kellyl

As you may know, Kimpton became a part of the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG®) family of brands in 2015. Since then, we’ve been working together to determine the best way to bring Kimpton Karma Rewards and IHG® Rewards Club together, while continuing to provide the unique style and spirit that define the Kimpton experience. I’m happy to share that next year (early 2018) Kimpton Karma Rewards will become part of IHG® Rewards Clubwith a single reward points system, unlocking IHG’s portfolio of more than 5,200 hotels worldwide. And, what’s even more exciting, the special magic of Kimpton Karma will continue to live on with Kimpton exclusive offers, invitations to private Kimpton events, customized perks, and more. In short, the personalized recognition that is the heart of the Kimpton experience remains unchanged. The highlights of what you can look forward to starting in early 2018: • Access to a full range of IHG Rewards Club benefits, like redeeming points at more than 5,200 hotels and hundreds of great partners (hello, concert tickets to your favorite band!), and things you’ve been asking for: online reward redemption, no blackout dates on Reward Nights and international destinations. Additionally, members will now have access to the award-winning IHG® App, providing an easy way to search, book, redeem and manage membership details. • Earn points and redeem rewards across any of IHG’s 12 global hotel brands, including Kimpton® Hotels & Restaurants, InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Holiday Inn®, Holiday Inn Express®, Holiday Inn® Resort, Holiday Inn Club Vacations®, HUALUXE® Hotels & Resorts, EVEN® Hotels, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites®, and Crowne Plaza®. • Every valid Kimpton Karma Reward Night will convert into IHG Rewards Club Reward Nights in your new account and may be redeemed at any IHG property worldwide. Progress on your Karma Reward Night accrual will be converted into IHG Rewards Club points. • When staying at any Kimpton hotel, you will earn 10 IHG Rewards Club points for every qualified dollar spent*. • An IHG Rewards Club account will automatically be created for you, replacing your existing Kimpton Karma Rewards account. If you already have an IHG Rewards Club account, we’ll merge your Karma Rewards account with it. • Your new IHG Rewards Club membership level will be based on your Kimpton Karma tier status at the time of our two programs coming together. We’ve broken it down for you here. • Inner Circle will remain as an invitation-only tier within IHG Rewards Club Spire Elite. In early 2018, you can continue to enjoy your Inner Circle status and all the benefits when you check into a Kimpton hotel, as well as the benefits of Spire Elite. • The Inner Circle specific perks and welcome amenity will only be offered at Kimpton, but you can expect other special perks as a Spire Elite member when you stay at other IHG hotels.Now, take a look at your profile, make sure all of your visits are reflected and your account details (name, address, etc.) are all up to date.I’m sure you’ll have some questions, and when you do, we’re here to answer them. Our goal is to make this transition as smooth and seamless as possible. Email us at [email protected]. In the meantime, you can learn more about how IHG Rewards Club and Kimpton Karma Rewards are coming together here. We’re excited about the future of loyalty at Kimpton and the incredible collection of global IHG brands and partners, and hope you are too! We truly couldn’t do what we do without your support and passion for Kimpton and we thank you for your continued loyalty. As an Inner Circle member, you are always at the forefront of our minds as we work to evolve our program to make it the best program that it can be.Cheers,Maggie Lang
Senior Director, Guest Experience + Loyalty
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants

mpw81

That'll do it for me. I'll maximize my IC for the next 14 months, but I can't do 75 nights anywhere, let alone with one hotel group.

I understand the reasoning behind it and I don't fault them, but I'm sure there are plenty of IC members who will get lost in the transition because they aren't road warriors.

dw

What an e-mail to wake up to this morning. Though we all knew it was coming, and I suppose we should be grateful that Kimpton Karma remained a separate program for as long as it did and that they are at least still keeping IC.

I think the biggest hit will be to most of us ICs... the materials on the web site suggest that not only will IC in 2019 and forward be granted under an unpublished criteria, but that members will also have to qualify for Spire Elite first. I suspect that few current ICs spend 75 nights between Kimpton and IHG properties, and that going forward, a very different subset of people will be qualifying for IC.

Points Scrounger

Subject to change if course, but if you purchase InterContinental Ambassador status for $200 (or 32K IHG points) during 2018, you will be Spire Ambassador through 2019. Many people qualify on points not nights, using bonus point rates, which add typically 1000 elite qualifying points per night or 5000 per stay. The IHG credit card has an annual fee of $49, waived the first year, that includes one free night; IHG chain stays paid with it earn 5x qualifying points. Hope that helps!

beachmouse

75k points also gets Spire and certain bonus point packages count as elite-qualifying. Save for parts of Asia I suspect most Spires hit the points number rather than qualify on nights

hurrykane

My question is - should I use my free nights NOW with Kimpton , or let them convert to IHG free nights? Are those less valuable? I'm sure they are.

dw

Good point. Hopefully we will see an announcement soon that Kimpton properties will earn 5X points on the IHG credit card. I checked the FAQs on the Kimpton transition and don't see any mention yet of the IHG credit card.

hurrykane

Also of note :

Does this mean we can only expect Inner Circle to remain through 2018, after that point there will be no way to differentiate who is who?

Points Scrounger

I interpret that to mean that all existing IC members during 2017 will automatically transition to 2018 Spire IC status, with IC status in 2019 and beyond based on "non-public" criteria similar to RA @ InterContinental (you gotta remain VERY loyal to Kimpton properties). I don't think that IC status will disappear in 2019 in favor of all IHG Spires being equal at Kimptons.

Kimpton Karma Rewards

Hi everyone,

Thanks for sharing feedback and questions about our big announcement this morning. I wanted to respond to a few questions in one email:

- Remember, you can earn Spire Elite by nights OR points. It takes 75,000 points to earn Spire Elite. You earn 10 points per qualified room rate, which adds up quickly depending on length of stay and rate paid. If you carry the IHG Rewards Club credit card, you can earn an extra 5 points per dollar spent.

- All 2017 earned Inner Circle members will become Spire Elite and Inner Circle members in 2018.

- Inner Circle status will not go away in 2019 but will remain as an invitation only tier for Spire Elite members who frequently stay at Kimptons.

- The IHG reward night is not less valuable than a Kimpton reward night so there is no rush to redeem. Quite the opposite, you will now be able to redeem that night at 5,200 hotels world wide AND with no black out dates.

- Truly; all the highly personalized Inner Circle perks that you enjoy today will remain - welcome amenity, upgrades (as available of course), Raid the Bar, a free night at new Kimptons, Chef's treat and now so much more. This is why we decided to preserve the Inner Circle experience; we know it's treasured and a big reason why you stay with us. By adding rich Spire Elite benefits on top of Inner Circle, you are sure to have a top notch experience.

We truly are combining the best of both worlds; highly experiential on property perks with global breadth, earning capability and reward offerings. We take your loyalty to heart and plan on continuing to create amazing Kimpton moments for you. Please keep any questions coming. We're here to help!

Thank you for your loyalty and business. We will be sure to continue earning it!

All my best,
Maggie Lang
Head of Guest Experience & Loyalty
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants

Read more about our program evolution here

beachmouse

it depends on your travel patterns and plans for the next year. The IHG free night awards are capacity controlled by hotels but , unlike with some other chains, they cover all hotel types and some of the higher cash price Intercontinentals like London Park Lane, and Paris Le Grand may make sense for some people, even if you have to pay extra for Club access on those free nights

Points Scrounger

Shouldn't you be able to use an IHG night for a Kimpton room after integration.

beachmouse

I'm from the IHG side and was actually eyeing the Kimpton Amara page the other day and hoping the integration was getting close because it looked like a cool splurge for an IHG award stay on a trip roughly planned out for 2018.

How is Kimpton going to handle resort fees on award stays? Are they waived, either in general or for certain Elite tiers, or do we still pay them?

peetahvw

To clarify (sorry its so semantic) - does that mean you earned IC for 2017 or in 2017. (eg if you're IC in 2017 because of you stays in 2016 and you're short of re-qualifying for 2017 do you get grandfathered in for 2018?)

The lack of black out dates is great news...as some Kimptons were notoriously skimpy with redemptions (even with the IC perk of "greater reward availability") - but it'll be interesting to see if hotel owners start playing games with room categories (like Hyatt) to avoid having award inventory available.

So will current Kimpton award expiration dates change after the migration?

Interesting that the new hotel night offer is staying for ICs. I thought they already said the international Kimptons (Amsterdam, Paris) wouldn't be eligible.

FlyinHawaiian

Under the current Karma rules, Inner Circle members (such as myself) still have to pay the resort fees for award stays.