uastarflyer

My guess is it can only be used on 40k or less hotels. That would make it on par with Marriott’s free cert T&C (Cat 1-5)

The new top tier card benefits do not mention the 10% reward night rebates. That would keep me on the $49 card.

seat38a

So essentially, the certificate is only good at a Holiday Inn Express. Hmmm

christianj

That is the way I understand it BUT I think they are limiting even some 40k hotels from redemptions based on what has been posted. I guess we need to wait and see if the "exclusions" list is correct or if the inclusion of a lot of the 40k properties was an error.

Finance_underling

There are two Intercontinentals (35K) in Seoul which will still be eligible under the new limit. Lowest cat rooms average $200.

br2k

I certainly did not, perhaps ignorance on my part, but not "everyone".

garygleck

All NYC hotels that are at 40,000 points are on the list, so they have essentially blacklisted NYC...

MegatopLover

Is there any indication that having the new higher-cost Premier card will give you an expanded list of eligible hotels? For example, if you go to the Premier level card, then you can use your free night at all hotels-- essentially raising the price of the current benefit from $49 to $89?

If the new card doesn't get you an expanded list of hotels, I would not see the value proposition.

mikesyr18

I'm not really sure how you didn't realize the potential of nerfing of a card that offered an unrestricted free night for $49/year.

exploreaswego

mikesyr18 is probably coming from a business perspective, that it's inevitable changes like these are imminent.
But at the same time, as a consumer, we would expect announcements (especially Chase) to slowly roll out the changes, at least 12 months so all recent applicants can at least enjoy this benefit for another year, instead of making it effective immediately in a matter of 1-2 months. My guess is this is more of how IHG does business instead of chase, will says a lot on how they value their rewards program and loyalty members compared to the other big chain programs.

exploreaswego

My guess is highly unlikely - by doing that it might meant more work for them to program issuing the difference of cert. And base on historical records, it would seem IHG would just standardize 1 type redemption cert across the board to save work load on their end.
Hey but then again, these are all speculations until the actual announcements are released.

Super Mario

Many of the big chains have devalued their rewards. Starwood is next. Mark these words.

Tony300S

Same here in NJ.

br2k

I take promises at a face value. If that's what was promised, than that is what I expect to be delivered. Perhaps I have too much faith in people/institutions. That said, life would be pretty hard if I expected everyone to not fulfill their promises.

BTW, wrote to Chase, expressing the view that what they (or IHG) are doing is, while perhaps legal, is neither fair nor ethical. Got a canned reply:
I find it curious that they prepared a reply for those who ask for an exception (I did not ). In any case, their argument of "we screwed everyone so you are not special either" is not particularly convincing. But now that we've had that discussion, I can safely cancel the card.

mikesyr18

I really hope you start reading the terms of your credit card agreements from here forward. Nowhere does it say, "we promise," anything when it comes to rewards and benefits. In fact, I can personally, 100% tell you it states something along the lines of "we may change the rewards program at any time."

A fair point here, like with what Citi did with the Prestige.

christianj

I certainly wouldn't think that anyone that has been around here for a while is surprised by this development or the fact that we all knew the gravy train would end at some time. I do think the way it was handled is not the best way to keep customers happy and most of all I am surprised that their new "higher-end" credit card offering is going to have the same 40k redemption restriction. I think a lot of people would have been ok with paying a higher annual fee to continue to get the certificates that wouldn't be category restricted. In the end it is what it is and I'll be closing my account when the annual fee becomes due. Sad really as I used to give IHG several nights a year but with the devaluations and now this change I will be clearing out my account and passing on any future stays with them.