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IHG Diamond card available in app, and 100% bonus for buying points
IHG has launched a new round of 100% bonus for buying points, which ends in April 14.
You can access the offer page here. The promotion may vary by account, and what I see is 100% bonus if I buy at least 15,000 points. Note that you should buy at least 26,000 points to get the best price, which is 0.5c per point.
Also IHG-related, their new program was delayed and rumours are the new launch date is April 11, or the coming Monday. It looks like some changes are already made to the IHG app – visit the Earning Summary page and rotate your phone, and you may see the updated member card showing Diamond status:
My friend is also seeing his status extended to December 31, 2023, but I’m not sure if it’s a bug. Hopefully it gets rolled out on Monday and we can learn more about the new benefits soon!
IHG second-room free offer in UK and Europe
IHG has started a new second-room free offer in UK, Ireland, Germany and France, which may be useful you are travelling with family or friends.
The offer page is here, and details are:
- Book by April 20
- Stay by July 15
- Valid at select hotels only
- Fixed two-night two-room stay only
- The second room will be free-of-charge
- Non-refundable
Despite what the promotion name suggests, your grandparents don’t need to travel with you 😛 You could travel with anyone and avail this offer, and no proof of relationship is required.
That said, the offer is quite restricted – it has to be a two-night stay, and not refundable if plans change. Not many hotels are participating either: out of the six listed London properties, three are airport hotels, one is outside London (St Albans), but the other two hotels (Hotel Indigo Kensington and Holiday Inn Camden Lock) are solid.
InterContinental Edinburgh is another nice property.
Rates on the booking reflect charge for both rooms, but you’ll only be charged for one upon checkout.
IHG targeted offer: earn up to 50k bonus points
IHG has launched a new targeted offer which is called Step Up To Rewards.
You could check your eligibility here.
- Stay from April 1 to May 17
- Earn bonus points after staying 2/4/6/10/20 nights
- Maximum award is 50,000 points
- Paid stay only
You could see the bonus ladder in the image above. This offer is similar to the Accelerate promotions that IHG used to run in the past, although not as generous. If you are not targeted, unfortunately it may mean no offer for you until May 17 at least…
On a different subject but still IHG-related, we named a few hotels where you could buy IHG points at as low as 0.46c during the current reward night sale. Unsurprisingly such deals are usually short-lived and they have all gone now.
If you are short of IHG points however, you could still buy them at 0.5c per point at the Londoner and Venetian hotels in Macau.
This is as good as the 100%-bonus-point promotion that IHG runs regularly, which is worth a go if you need some points right now – make sure you check the cancellation policy though.
Live: Up to 20% off ALL IHG reward nights, and buy IHG points at 0.46c
IHG had a reward night sale in January, where you were entitled to up to 20% discount on all award bookings. We knew that it’s coming back on March 22, but what we didn’t know is that it’s actually open to public from the very beginning this time.
Here are the offer details:
- Book by April 5
- Stay by May 25
- Targeted members enjoy up to 20% off all reward-night bookings
You either have 20% off, 10% off or nothing, and it appears to be totally random, or at least we can’t easily figure out the criteria.
The discount kicks in on March 22, hotel’s local time. It’s not live in the UK yet, but you should be able to see it if searching for hotels in China and Japan etc.
IHG’s dynamic redemption system is nowhere near as bad as Hilton’s, and it event has arguably more good deals than it did previously. 20% off on top of that is spectacular.
If you fancy visiting Edinburgh next Month, the Kimpton hotel has many dates priced at sub-40k or even sub-30k points. Note that it’s BEFORE the 20% discount kicks in.
Such promotions are also known as a cheap way to “buy” points indirectly from IHG, as you can make cash & point bookings and then cancel them. You won’t get your cash back, but you get the full amount of points instead.
Here are a few examples in Asia. (Update: they all appear to have gone)
InterContinental Shenzhen Dameisha, May 7, 0.46c
InterContinental Beijing Sanlitun, April 9, 0.46c
Regent Taipei, April 24, 0.49c
I’m sure there are plenty more hotels / dates available. Be sure to check the cancellation policy though – cash & point bookings have the same cancellation policy with best flexible rates, which under rare circumstances may be non-refundable.
Book high-end Mr & Mrs Smith hotels with your IHG free night certificate
My Creation IHG card account, amongst many others, were closed last year. The biggest loss is the annual free night reward certificate, which is valid on almost all IHG properties, and unlike the one that comes with the US card it’s not capped.
If you still have an unredeemed certificate, or if your Creation card is still active, you may want to have a look at Mr & Mrs Smith properties. I knew that the certificates weren’t valid on Six Senses properties, and I just took it for granted that Mr & Mrs Smith hotels were excluded too given that they weren’t owned by IHG. But it turns out I was wrong.
You can actually redeem the free night at any IHG-participating Mr & Mrs Smith hotels (directory here), as long as there is reward availability. The UK list is already quite long, and new hotels are constantly being added.
The most expensive UK hotel is probably Heckfield Place, which is priced at around £1,000 night:
Chewton Glen, Cliveden and Linthwaite House are a few other great options in this country.
If you fancy something more exotic, The Retreat at Blue Lagoon is a very high-end hotel in Iceland.
I was quite annoyed as there’s no hotel for me to use the last free night on in the UK, since I’ve already stayed at every single InterContinental and Kimpton hotels in England and Scotland. Looks like I have plenty of options now 🙂
When you spend your free night certificate or points at Mr & Mrs Smith hotels, IHG pays cash to the properties so you’ll just be treated the same as any other paying guests, and you should also enjoy SilverSmith or GoldSmith Extras depending on your IHG status. Remember the 30-day cancellation window though, and don’t let it bite you.
IHG’s new loyalty program launch is delayed to April
We wrote about the breaking news of IHG revamping its program back in January. You could also read the official announcement here, and the new program was initially planned to launch sometime in March. However, it appears to be delayed now.
Here’s a memo recently sent out in China, regarding the program launch:
You probably have received an email from IHG yesterday asking for donation of IHG points, quoting “the events involving Ukraine and Russia”. It sounds weird to me but the same reason is quoted to explain why the program launch is delayed, and it is now set to happen in April.
The staff training courses aren’t scheduled until mid April, so it looks like we’ll have to wait till the end of April to see the launch – although details of the new program should be revealed sooner.
10,000 bonus points for joining InterContinental Ambassador
A reader has got in touch to share an incentive that he received for joining the InterContinental Ambassador program.
The email text says:
As a thank you for your recent stay at InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, we would like to grant you 10,000 bonus points upon enrolment into InterContinental® Ambassador. This elevated member benefits programme provides a suite of indulgences to enrich your global travel experiences at over 220 InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts and participating Regent™ Hotels & Resorts* worldwide.
He redeemed an award night at an InterContinental hotel last month, which seems to have triggered this special offer for 10,000 bonus points as long as he joins the program. Remember the other enrolment promotion which also entitles you to 20,000 bonus points, and I believe the two offers are stackable.
If you are yet to join the Ambassador program, and have stayed / will stay at an InterContinental hotel, watch your inbox for the offer.
My review of Hotel Indigo Kensington, London
Hotel Indigo Kensington has a pretty good 3-for-2 offer via the IHG Luxury and Lifestyle program, and I also had a targeted 5,000 bonus points offer, so I decided to spend my first 2022 hotel stay here.
The hotel is only two minutes away from Earls Court, which is especially convenient if you want to visit the museums. Sat on the Piccadilly Line it’s also handy to travel to the city centre or Heathrow.
Unsurprisingly the front desk has no clue what the Lifestyle rate is, although being very friendly. After checking with the reservation team the second day he confirms the $50 / £40 credit for my stay.
I booked the Premium Room directly as its rate is only a touch higher than the standard room. The only upgrade option available at the time was for a Premium Room with Extra Bed on the basement floor, which I declined.
The room feels pretty Indigo-y, and big by London standard.
The positioning of TV is a bit weird. Air conditioning doesn’t work (in my room) so they provide a portable heater instead.
Minibar is free to all hotel guests. There are two bottles of water, two soft and two alcoholic drinks.
I was upgraded to a Suite the next day.
It’s not noticeably larger than the Premium Room, but has a separate living room, one more TV and better natural light. However the bedroom is quite squeezed.
It’s totally down to personal preference, but I think the Premium Room is more comfortable.
If pre-booked breakfast costs a very reasonable £10 per person. It’s got a small buffet area which doesn’t offer much:
But you can also choose one main and one hot drink from the menu. The mains include full English, pancakes, eggs Benedict and porridge etc.
To spend all my credit I had a dinner at the hotel restaurant too and ordered Penang Curry Chicken, with the complimentary cocktail for Spire members. The food is good.
The hotel is too small to have a gym, let alone a swimming pool or other facilities. In total I paid £260 for three nights in a Premium Room inclusive of £40 credit, which is a deal well worth considering in central London.