DuMaInSin

I have only stayed in less than 20 different Intercontinental hotels so far, but for most of these I don't agree with your statement. Bordeaux, Marseille, Porto, Estoril, Singapore - just to name a few which are definitely not tired and where I have received decent upgrades and benefits as a "mid-tier" Platinum Ambassador. Prices vary by hotel and season, from bargain to sometimes maybe a little overpriced, and yes reward rates have inflated considerably over the past years. Nevertheless I would return to most of the Intercontinental hotels I have stayed in during the last few years in a heartbeat.

grandgourmand

If you stay at a higher end hotel at certain times of year and a higher room category, you can save well in excess of USD$150 annual cost of Ambassador renewal using BOGO.

The "when SPG dies" is based on the assumption that the program features that I currently value (namely the points that I use to transfer to airlines at a 25% bonus) will no longer be available. I have never used, nor do I plan to use, SPG points for hotel stays. SPG is still my primary chain, and IHG is my secondary chain. My action is to "plan ahead" for the change, get to know the secondary brand and form a base case wherein I will make my current secondary brand my primary brand. If Marriott does something to make the airline transfers more attractive than they are currently (their current one doesn't excite me for a variety of reasons) then this plan will change. But IHG's airline transfer sucks...what about that? I will be using the points for hotels, simple as that. Change in consumption pattern.

Land-of-Miles

I look at this from the perspective of a SPG Plat but SPG is a much more consistent scheme and the non accruing points benefits, more the status benefits such as upgrades on revenue and award stays, club access at all properties, free breakfast etc. are what I value.

If all you care about is racking up points for hotel stays where you might very well get no more than a base room then IHG is the perfect scheme for you.

I however care more about the status benefits and the quality of where I stay and the room type I stay in when I am there so currently have 1.3M unspent IHG points which I don't really value at all. I would trade them all in a heartbeat for 200k SPG.

The BOGO vouchers are pretty worthless unless you stay in very high end rooms when they do start to have some value but even then you can normally get a much better rate by booking well ahead and using the best local promo rates. The IC collection is the best of IHG but it's footprint is far too small to be an effective choice and I am not really sure that the value for Regular AMB is there because in many cases you could stay at a better property that wasn't an IC for less money.

If I really gave up on Starwood and Hilton as my primary chains I would probably flip to hotels.com for the best value accrual or just outright airline mileage accrual (no points) on my chain stays.

KevinS

I've got SPG lifetime Plat, Hyatt Globalist about 1/2way to Lifetime, and IHG Spire Elite & Ambassador. Each chain definitely has it's own perks, but I found myself increasingly hitting IHG for a few reasons.
Short version: IHG is really easy to earn & use points, has massive selection of properties across spectrum of cost, so I can rack up points at midrange hotels while on the road for work then redeem them for some nice older properties in great cities for leisure travel. That's pretty much what I want personally from a programme, so is a winner in my book.

* massive mid-range availability in any geography in US. I think you'd be hard pressed to find an area in the US where there was an SPG or Hyatt but not an IHG property. They are freaking everywhere, and often reasonably priced aka within my expense account budget. And while the nice HI / HIX isn't as good in my view as a Hyatt Place, it matches against a Courtyard pretty evenly. And there are occasional really nice properties in their mid range, like CP in Orange County is as nice as any Sheraton.

* those 'mid range' properties are great in EMEA / APAC. When working overseas in glamourous cities, most of the premier chains have high end hotel, but not much else, while the IHG offerings are quite nice and reasonable; Paris was an excellent example with 8 or 9 HI/HIX properties, and quite nice, new and/or in great locations.

* IC properties are lower high end, but a bargain. I can stay at IC Mark Hopkins atop Nob Hill in SFO, a swank lovely older hotel, with all the Ambassador benefits, for less than a Westin, let alone a Le Meridien or Luxury Collection. Same in NYC, Singapore, all sorts of places.

* partner properties in LAS. Until Hyatt did whatever the murky MGM match is, the options were Hyatt Place or the Westin just off the strip. Although the partnership with Hyatt opened up a ton of properties, I don't think they are full status/point shares, and the pricing seems really high. Over at IHG meanwhile, I can redeem points for suites at the Venetian or Palazzo, with a membership lounge with an open bar at no charge.

* the flood of points. A lot of people in this thread have called out the point devaluation in that IHG keep raising threshold for redemption. I see this counterbalanced by the absolute deluge of points they drown any loyal traveller with. Although you can't game the system any longer by slamming every 4digit number into the award generator any longer and making Plat in 3 stays (ah, the good old days), they are still heavyhanded with point awards. Each quarter is a minimum of 25k-30k bonus points from bonus programmes, and they have all kinds of accelerators: between the credit card, a few stays a month, and all the bonus offers, is just a firehose. I've stayed 7 stays, 8 nights in May/Jun which earned me just over 75k points; I have almost 1.2m pts right now, and that's after burning several free award stays in Mar/Apr, and they're throwing free nights at me on anniversary, for credit card, etc. I literally can't use the points fast enough. I'm cruising the auctions regularly now, just to get some of these points out of my account.

Land-of-Miles

The problem with the points is that you can quite often get a basic room and nothing else for award stays and even then capacity is tightly controlled at circa 1% of inventory. Obviously some properties will do better than this but that is unpredictable and even past behaviour is not a great predictor for future behaviour as multiple threads here show.

IHG can only work if you are prepared to accept no upgrade, no lounge access, a basic room on redemptions, no on property benefits to speak of apart from what I would describe as dubious upgrades at IC's if you pay extra for AMB.

My personal priorities for a good Hotel programme are the following in order

1. Good on property status benefits - suite upgrades, lounge access etc.
2. As per 1) but on redemption stays
3. A good portfolio of higher end properties
4. Opportunities to use points for airline points and other redemption opportunities at good rates
5. Basic hotel room redemptions

I have only stuck with IHG as long as I have because RA gives me much although not all of the above at places I like to stay plus a few other things too.

Without RA IHG is a very poor programme for my needs and anyone who doesn't put 5 above first (because for non RA members staying only at IC's 1 to 4 just don't happen with enough predictability or frequency). For anyone without status at other chains and happy booking and staying in basic rooms only then it really is a no brainer but for many of us hotel status has a much higher value at other chains than racking up hotel points for stays in basic rooms with no benefits.

I never, ever want to stay in a basic hotel room, actually I never ever really want to stay in a HI or HIX least of all when I am travelling for leisure and that wipes out 2/3 of the IHG portfolio.

I think IHG only works as a substitute for SPG if you are a regular Aloft/4P guest and hardly ever do the upper end brands like Sheraton Grande, SR, LC, W etc.

yurtripper

+1000 to Land-of-Miles for absolutely nailing it in the two previous posts.

The only killer feature I could see from IHG's program was the Points Break promos but now this has effectively turned into a HI/HIX only deal it is far less enticing. No disrespect to places like Dabrowa Gornicza in Poland, it looks like one of the nicest and best run HIs around, but staying there on a reward redemption is not exactly the stuff that dreams are made of, so what is the point of putting places like this in a Points Break promo?

I have Platinum Ambassador but I see no real value in it. I'm just building up points that little bit faster in a program where they're increasingly hard to redeem in worthwhile locations. I'd also happily exchange 1M odd IHG points to 200K SPG without a moment's hesitation.

davidw70

I've read this thread with interest as most of my stays are for leisure and SPG has become my main programme over the past few years with IHG as a backup.

This is because in a lot of cases, SPG properties have tended to be in better locations for where I want to be. Add to this, the guaranteed lounge access or breakfast is a real benefit. Finally, I've had some great successes with upgrades (although nothing particularly exciting so far this year).

The Marriott status matching was a superb piece of marketing (shame IHG couldn't copy that with Kimpton) and has got me to try out some Marriott properties which have been quite impressive (including a great suite upgrade at the JW Marriott in San Antonio last week).

Saying all of this, where IHG properties are in good locations (in particular, Intercontinental, Indigo or CP in Europe), I prefer IHG. I've found them to be slightly cheaper which helps offset the free breakfast (just left San Francisco where the IC was cheaper than Westin St Francis - and IC is a far superior hotel). On top of this, the point earning is far better at IHG and thanks to FT, I know which hotels look after redemptions well.

Kimpton has been confirmed as joining IHG Rewards next year (in a recent Skift interview with Kimpton's CEO) and this willl making the choice of primary programme very difficult. I have LTG with SPG so I guess it all depends on how Marriott treat this in the new programme (and wouldn't be nice if IHG rewarded long-term loyalty?).

One additional point I originally forgot to mention - SPG/Marriott have the Luxury Collection, Design Hotels, Tribute Portfolio and Autograph. Unfortunately, IHG only has an equivalent of 65 Kimpton properties (plus a few ICs that could easily be in the Luxury Collection plus the odd unbranded CP like Z Ocean).

rbAA

Well, that's certainly not true in every case, though maybe at run-of-the-mill US HI's that you don't stay at regularly. If you stay frequently at a particular property, they're usually pretty good about offering benefits. I have gotten great UPG's on awards and always get the 500 Welcome points. Of course, lounge and breakfast (except at HIX) are not included, but can usually negotiate those. As Spire, min 15% off and usually can get 50% at most properties.

Land-of-Miles

The point is though that what I would call real loyalty schemes such as Hilton, SPG and Marriott do not have this random nature apart from the bizarre nature of resorts at the latter. Whether redemption or paid benefits are the same.

Why would many make leisure stays somewhere they stay a lot on revenue? Don't most of us want the time we spend away on business to give us tangible holiday rewards?

I know a range of properties that go above and beyond the minimum but they could all change tomorrow and you never entirely know where you stand at a property you stay at for the first time.

This is profoundly unsatisfactory and has a marked impact on my stay pattern with IHG. I make little effort to stay at any brand beyond IC as it is the only brand with tangible benefits for me.

ElmhurstNick

I'm surprised by some of the dismissiveness towards anything but the top of the line brands. While I'm Kimpton Inner Circle and focus on that for cities where they have a property, for most smaller cities and suburban travel I'd much rather have the space than the faux-concierge and the mediocre on-site restaurant.

I'm a big fan of Staybridge for IHG and Homewood and (if I'm alone) Home2Suites for Hilton. Elite status doesn't mean much for any of these three properties for on-site benefits, only for earning bonuses. Many times if I'm taking a long weekend someplace on a driving trip, I'm working from the hotel room for 3-4 hours and then have the rest of the day to myself, and I prefer the room layout and the full refrigerator and microwave.

rbAA

OK that is logical. However, I'm staying for leisure purposes, so high season, i.e. in Phuket in January or San Clemente now for the 4th of July, I prefer to use points rather than the up to 2x room rates. Still getting the UPG's on awards.

Agreed that things can change rapidly, as one of my favorites-HI San Clemente that always gave me a top floor (OK so only 3 floor but it's on a small hill) with large jacuzzi tub and balcony with an ocean view- just reflagged after I made my award res.

As always, it depends on what you like.

Land-of-Miles

You can't depend upon getting upgrades on reward stays ever with IHG (in fact you can't really count upon upgrades on paid stays), it is a big programme failing.

My experience (and deliberate choice) tends to be to use awards only at places which would treat me decently but at any IHG property (beyond IC for AMB and beyond) ever has to do is give you your welcome gift and that's it. I also follow the same pattern for my paid stays, so properties which I once used a lot and really enjoyed (e.g. the CP LHR) I stopped staying at once they effectively stopped giving real upgrades and club access to Spire/RA.

Plenty of properties will stick to the no upgrade rule to, or snap back to it when they were once more generous. You never quite know where you stand unless you are content with the minimum rules which is no upgrade.

These are just not problems you encounter in competing programmes like SPG, Marriott (resorts aside) and Hilton, where you always seem to get a fair crack of the upgrade whip on redemptions plus hard benefits like Breakfast and club access guaranteed.

rbAA

I know, really can't count on many things in life or hotel programs. Maybe I'm just lucky or have the good ju-ju with IHG. My last two SPG stays, Westin Dulles (weekend) resulted in no UPG, though they do include breakfast plus 500 PLT amneity, and Sheraton TS I used SNA's, again breakfast was included in the Club-which I found to be only slightly better than a HIX breakfast- and drinks were way overpriced. NYC?

With IHG, I've gotten more and better UPG's than any other program, except when using UPG devices-Hyatt's DSU, SPG's SNA etc. Can't explain other than to say I'm well informed on what's available for UPG and don't mind asking.

Land-of-Miles

With other chains you can see if they have rooms available for sale and push for an upgrade IHG don't really promise you an upgrade under any circumstances so whilst you may have a good run an individual properties can and will do things they may change their mind and you can have no reliance on elite status to secure you any upgrade chain wide (beyond AMB and IC). Basically no non QIC has to give you anything beyond a few points and a drink voucher. You may be happy that your own experience is better than this but you can't ever depend on that if showing up somewhere new (or finding somewhere you have stayed before has changed their interpretation of the rules).

rbAA

OK, I'm basically agreeing with you...The "promises" of other chains are usually best room in the category booked, plus club or lounge access. Many hotels don't have clubs or lounges, so basically, nada really guaranteed.

I do check on availability at IHG properties of better rooms/suites, as you suggested for other chains. It's all the same really. You get what you pay for or, sometimes, ask for.

Even properties I've never stayed in before in the IHG group have UPG'd without much prompting, i.e. HI Chiang Mai gave me the top floor suite on a low rate stay; HIR Krabi gave a "penthouse" room with private pool on my first stay, even though I paid a low, off-season rate; HIR Mai Khao gave the swim up first floor Jr Suite my first stay, again lowest rate. Since then HIR Mai Khao has been giving me the same type even on awards. Not guaranteed, but consistently offered. When I lived in China the IC's, CP's and HI's regularly UPG'd me, even the HIX Zhabei gives me (real) suites.

So, my experience may be unusual, but then it is what it is.