Last edit by: beachmouse
A new year and a new IHG promotion. Answers to some Frequently Asked Questions below:
For newcomers to IHG promotions, note that Holiday Inn Express and Holiday Inn (including Holiday Inn Resorts) are two different brand categories for these things. If your dashboard says 'stay at a Holiday Inn Express' as one of the tasks and you stay at a Holiday Inn, it will NOT credit for the Holiday Inn Express task. (and vice versa)
For a task that says 'Stay X number of times at a Holiday Inn Express' (or Holiday Inn, Intercontinental, etc.) each stay must be at a different property for it to fully credit rather than staying at the same property multiple times.
An award stay only counts toward a task that specifically requires an award stay and will not count toward other tasks and night requirements for the purposes of the promotion. (Award stays do count toward general elite qualification, but that's outside this promotion)
'Redeem points' award nights only count for the 'redeem points' task and no other tasks. (example- an award night does not count toward 'Stay X number of nights')
At IHG, points + cash stays are simply points stays where you bought some of the points at the time of the reservation. Once you finish the reservation, a points + cash stay shows as a points stay. Thus points + cash stays only count for tasks where they are specified, and not other tasks.
Doing a points + cash booking and then cancelling it does NOT trigger a 'buy points' task completion. A 'buy points' task is a points transaction that is processed through points.com
The 'pay with your IHG credit card' task has typically been very slow to post. If it does within about two weeks of completing a stay, that's relatively quick, and it will often be several weeks beyond that, depending on when your statement closing date is and how IHG's system sweep is timed.
Some offers require booking within the promotion period in addition to staying during the promotion period.
Registration & dashboard link:
https://www.ihg.com/content/us/en/offers/multibrand2019
For newcomers to IHG promotions, note that Holiday Inn Express and Holiday Inn (including Holiday Inn Resorts) are two different brand categories for these things. If your dashboard says 'stay at a Holiday Inn Express' as one of the tasks and you stay at a Holiday Inn, it will NOT credit for the Holiday Inn Express task. (and vice versa)
For a task that says 'Stay X number of times at a Holiday Inn Express' (or Holiday Inn, Intercontinental, etc.) each stay must be at a different property for it to fully credit rather than staying at the same property multiple times.
An award stay only counts toward a task that specifically requires an award stay and will not count toward other tasks and night requirements for the purposes of the promotion. (Award stays do count toward general elite qualification, but that's outside this promotion)
'Redeem points' award nights only count for the 'redeem points' task and no other tasks. (example- an award night does not count toward 'Stay X number of nights')
At IHG, points + cash stays are simply points stays where you bought some of the points at the time of the reservation. Once you finish the reservation, a points + cash stay shows as a points stay. Thus points + cash stays only count for tasks where they are specified, and not other tasks.
Doing a points + cash booking and then cancelling it does NOT trigger a 'buy points' task completion. A 'buy points' task is a points transaction that is processed through points.com
The 'pay with your IHG credit card' task has typically been very slow to post. If it does within about two weeks of completing a stay, that's relatively quick, and it will often be several weeks beyond that, depending on when your statement closing date is and how IHG's system sweep is timed.
Some offers require booking within the promotion period in addition to staying during the promotion period.
Registration & dashboard link:
https://www.ihg.com/content/us/en/offers/multibrand2019
IHG 1Q 2019 Multi Brand Promo (15 JAN - 30 APR) - registration open
#166
Join Date: Jan 2009
Programs: Hilton Diamond, IHG Spire Ambassador, Radisson Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 3,621
My offers:
Discover Our Brands
Stay at 3 brands and get 14,400 bonus points.
Stay at Holiday Inn®
Stay at 2 Holiday Inn® hotel(s)—including Holiday Inn Resort® and Holiday Inn Club Vacations®—and earn 5,600 bonus points.
Saturday Stays Bonus
Stay 2 weekend(s), including a Saturday night and another night, and earn 3,200 bonus points.
Earn More, Faster
Earn 6,600 bonus points when you book 3 Bonus Points Package stay(s) and get to your next reward faster.
Stay a Little Longer
Earn 12,000 bonus points when you book 2 stay(s) of 4 or more consecutive nights.
Spend on your IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card
Book and pay for one stay with your IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card and earn 1,500 bonus points.
February Bonus Offer
Stay once in February and get 3,000 bonus points.
Discover Our Brands
Stay at 3 brands and get 14,400 bonus points.
Stay at Holiday Inn®
Stay at 2 Holiday Inn® hotel(s)—including Holiday Inn Resort® and Holiday Inn Club Vacations®—and earn 5,600 bonus points.
Saturday Stays Bonus
Stay 2 weekend(s), including a Saturday night and another night, and earn 3,200 bonus points.
Earn More, Faster
Earn 6,600 bonus points when you book 3 Bonus Points Package stay(s) and get to your next reward faster.
Stay a Little Longer
Earn 12,000 bonus points when you book 2 stay(s) of 4 or more consecutive nights.
Spend on your IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card
Book and pay for one stay with your IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card and earn 1,500 bonus points.
February Bonus Offer
Stay once in February and get 3,000 bonus points.
#167
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: NW London and NW Sydney
Programs: BA Diamond, Hilton Bronze, A3 Diamond, IHG *G
Posts: 6,343
I am trying to understand the requirement for bonus packages, as there are two options:
1. The regular bonus points package, as always
2. Option to purchase 1000, 2000, or 3000 points together with the reservation for $4.50/1000
Now my question is will a booking with the second option, when I pay extra $4.50 for 1000 points count towards the "bonus points package" activity, or this must be something marked as "Bonus Points PACKAGE"?
1. The regular bonus points package, as always
2. Option to purchase 1000, 2000, or 3000 points together with the reservation for $4.50/1000
Now my question is will a booking with the second option, when I pay extra $4.50 for 1000 points count towards the "bonus points package" activity, or this must be something marked as "Bonus Points PACKAGE"?
And with option 1 it also lets you buy an extra 1000 or 2000 points which appears to be equivalent to option 2 + 2000 or 3000.
#168
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: NW London and NW Sydney
Programs: BA Diamond, Hilton Bronze, A3 Diamond, IHG *G
Posts: 6,343
I noticed something unsettling - on the website my Achievement Bonus shows as COMPLETE 4 OF 5, but I got an email from IHG which says COMPLETE 4 OF 4.
Now I'm not sure whether I can skip one of them or whether 4 of 4 means the Feb offer (below the main ones) isn't counted??
Now I'm not sure whether I can skip one of them or whether 4 of 4 means the Feb offer (below the main ones) isn't counted??
#169
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: CPH
Programs: UAMP S, TK M&S E (*G), Marriott LTP, IHG P, SK EBG
Posts: 11,060
Mine is impossible if I don't travel - the closest IHG city is Hamburg and there are only 3 brands:Discover Our Brands
Stay at 4 brands and get 33,600 bonus points.
Saturday Stays Bonus
Stay 2 weekend(s), including a Saturday night and another night, and earn 8,400 bonus points.
Stay at 4 IHG® Hotels
Stay at 4 IHG® hotel(s) and earn 2,800 bonus points.
Earn More, Faster
Earn 6,600 bonus points when you book 2 Bonus Points Package stay(s) and get to your next reward faster.
Stay at 4 brands and get 33,600 bonus points.
Saturday Stays Bonus
Stay 2 weekend(s), including a Saturday night and another night, and earn 8,400 bonus points.
Stay at 4 IHG® Hotels
Stay at 4 IHG® hotel(s) and earn 2,800 bonus points.
Earn More, Faster
Earn 6,600 bonus points when you book 2 Bonus Points Package stay(s) and get to your next reward faster.
#170
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Montreux CH
Programs: FB Platinum, M&M FTL, BA Blue
Posts: 11,597
This is a dumb promotion this time round, really dumb. I have two bonus points bookings as a challenge and the two hotels at which I want to stay in early February don't offer bonus points packages (Valencia, Spain). Result? I went and booked a Lonely Planet recommendation in the city center using hotels.com. I would make that bit more effort if the points on offer were more than 40,000, but with the recent devaluations I think they are taking the mickey.
#171
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: SJC/SFO
Programs: WN A+ CP, UA 1MM/*A Gold, Mar LT Tit, IHG Plat, HH Dia
Posts: 6,284
I've decided I'm out for this promo. I'm not even going to try. To get the lion's share of the points offered I'd have to stretch pretty hard from my planned travel pattern. It's just not worth it. I've decided instead to spend Jan-Apr doing more Burn than Earn when it comes to hotel points... across all the programs I collect points with. With constant hotel inflation sapping the value of earned points it's time to get some points off the books!
#172
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Asia
Programs: IHG Spire, Accor Gold
Posts: 311
After not finishing the last two promos I now have my biggest offering ever, 52,800 base points + 52,800 completion bonus,
requiring 2x4n stays, 3 weekends, 4 brands, 2 IC's (so minimum 12 nights)...
And for the wife... 40,400 base + 20,200 completion bonus,
requiring 6 nights, 2 weekends, 2 bpp, 1 p+c, 3 brands and 2 hotels (so minimum 3 x 2n stays)
and if she stays 3 nights can keep the Gold membership for the rest of the year
[Given that she retained Gold at the end of 2018 I think the tasks were coded before mid-December]
requiring 2x4n stays, 3 weekends, 4 brands, 2 IC's (so minimum 12 nights)...
And for the wife... 40,400 base + 20,200 completion bonus,
requiring 6 nights, 2 weekends, 2 bpp, 1 p+c, 3 brands and 2 hotels (so minimum 3 x 2n stays)
and if she stays 3 nights can keep the Gold membership for the rest of the year
[Given that she retained Gold at the end of 2018 I think the tasks were coded before mid-December]
#173
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 144
Something odd is going on.
When I registered on Thursday (3rd Jan) my 'Achievment Bonus' was 'Complete 4 out of 5 offers to earn an additional 71,700 points (I took a screen print of it along with the tasks so have a hard copy).
Today it has changed to::
Your Achievement Bonus
When I registered on Thursday (3rd Jan) my 'Achievment Bonus' was 'Complete 4 out of 5 offers to earn an additional 71,700 points (I took a screen print of it along with the tasks so have a hard copy).
Today it has changed to::
Your Achievement Bonus
Complete 5 of the 5 offers and earn (an additional) 71,700 bonus points.
Has anyone else's number of tasks for the Achievement Bonus changed?
BM
Has anyone else's number of tasks for the Achievement Bonus changed?
BM
#174
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Montreux CH
Programs: FB Platinum, M&M FTL, BA Blue
Posts: 11,597
For me, among those tasks above, the killer is this weekend stay involving a Saturday and one other night. I am just not going to do that, or even go out of my way to do it. I don't think I ever did it, because I only had that task once before and I believe that there is only a certain level of inconvenience you should go to in order to complete these promotions. When I first participated in Accelerate (Into the Nights or something it was called back then) my target was something like 127,000 points, with reasonable goals. It was actually worth a bit of inconvenience, but nowadays the inconvenience is just not worth the reward (don't forget all the devaluations).
If I might make a suggestion, I believe IHG going forward should think about doing much more simplified versions of these promotions, along the lines of the current Hilton one: you get 2,000 points for each booking, and an extra 10,000 after each 5th stay. That is uncomplicated and drives bookings and business without the need to jump through all these silly circus hoops. I can't believe that these IHG promos really drive a lot of bookings any more. Most ordinary people can't be bothered with all the faff involved.
If I might make a suggestion, I believe IHG going forward should think about doing much more simplified versions of these promotions, along the lines of the current Hilton one: you get 2,000 points for each booking, and an extra 10,000 after each 5th stay. That is uncomplicated and drives bookings and business without the need to jump through all these silly circus hoops. I can't believe that these IHG promos really drive a lot of bookings any more. Most ordinary people can't be bothered with all the faff involved.
#175
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: SJC/SFO
Programs: WN A+ CP, UA 1MM/*A Gold, Mar LT Tit, IHG Plat, HH Dia
Posts: 6,284
If I might make a suggestion, I believe IHG going forward should think about doing much more simplified versions of these promotions, along the lines of the current Hilton one: you get 2,000 points for each booking, and an extra 10,000 after each 5th stay.
#176
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: UK
Programs: Mucci Chevalier de Actes Bénéfiques pour les Autres, BAEC Gold.
Posts: 1,477
About par for the course with ihg I am afraid.
BM
#177
Join Date: Feb 2012
Programs: HH Dia, IHG Dia Amb, MB Ti, WoH G, OWE
Posts: 270
This is a dumb promotion this time round, really dumb. I have two bonus points bookings as a challenge and the two hotels at which I want to stay in early February don't offer bonus points packages (Valencia, Spain). Result? I went and booked a Lonely Planet recommendation in the city center using hotels.com. I would make that bit more effort if the points on offer were more than 40,000, but with the recent devaluations I think they are taking the mickey.
#179
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: VPS
Programs: IHG Diamond, Delta PM, Hilton Gold, Accor Gold, Marriott Silver
Posts: 7,253