= 1/6
#7 Batch= 1/13
#8 Batch= 1/18-1/24 (emails appear to be arriving daily)
#9 Batch= 2/3-2/5
As of 1/5, points have been posting within a week(ish) of playing and getting confirmation that you've won points.
Points will be paid out without additional email
Some points have been distributed (probably in batches on either Monday or Tuesday)
Points Payout Batches:
#1 12/28 & 12/29--500 pts, 1000pts, 2,000 & 5,000pts (plays before 12/25)
#2 1/4 & 1/5 (plays 12/25-12/30?)
#3 1/11(free nights & pts) & 1/12 (plays from 12/31-1/8)
#4 1/15 (limited due to MLK holiday on 1/18) (for plays from until 1/14)
#5 1/19 (plays from 1/15 til?)
#6 1/29 (plays until 1/24)
#7 2/3 (plays until 1/29)
#8 2/5 (plays until 1/31?)
Has anyone received email with instructions on how to redeem prize? YES ($50 MC redemption instructions received 12/28)
STATUS:
--As of 1/19/16 10:00 am et(estimated) all plays were showing up as no wins. . The play site seems to be undergoing maintenance. Best not to use up the majority of your plays until things smooth out.
--As of 2:45 pm ET on 1/19 play site appears to be back up.
--as of 4:17pm ET on 1/19 500 point plays seems to be working again. No 5B prizes seem to be won at this time
--As of 6pm ET on 1/19 emails being received for wins during the morning hours of 1/19 where it stated no win after select elevator.
--As of 2:30pm EST on 1/20 still reports of nearly 100% 500 pt wins only. Best not to play alot of plays unless you only want 500 pt wins
--As of 8:00 pm EST on 1/20 multiple reports of 5B prizes being won again. Seems to be back to normal.
--As of 2:00 pm EST on 1/21 reports of $50, 2k, 5k, 1k pt wins (unsure of free night wins)
--As of 6:00 pm est on 1/22 everything seems to be working as usual(although very few mentions of free night)
--As of 2:00 pm EST on 1/25 seems like daily emails have been sent out since 1/18 until now.
--As of 6pm EST on 1/29 reports of emails being received from mailed in entries from around mid January. So turnaround for new mailings appear to be about 1 week.
--As of 5pm EST on 2/2 appears that emails have stopped arriving daily with many reporting last email received on 1/29.
Priceless Surprises Promotion
Jan 20, 2016, 6:24 pm
#1501
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,427
Interesting problems with this promo this week. I've been managing the playing for 3 people (myself, my wife and my daughter), so I have information on a total of 282 plays. We did some entries in November and more in December; I think we've now gotten about 2/3rds of our entries "filled."
Until Friday, our wins were pretty much in keeping with the published odds: about 1 in 10 entries got something better than 500 points. But, beginning on Friday and ending on Monday, we got about 70 emails. ALL of these were wins for only 500 points. Based on my review of the other posts in this thread, it seems like essentially EVERYONE got 500 points during that time . There was then a period where folks were getting zero points, but IHG seems to have acknowledged that error and awarded those folks 500 points, too.
It now seems like the promo is back to normal, with folks getting awards in keeping with the official odds.
Given this history, I am about 99% sure that the results this past weekend were NOT random. Either intentionally or because of a glitch (and I think "glitch" is more likely, especially given the subsequent zero glitch), everyone was awarded 500 points. That's obviously not "fair." The question is whether anything can be done about it. Personally, I think IHG should "re-run" this weekend's "everyone-gets-500-points" replies through their random system again and award the better prizes these contestants should have been eligible for. But I don't know if they will voluntarily do that, or if they can be compelled to do that.
Until Friday, our wins were pretty much in keeping with the published odds: about 1 in 10 entries got something better than 500 points. But, beginning on Friday and ending on Monday, we got about 70 emails. ALL of these were wins for only 500 points. Based on my review of the other posts in this thread, it seems like essentially EVERYONE got 500 points during that time . There was then a period where folks were getting zero points, but IHG seems to have acknowledged that error and awarded those folks 500 points, too.
It now seems like the promo is back to normal, with folks getting awards in keeping with the official odds.
Given this history, I am about 99% sure that the results this past weekend were NOT random. Either intentionally or because of a glitch (and I think "glitch" is more likely, especially given the subsequent zero glitch), everyone was awarded 500 points. That's obviously not "fair." The question is whether anything can be done about it. Personally, I think IHG should "re-run" this weekend's "everyone-gets-500-points" replies through their random system again and award the better prizes these contestants should have been eligible for. But I don't know if they will voluntarily do that, or if they can be compelled to do that.
Jan 20, 2016, 6:38 pm
#1502
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 35
I'm in the same boat as a number of others. Sent in entries late December (not sure of exact date, probably December 28 or so), and have not received any emails.
Jan 20, 2016, 6:52 pm
#1503
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Earth
Programs: UA MM Platinum; HH Diamond; Marriott Gold; Starwood Gold; Hyatt Discoverist; Avis Preferred Plus
Posts: 1,527
Just played about a dozen times. One was 1,000 points, and the rest were 500 points.
Jan 20, 2016, 7:01 pm
#1504
Join Date: May 2009
Location: HNL
Programs: HA, DL, UA, PC Gold, A/club Plat, HH Gold, Hyatt Pl
Posts: 1,461
again...in my mind...they are 5-6 weeks behind from when the entries are received to when emails are going out..if your not within that time frame I wouldn't worry(yet)
Jan 20, 2016, 7:16 pm
#1506
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: MN, USA
Posts: 246
Group B prizes
I finished all 92 plays in the last 24 hours -- at least I think I did, I didn't keep a very close count, but I was definitely in the ballpark of 92. Assuming all 92 were played, my final result was 1 0-point play, 86 500-point wins, 2 1000-point wins, and 3 5000-point wins, for a total of 60,000 points. Not bad for $50 and a couple hours of time.
And PB86, what was the date/time stamp of your emails? Was it actually today or late last night? I don't think anyone else here reported receiving emails today, but I could be wrong.
Jan 20, 2016, 7:48 pm
#1507
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,767
Start playing from the batches received between 12:55am to 07:55am on 01/19.
6 plays just now, 2x500, 1x1000. 3x500 in sequence.
6 plays to follow, 1x1000, 1x2000, 4x500 again in sequence.
Note the Group B prizes were from the same floor, yielded 3 Group B prizes then back to 500.
Plays were back to back. I was surprised to see the same floor yielded 1K again when I changed account, and then followed by a 2K. This should be evident enough that the prizes are indeed random.
stop playing now to resume later. Now to write up the remaining 30ish entries for 2 accounts.
6 plays just now, 2x500, 1x1000. 3x500 in sequence.
6 plays to follow, 1x1000, 1x2000, 4x500 again in sequence.
Note the Group B prizes were from the same floor, yielded 3 Group B prizes then back to 500.
Plays were back to back. I was surprised to see the same floor yielded 1K again when I changed account, and then followed by a 2K. This should be evident enough that the prizes are indeed random.
stop playing now to resume later. Now to write up the remaining 30ish entries for 2 accounts.
Last edited by Happy; Jan 20, 2016 at 8:09 pm
Jan 20, 2016, 7:51 pm
#1508
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 3
For those of you above who won multiple Group B prizes today, could you please share approximately how much time had elapsed in between your Group B wins (if you remember)? These data points might help test out some recently advanced theories in this thread about timing of the Group B prizes.
And PB86, what was the date/time stamp of your emails? Was it actually today or late last night? I don't think anyone else here reported receiving emails today, but I could be wrong.
And PB86, what was the date/time stamp of your emails? Was it actually today or late last night? I don't think anyone else here reported receiving emails today, but I could be wrong.
Jan 20, 2016, 8:35 pm
#1509
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 286
Start playing from the batches received between 12:55am to 07:55am on 01/19.
6 plays just now, 2x500, 1x1000. 3x500 in sequence.
6 plays to follow, 1x1000, 1x2000, 4x500 again in sequence.
Note the Group B prizes were from the same floor, yielded 3 Group B prizes then back to 500.
Plays were back to back. I was surprised to see the same floor yielded 1K again when I changed account, and then followed by a 2K. This should be evident enough that the prizes are indeed random.
stop playing now to resume later. Now to write up the remaining 30ish entries for 2 accounts.
6 plays just now, 2x500, 1x1000. 3x500 in sequence.
6 plays to follow, 1x1000, 1x2000, 4x500 again in sequence.
Note the Group B prizes were from the same floor, yielded 3 Group B prizes then back to 500.
Plays were back to back. I was surprised to see the same floor yielded 1K again when I changed account, and then followed by a 2K. This should be evident enough that the prizes are indeed random.
stop playing now to resume later. Now to write up the remaining 30ish entries for 2 accounts.
Jan 20, 2016, 8:36 pm
#1510
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 940
I finished all my plays and got a good mix, but even if I had entries left, I doubt i would be conscientious enough to get up at 3AM to play for the odds. Just saying.
Nice haul for you though. ^
Jan 20, 2016, 8:53 pm
#1511
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 394
Now, just think of it as a consolation: whenever you get a 500, you're not using up one of your B's. Now, extrapolate that out, in (Probability) Space, and Time.
Jan 20, 2016, 9:19 pm
#1512
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,767
So you are saying the game emails already preassigned prizes? I thought the URL is identical for all emails?
Jan 20, 2016, 9:20 pm
#1513
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: BOS
Programs: AA Platinum
Posts: 90
I just played the final ~15 plays from my emails on Monday. Most were 500 of course, but one was 1000 and one was 5000, maxing out my group B prizes (2x 5000, 3x 1000). The two Group B prizes tonight came within 90 seconds of each other (I was firing through these last 15 plays).
Jan 20, 2016, 9:56 pm
#1514
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: BOS .. but soon SFO
Programs: UA PLAT, TK GLD, Hilton Diamond, IC PLAT, SPG GLD, Marriott GLD
Posts: 1,528
.... now I wish I hadn't played all my entries!!
Jan 20, 2016, 10:06 pm
#1515
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: CLT
Programs: AA, UA, BA, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 2,074