Guide: IHG Rewards Club
Guide: IHG Rewards Club
The IHG Rewards Club is part of InterContinental Hotels Group (“IHG”). IHG has 12 brands and more than 5,000 properties in nearly 100 territories and countries. The most prominent in brands, in my opinion, being Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Intercontinental.
The IHG Rewards Club rewards you for every night you spend with the IHG Group; from enjoying the complimentary internet, earning points and most importantly, providing you with a great night’s sleep!
Guide Contents
IHG Rewards Club guide will cover:
- Status levels
- Earning points
- Reward points expiry
- Redeeming Reward points
IHG Rewards Club – Status Levels
The IHG Rewards Club has four status levels:
- Club: basic membership
- Gold Elite: 10 nights or 10,000 points
- Platinum Elite: 40 nights or 40,000 points
- Spire Elite: 75 nights or 75,000 points
The Intercontinental brand also has an Ambassador program
- Ambassador: paid membership ($200 USD)
- Royal Ambassador: by invitation only
To see the Status Level benefits, including that of the Ambassador program – click here. I have to say it never wears off feeling like an elite, room upgrades, drinks, free drinks etc!
The status levels are upgraded as you reach the required level of qualifying nights or points, which resets annually based on what you achieved in the last twelve months. To be honest, it’s much easier moving up in Status Level through the points than purely on the number of qualifying nights.
IHG run a number of accelerate offers which can reward you (with points) significantly so definitely register for these offers when they come along. It is also worth noting that you generally only receive the recognition and benefits of the IHG Rewards Club if you book directly on the IHG website.
IHG Rewards Club – Earning Points
Earn points through the IHG® Rewards Club family of brands listed below; points are earned on all qualifying spend and stays within the properties.
In addition to the room rate, you generally also earn points on charges charged to your room (except when staying at an InterContinental Hotel brand). The eligible charges include food and beverage, telephone, laundry, and in-room movies.
- Club: 1x base points per eligible $1 USD
- Gold Elite: 10% bonus earnings on top of the base points
- Platinum Elite: 50% bonus earnings on top of the base points
- Spire Elite: 100% bonus earnings on top of the base points
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10 IHG® Rewards Club base points per eligible $1 USD spent at:
- Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts
- InterContinental Hotels & Resorts
- Hotel Indigo
- Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts
- Holiday Inn Express hotels
- EVEN
- HUALUXE
5 IHG® Rewards Club base points per eligible $1 USD spent at:
- Staybridge Suites
- Candlewood Suites
2.5 IHG® Rewards Club base points per eligible $1 USD spent at:
- The Residence Suites Dubai F.C,
- InterContinental Doha Residences
- Asiana Reside Saigon Residences.
ANA Co-branded hotels and ANA Partner Hotels in Japan, point earnings vary by hotel; however, you will receive 10 IHG® Rewards Club at ANA InterContinental®, ANA Crowne Plaza® and ANA Holiday Inn® per $1 USD dollar spent and either 600, 1,300 or 2,000 points depending on the specific ANA partner hotel for qualifying stays.
The remainder of the brands do not earn IHG® Rewards Club; the Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants operate their own loyalty program called Karma Rewards (not covered in this guide), Holiday Inn Club Vacations is a program for owners of these properties, and Avid Hotels is a non-earning budget brand within the portfolio.
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Reward points expiry
Elite members points do not expire, but if your membership moves back to Club, your points will expire after 12 months if there’s no account activity.
To sum it up, it’s easy to maintain your points balance. Just earn or redeem once a year through any of the IHG hotels or partners within the 12 month period.
Redeeming Reward points
You’ve earned some Reward points and not sure what next? Luckily IHG provides you with a range of options, from saving you money to making you feel good through a charitable donation.
Below is a short list of some of the redemption options:
- Reward Nights
- Points & Cash bookings
- Gift Certificates
- Airline Miles
- Merchandise
- Rewards Concierge
- Digital Rewards
- IHG® Foundation
- Gift Cards (Amazon, Starbucks and more)
- InterContinental® Ambassador Memberships
In my opinion, it’s by far the best value to use your reward points on PointBreaks hotels, by far the biggest real savings compared to the alternatives. But if you only occasionally stay with IHG and don’t have enough points for a PointBreaks hotel, the Points & Cash bookings are a great alternative to reduce the cash cost of your stay.
Basically, the PointBreaks hotels provide you with ridiculous value, with frequent promotions the list of properties can be redeemed for either 5,000, 10,000 or 15,000 points. Tip: add this to your favourites as the list is refreshed every couple of months!
Le Club Accor Hotels Loyalty Program
If you’re considering reward programs, why not also consider the Le Club AccorHotels loyalty program.
Leave a comment if you have anything you would add
That’s our quick guide to IHG Rewards Club, what would you add? Do you have any hints, tips or tricks to share in the comments below?
