Apr 30, 2019, 12:23 pm
Last edit by: craigthemif
A new season and a new IHG Accelerate 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.
Other than the tasks for redeeming points and point + cash reservations, tasks are generally very stackable. Enjoy the game of figuring out how to get the most out of the least amount of nights and money.
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/gb/en/offers/accelerate2019
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.
Other than the tasks for redeeming points and point + cash reservations, tasks are generally very stackable. Enjoy the game of figuring out how to get the most out of the least amount of nights and money.
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/gb/en/offers/accelerate2019
New Accelerate Promotion (May 01, 2019 - August 31, 2019
Jun 19, 2019, 2:45 pm
#241
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: YYZ
Programs: NEXUS, Aeroplan, SkyMiles, WestJet, IHG Platinum, IC Ambassador
Posts: 93
I'm an infrequent IHG customer, but my Accelerate offer actually has tempted me to shuffle summer travel stays toward IHG properties. I think it's a good offer, certainly for my travel patterns and needs.
12,000 - Discover Our Brands
Stay at 2 brands and get 12,000 bonus points
8,000 - Saturday Stays Bonus
Stay 2 weekend(s), including a Saturday night and another night, and earn 8,000 bonus points.
4,500 - Stay for Less and Earn
Book 1 stay(s) using Points & Cash and earn 4,500 bonus points. Points & Cash allows you to book Reward Nights with fewer points.
5,600 - Stay at 2 IHG® Hotels
Stay at 2 IHG® hotel(s) and earn 5,600 bonus points.
30,100 - Your Achievement Bonus
Complete 4 of the 4 offers and earn (an additional) 30,100 bonus points
So, basically, two two-night weekend stays at different brands, plus one Points and Cash booking, for 60,200 bonus points.
12,000 - Discover Our Brands
Stay at 2 brands and get 12,000 bonus points
8,000 - Saturday Stays Bonus
Stay 2 weekend(s), including a Saturday night and another night, and earn 8,000 bonus points.
4,500 - Stay for Less and Earn
Book 1 stay(s) using Points & Cash and earn 4,500 bonus points. Points & Cash allows you to book Reward Nights with fewer points.
5,600 - Stay at 2 IHG® Hotels
Stay at 2 IHG® hotel(s) and earn 5,600 bonus points.
30,100 - Your Achievement Bonus
Complete 4 of the 4 offers and earn (an additional) 30,100 bonus points
So, basically, two two-night weekend stays at different brands, plus one Points and Cash booking, for 60,200 bonus points.
8,400 - Discover Our Brands
5,600 - Saturday Stays Bonus
5,600 - Stay at 2 IHG Hotels
6,600 - Earn More, Faster (book 2 Bonus Points Package stays)
I find it interesting that my "Discover our Brands" and "Saturday Stays Bonus" tasks offered fewer bonus points than yours did. And I don't seem to have an offer to receive added bonus points for completing all 4 challenges. Oh well, that's the nature of "personalised" promos I guess.
Jun 21, 2019, 12:11 pm
#243
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: SFO
Posts: 506
As a data point for you to decide if it's time to escalate, I completed 2 of my Accelerate tasks with a 2-day stay at an HIX this past weekend (Friday and Saturday night stay). The points (including the Accelerate task bonus points) posted to my account by Tuesday morning and my Accelerate dashboard was updated accordingly.
I should note that this is my first time actually taking part in the Accelerate promo so I have no prior experience to gauge this against.
I should note that this is my first time actually taking part in the Accelerate promo so I have no prior experience to gauge this against.
Jun 22, 2019, 5:14 am
#244
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2003
Programs: UA 1K 1MM (finally!), IHG AMB-Spire, HH Diamond
Posts: 60,152
Typically my stay based tasks post quickly - 3-5 days. Things like stay at 2 brands, do a 4 night stay, etc
Hiw long does the “pay for a stay with your IHG MasterCard” take to post? Is it linked to your CC monthly closing date? Anyone know?
Hiw long does the “pay for a stay with your IHG MasterCard” take to post? Is it linked to your CC monthly closing date? Anyone know?
Jun 22, 2019, 3:08 pm
#245
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: flyover country
Posts: 2,434
Jun 23, 2019, 11:50 am
#246
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Los Angeles, California
Programs: IHG Diamond Elite, Hilton Diamond, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 3,531
As soon as the stay posts. No, it is not linked to your credit card closing date. I had this task in the previous Accelerate.
Jun 23, 2019, 11:46 pm
#248
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: California
Programs: American, SWA, United, IHG,Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott
Posts: 1,840
Last qtr I got a crappy 2X only. I didn’t stay with ihg at all. This qtr I got a decent promo.
Jun 24, 2019, 3:04 pm
#249
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2003
Programs: UA 1K 1MM (finally!), IHG AMB-Spire, HH Diamond
Posts: 60,152
Jun 25, 2019, 3:27 pm
#251
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Miami, Florida
Programs: AA ExPlat, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Spire, Hilton Gold
Posts: 4,009
I assume the new promo should, as usual, have its own thread, so I started one here:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/inte...l#post31239335
Last edited by joe_miami; Jun 25, 2019 at 3:33 pm
Jun 26, 2019, 9:08 am
#252
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: ORF
Programs: Amex Plat, AA, BA Silver, Marriott Plat, Choice Gold, HHonors Gold, IHG Diamond
Posts: 3,749
I have received credit for the 4.5K bonus points in my account and have canceled the reservation. The 4.5K bonus, the 5K used, and the 5K purchased have been placed in my account. Now, I'll wait to see if the 4.5K gets clawed back and the completed task rescinded. If not, I'm ahead of the game; if not, I bought 5K points, spent $40 to test my theory, and still have nearly two months to book and complete a C&P stay.
Jun 26, 2019, 12:49 pm
#253
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: RSW
Programs: Delta - Silver; UA - Silver; HHonors - Diamond; IHG - Spire Ambassador; Marriott Bonvoy - Titanium
Posts: 14,185
I did a Points + Cash redemption and stay in early May that should have netted me 4500 points. To date, my dashboard remains bare. So, the other day I wrote to customer service, receiving this reply yesterday:
My name is... and I'm happy to help you with your Ambassador Spire Elite account.
I see that you're looking for your points from Stay for Less and Earn offer.
I'm sorry we're unable to post the points now because we're having issues on our system. Don't worry, we'll keep your account monitored. Once the issue is fixed, we'll post your points right away.
My name is... and I'm happy to help you with your Ambassador Spire Elite account.
I see that you're looking for your points from Stay for Less and Earn offer.
I'm sorry we're unable to post the points now because we're having issues on our system. Don't worry, we'll keep your account monitored. Once the issue is fixed, we'll post your points right away.
Jun 26, 2019, 1:11 pm
#254
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: ORF
Programs: Amex Plat, AA, BA Silver, Marriott Plat, Choice Gold, HHonors Gold, IHG Diamond
Posts: 3,749
I did a Points + Cash redemption and stay in early May that should have netted me 4500 points. To date, my dashboard remains bare. So, the other day I wrote to customer service, receiving this reply yesterday:
My name is... and I'm happy to help you with your Ambassador Spire Elite account.
I see that you're looking for your points from Stay for Less and Earn offer.
I'm sorry we're unable to post the points now because we're having issues on our system. Don't worry, we'll keep your account monitored. Once the issue is fixed, we'll post your points right away.
My name is... and I'm happy to help you with your Ambassador Spire Elite account.
I see that you're looking for your points from Stay for Less and Earn offer.
I'm sorry we're unable to post the points now because we're having issues on our system. Don't worry, we'll keep your account monitored. Once the issue is fixed, we'll post your points right away.
You'd think it should either work or not work pretty equally across different members, but clearly that is not the case.
Jun 27, 2019, 1:28 am
#255
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Montreux CH
Programs: FB Platinum, M&M FTL, BA Blue
Posts: 11,606
Completed a few tasks over the weekend, namely the book 2 bonus points packages one and the book with points and cash one. I haven't ha anything credit to my account yet, and the Accelerate page shows zero progress. I thought these things posted at the same time as the regular points for the stay, so the task page updated itself immediately. Or has something changed, which will now require manual intervention?
Although everything posted correctly in terms of the points for the stays (including 1,000 bonus points each time for the bonus points packages) I had a bit of a struggle with the bill for the Holiday Inn Express Bridgewater, SW England, at checkout. Somehow the girl had added 13 pints of beer to my bill (I had had one free one with the gold member drink voucher and one paid one). I guess she typed the thing in wrong, but just as well I am checking everything before signing off on the credit card. In the end, the manager waived the lot. Then I had to politely struggle with the DCC scam, where they were insisting on billing me in Swiss francs (the currency of my card) whereas I wanted to pay in English pounds. New hotel, teething troubles?
By the way, you've ordered a drink or two and you want to charge it to your room (to get more points or for convenience). Just make sure you check the paper slip they bring to your table before signing it.
Although everything posted correctly in terms of the points for the stays (including 1,000 bonus points each time for the bonus points packages) I had a bit of a struggle with the bill for the Holiday Inn Express Bridgewater, SW England, at checkout. Somehow the girl had added 13 pints of beer to my bill (I had had one free one with the gold member drink voucher and one paid one). I guess she typed the thing in wrong, but just as well I am checking everything before signing off on the credit card. In the end, the manager waived the lot. Then I had to politely struggle with the DCC scam, where they were insisting on billing me in Swiss francs (the currency of my card) whereas I wanted to pay in English pounds. New hotel, teething troubles?
By the way, you've ordered a drink or two and you want to charge it to your room (to get more points or for convenience). Just make sure you check the paper slip they bring to your table before signing it.
Last edited by Concerto; Jun 27, 2019 at 1:35 am Reason: more info
