rupert_s

Love it..when something goes well they pull it..

F&F coming to an end?

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/6c/...0305-_-EMC1214

uk1

Actually they haven't closed it yet, and it's hard to see what the abuse was - except this person mentioned the incentive!

I suspect that the link you had linked to was the same that Martin Lewis included in his web page and news letter. It was for a UK based employee who clearly thought she was doing what her employers wanted. Martin Lewis's newsletter would have been very wideley distributed and it was prominent on his web-site.

The abuse was perhaps that unlike the people who posted their links in this and other threads - he said right up front that he would get points (that he stated that he would convert into a party) if people booked through his page.

As Martin Lewis put it "every one wins". Except that is that I guess IHG didn't like the customers knowing that whilst staff were telling the punters that they were sharing the offer out of friendship (this was a part of the viral marketing experiment) they were in fact making money.

Martin Lewis has said on his site that the offer is now closed - but it isn't. All other links I have tried are still open.

Raffles

The link I have is still working fine.

rupert_s

Turns out it was - the link on the first page of this thread still works..

rmccamman

Some links are broke but the link already posted of http://www.ihgfriendsandfamily.com/dhcwp2 is still working

Astriker

There are many out there, you could also use http://tinyurl.com/ihgffr for easy reference. I would follow steps 1,3, then 2, fill out the voucher after you find the hotel. Still have a month to book!

Boraxo

To summarize for anyone new here, the main drawbacks with this discount are:

(1) 100% non-refundable - you book it, you pay immediately.
(2) No IC points (apparently some rare exceptions) - but isn't that why we're all here?!
(3) No use of BOGO certs
(4) Theoretical provision of RA and Ambassador benefits but no confirmation of actual practice.

I was considering this rate for Chicago (avg. $120/nt for my dates) but with 4* priceline running $55-80 I will probably opt for the latter. If I don't get points and have to prepay might as well save a LOT.

P.S. This is not meant to dis' OP - thanks very much for sharing as obviously a lot of people have benefited.

jpdx

I have received points/stay credits and RA benefits on five F&F stays now, and I have no doubt that these hotels would also have accepted a BOGO. I think the appropriate warning is: You are not supposed to receive points, and although the odds of receiving points are pretty good, there won't be any recourse if you don't.

As for RA benefits, I would not accept a hotel's refusal to provide RA benefits with this rate (but others may be more easily bullied).

That's the problem with this poorly designed and implemented promo. If IHG truly doesn't want to honor program benefits, why should I pay a premium to book one of their hotels, rather than just using Priceline or a competitor's sale? Four of the ICs I stayed at in the past month (Montelucia, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bora Bora) seemed to have occupancy rates well below 50%. All of them were desperate (30-50% off spa rates, deserted and "temporarily" closed restaurants, etc). Shouldn't IC do anything they can in order to get me to choose their hotels over their competitors? Astriker, assuming you really are an IC employee, are you aware of what your competition does in the places I just listed? Of course it's wrong that I can stay in a harborview Junior Suite at the IC HK for barely more than $150 (USD) a night (RA upgrade with BOGO), but wouldn't you rather have me stay here than at the Sheraton across the street?

Happy

Since you mentioned Sheraton, as a reference point, a friend is booked at Sheraton using the TRUE Friend and Family rate that requires a letter signed by the employee's manager. The regular room is at USD89 per night. He has 0 status, so 0 perk.

OT: I just realized IC HK is the old Regent which was built in 1980, then changed to IC in 2001 with a 40 million rennovation.

htb

That's exactly my feeling as well... If I can't expect to receive nor benifits nor points I'll just save some more money and stay accross the street.

HTB.

unfrequentflyer

at the current F&F rate US$150 wouldn't even get you a harbour view room with RA upgrade.

Junior Suite in IC HKG is just a bigger room. It is still smaller than a deluxe room at NYC Barclay. if you don't really need a view, the Holiday Inn is just 5 min walk from IC HKG and it is a lot cheaper.

1/2 block away from HI there is a new Hyatt. IC HKG will see some real compitition when Hyatt opens in November. That hotel is so tall I swear if I am standing on the roof I can see God. I am sure Hyatt will have a huge promotion in year end to make sure it doesn't open to a 40% occupancy rate. I have already email them to find out if my favorite restaurant reopen with them.

jpdx

I am currently at the IC HK, and -using the regular Advance Purchase rate for a harbor view room of HKD 2,467.50, not the F&F rate- received a RA upgrade to a harbor view Junior Suite. Using a BOGO, this translates to about US$160/night, which is a pretty amazing deal for what you describe as "just a bigger room."

uk1

He is indeed really an IHG employee.

As his role in the Atlanta office is about counting US property revenue, it is sadly unlikely that he will have an interest in your views of the competetiveness of the properties you mentioned and it transpires that his sole interest in this thread was to post his link - and subsequent reminder - to his IHG F&F promo competition page for personal gain (without of course mentioning it!) for the most bookings through the page he linked to. It transpires that there are some valuable employee benefits for those that get most hits resulting in bookings etc but IHG seem reticent for employees to mention this as indeed they are reticent to mention the limitations of the offer.

As others have said this promo is a great promo assuming people take some trouble to compare it with alternative rates and make themselves fully aware of the potential limitations that IHG seem so reticent to warn Ambassadors and RAs about so that their choice is fully informed. Luckilly FT'ers will know about the potential limitations whereas sadly the majority of Ambassadors and RAs who are non-ft'ers are only likely to find out when they arrive at the check-in.

sven60035

I got this link via 3 different directions, one via FT (the one from astriker), one via a newsletter (you know what I am talking about) and one from a friend via his social networking site.

Now the one via the social networking site was very clear that he gains something out of this and that there are limitations to what I can expect in terms of room upgrade (none), bogo (no way) and points (none).

Some people giving their personal link here also were sort of forthcoming that they might gain something other were not.

I found that when I talked to my friend that he was willing to investigate and came back with the answers fast.

I think I learned that IC could have been clearer in the public postings as to what RA's can expect and what not (for example they could have posted that on the T&C page) and also that they might have been clearer to point out what they are doing.

Having said that, I am now in my 2nd F&F stay and again the RA benefits that I expected after talking to my friend did apply (minibar etc.) but as a surprise to me, the upgrade also did apply. When I asked I got advised, that they did not even know it's a F&F rate, they only did know it's a fully prepaid reservation and were wondering how I got such a huge discount. But they did not downgrade me or gave me the original room, they kept the upgrade.

I have 3 more stays on the F&F rate coming up (with nearly 50% discount in some places) and I'm sure I am also going to enjoy them.

I learned that I should always ask my friend because after all he gave me the link.

Having said that, given how empty the hotels right now are it's not wonder that IC is doing these promotions.

I hope that this promotion will continue for a while despite not getting points for me it's a lot of spontaneous travel.

uk1

My experience looks like it's going to mirror yours.

I have a tendency to contact IC's in advance of booking and ask "if I want to achieve an upgrade to this suite what do I need to book". Then once I've booked I then forward the reference and ask them to note the agreed upgrade. So far it seems to have worked on all of my forward bookings and it's my impression - like yours that they seem to appreciate that the rate is lower but not about restrictions. Like you, my sole objection is any element of uncertainty which isn't welcome.