Good answer. Most programs really don't show when your miles expire - they just tell you how long it takes them to expire (1 year, 2 years, etc.) when you sign up for the program. I'm guessing they're counting on at least some people losing points because they don't keep track of them/assume they won't expire. So, basically you just have to keep track of when your last IHG hotel stay was, unless of course you have the credit card (or get IHG points via credit card, e-rewards, etc...)

Thanks. Based in Canada.
Last transaction was back in 2013 when I was still Plat and have stopped using them since moving onto SPG. So I assume I was dropped down to Club level sometime last year. And then 2015 would be when my 1 year of inactivity.

Any easy way to post some activity to it in Canada?

I could be wrong, so someone may want to verify this for me, but possibly purchasing a small amount of points or "buying" points using e-rewards or e-miles currency (I think those programs also exist in Canada?) might do it.

If you search either the milebuzz or the IHG forum, you should find a thread about taking an IHG survey. Success gets you a small amount of points, which would be enough to keep it alive. Thats' assuming the surveys are still active/valid.

For the short term:

If you're worried that your points could expire any day now, then you might want the fastest-acting activity possible. That would be either buying points (in the US you can buy 1000 points plus possibly a bonus right now for USD$13.50) or donating points (in the US you can donate as little as 2500 points to IHG Shelter In A Storm). Log into your account and see what the options for buying or (under Redeem) donating are for you in Canada, and see if one of those would work for you. Those should create activity nearly instantly.

The problem with surveys and such is that, AFAIK, they're far from instant, they may take several weeks or longer to post to your IHG account.

For the long term (so you never have this short term worry again):


Take a look at this thread (in the IHG forum):
If I understand correctly, this card (or at least one version of it, in case there are multiple versions) has no annual fee and gives you Gold status. While not quite as good as Plat status, it's better than Club status, in that being Gold keeps your points from expiring. Of course, you have to keep a card with no annual fee itself "alive" (to keep the bank from cancelling it for "inactivity") by using it at least once or twice a year, and that'll earn you IHG activity too (just in case Gold status weren't enough).

It's a long time since I did those IHG surveys, or as I recall now they might have been a list of multiple choice questions, but the points posted immediately upon completion.

I found the relevant thread:-
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/inter...ub-survey.html
.....however all the links to the various surveys are now dead, so no help for this matter.

Sorry, yes, surveys from IHG itself (since it's IHG itself), that may be fast when/if it exists, but I was referring mostly to the third-party surveys from the e-whatever companies mentioned in other posts above. They still exist, but i doubt they're as fast to post.

Thanks all. I done all the IHG surveys available prior to 2013. Unless there has been any new ones (which I don't think), or the ability to do it a second time, it won't work.

I actually have more than $400 in eRewards that I was planning to transfer to AS/AA in the future. I logged in just now....and checked. Unfortunately IHG isn't one of the option. Aside from airlines, etc, the only hotel I can choose is Choice Privileges.

Maybe I'll shoot IHG an email before proceeding with the buy/donate option.

IHG just announced in April of 2015 that they were going to implement the policy of points expiring after 1 year of inactivity, effective that date. So, no points will expire until May of 2016. So, you have some time to generate some activity to keep your points from expiring.

Many programs unfortunately do not show when you expiry date is. That's why this thread exists. The Wiki explains that your expiry is 1 year from your last IHG Club Rewards activity. Unfortunately, the IHG website only shows the last 180 days of activity, not the last year. It does show a calendar year-to-date of points earned, but that's not the "last year" either except once a year.

Awesome, thanks! Yeah...I thought I recall they don't expired...guess this is a fairly recent policy.

Maybe I'll just sign up for the no AF credit card in April / May :)

I just checked my e-rewards account and IHG is a redemption option...maybe it's not one for you because you're canada based? Do you have an e-miles account? The workaround I often use is to buy e-miles via e-rewards and then use that for amazon gift cards and other things I can't get via e-rewards. You could do that with IHG...

E-rewards members who were "invited" by a certain airline/ hotel are usually blocked from redeeming for competitors' points/ miles! So some are limited to that one airline but they may redeem for any hotel points, while others are vice-versa. So it sounds like Jordan was invited by Choice Privileges.

Added Philippine Airlines (PR) Mabuhay Miles.

See also http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...l#post25738460

Added Korean Skypass, which is an interesting one: While it's got a hard expiry, it's a very long one (10 years).