bigcahonna

I signed up pretty late for the match (July 24th). I am a currently a Platinum and I am matching with Marriott Titanium. The original post said only 2,500 members will be matched to Spire. Has anyone with a late submission (within the past week) been matched to Spire?

Also, for the # of nights requirement - can 3rd party bookings be used to meet the requirement or would reservations have to be made directly with IHG?

itisme

Ofcourse you have to be booking directly for the requirements.

bigcahonna

Has anyone done the # of required nights - if so, can you confirm whether reward nights count?

joe_miami

Wondering the same, both for points nights and the CC free night. All I've seen is one report that the CC free night doesn't count.

GentleGiant

I believe that you can maintain Spire Elite by spending a certain amount or base points (?) instead of the 10 nights.

Does anyone know this figure(s).

milesforhire

I'd be interesting in knowing this too.

itisme

I did the 5 nights. Without reward one tho. But no confirmation of any kind aswell that i finished the 'challenge' or any way to check that they extended the membership dates either. E-mailed them over a week ago but not even a response from their CS.... Bad first impression for sure...

sfvoyage

I'm a newbie to IHG. Sounds from this thread like Sphire Elite status is no big deal - no lounge access or free breakfast. Is that right? What about room upgrades - are they limited to regular rooms, excluding executive club floor rooms (if IHG has those) or entry-level/junior suites?

joe_miami

This is confusing, for sure, but if you stayed the required nights, IHG will honor it, without question. The IHG program year ends 12/31, so status presumably will update then, if not earlier.

Not sure if Spire get priority handling, but my emails to IHG have been answered very quickly since I did the status match. Sounds like yours fell through the cracks somehow, or the reply ended up in your junk folder.

I've been upgraded to the best room in the hotel several times so far, but YMMV. Per reports here, IHG upgrades can be very property-dependent.

craigthemif

In terms of guaranteed benefits, Spire status gets you bonus points. Nothing more. Sometimes you will get a room upgrade or early check-in / late check-out.

If you are accustomed to the guaranteed benefits from the other chains, IHG Spire is a waste of your time. If you can't maintain status anywhere else, you might as well take the Spire and play the lottery with each IHG stay...

Stealthmode

I've been Spire Amb ever since the tier was introduced and have received some wonderful upgrades and lounge access at multiple locations, but as people have mentioned it's never guaranteed... not even at IC's anymore. But I did decide to register my partner on his business address for the status match challenges so we can have the Spire benefits for two rooms per night at the same property, and a challenge it has been!

I can't even begin to count how many e-mails and phonecalls it took me to get the job done, some agents told me reward nights were qualifying, others even skipped revenue nights in their manual count, but in the end after 14 Elite Qualifying nights someone was kind enough to extend Spire Elite status until 12/2020... and then you get the survey asking "do you find it easy to work with IHG?", HELL NO ! But in the end we're happy with it, and his Spire status has already paid off at a couple of CP's and Indigo's.

bigcahonna

Has anybody done the required # of nights and see their Spire expiration date get extended?

jn in ca

I hate to sound obtuse, but where would I find the expiration date of my Spire status?

GentleGiant

Not yet.

Suspect I will need to message them.

joe_miami

You shouldn’t need to message them unless you notice you’re not Spire anymore.