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New: redeem IHG Suite Upgrade on reward nights
Back in June IHG briefly enabled a new feature to allow redeeming suite upgrade on reward nights at some hotels. It met with technical issues immediately though and was put on brake just a few days after. It appears that the feature has now made a return.
There were rumours that it’s going live on October 2nd, which has become true. There are multiple reports that the customer centre in China is well trained on this matter and can perform the upgrade already.
A reader has also got in touch after successfully upgrading his booking at InterContinental London Park Lane.
Remember that you can request the upgrade from 14 days prior to the check-in date and it’s applicable on a stay of maximum five nights.
I have a four-night reward stay booked at InterContinental Tel Aviv in December and I truly hope to redeem my soon-to-expire suite upgrade there. It’s great that IHG has finally made an improvement, but to be honest they should just do what Marriott does and allow the upgrade on any rate.
IHG Q3 offer: 2K points every two nights
IHG just revealed its final promotion for this year.
It is a very simple offer: you earn 2,000 bonus points for every two nights stayed between October 13th and December 31st. There’s no limit on how many points you can earn, although they must be paid reservations and in theory the nightly rate needs to exceed $30.
I don’t think anyone is gonna get excited about the offer. If you were targeted with the other offers recently though, they may stack nicely:
IHG 30%-off secret sale in Europe, Asia and more
IHG started a pretty decent sale which covers many regions globally, and it could be suitable for your upcoming travel plans.
- Book by October 16th
- Stay between October 6th and March 31st
- Book at least 10 days in advance for two-nights minimum
- A 15%-discount off the Book Early and Save rate applies
- Non-refundable
The promotion runs in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia (Greater China excluded). Note that the 15% off is against an advance rate, which is already cheaper than the best flexible rate.
You MUST book via the promo page to see the discount. Here are some rate examples, compared to the best flexible rate:
- Holiday Inn Bangkok Silom £67 / £86 (22% off)
- InterContinental Singapore Robertson Quay £175 / £235 (25% off)
- InterContinental Yokohama Grand £138 / £197 (30% off)
- InterContinental Rome £396 / £528 (25% off)
- Crowne Plaza Paris Republique £ 216 / £290 (25% off)
- Hotel Indigo London Leicester Square £252 / £319 (21% off)
- Holiday Inn London Whitechapel £132 / £177 (25% off)
- voco Dubai £152 / £204 (25% off)
As you can see, most of the time the saving is 25%, although it goes up to 30% in some cases.
It’s branded a “stay with us again” promotion and has been sent to select members who presumably haven’t stayed at an IHG hotel for a while, but anyone can book it and there’s nothing in the terms and conditions that is against it. The only caveat is bookings are non-refundable.
40% off IHG hotels in Southeast Asia and Korea
IHG has launched a very good sale for stays in Southeast Asia and Korea.
- Book by September 25
- Stay between October 10 and January 31
- Book at least 21 days in advance and two-night minimum stay required
- 40% off the best flexible rate (including member-exclusive discount)
- Non-refundable
Here are some rate examples:
- InterContinental Bangkok $164
- Holiday Inn Bangkok Silom $68
- Crowne Plaza Phuket Panwa Beach $94
- InterContinental Kuala Lumpur $117
- InterContinental Bali $139
- Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium $144
- voco Danang Ma Belle $72
You don’t usually see strong discount like 40%-off in IHG sales so it is genuinely good. Note that however reservations are non-refundable.
Party over? IHG Ambassador / Diamond renewal bug may have been fixed
(The news has finally made it to the other blogs. Interesting how some quote Flyeralk or even reuse my FlyerT link but without quoting me!)
The InterContinental Ambassador program has a public bug / perk that has been known widely for a long time – if you currently hold IHG Diamond status and purchase / renew your Ambassador membership, there’s a very good chance that your Diamond status will be extended for another year for free.
It’s absolutely not a publicised or even intentional side-effect, although it has been around for years since IHG introduced the Spire level. Let’s be clear, there’s no way that IHG isn’t aware of this, and it’s only up to them whether or when they want to fix it.
Sadly, it seems that the door might have been finally shut. Since September 13th, China’s FlyerT forum has reported at least 5 cases where Ambassador renewal failed to extend the Diamond expiry date.
One contributor renewed their membership at an InterContinental hotel, which is always known as the safest way for the extension to work.
(Update: so far I’m yet to see any case of success from September 13th onwards. There are multiple reports from outside China too.)
It’s probably too early to draw a conclusion yet, and we will revisit in one or two weeks. My Ambassador membership just lapsed but I have until early October to renew it, and I was hoping for another renewal bonus. In my opinion, InterContinental Ambassador itself is still well worth the $200 annual fee.
Breaking: 15% IHG award nights globally
IHG has brought back its beloved award night sale, and you don’t wanna miss out!
Here’s what we’ve gathered so far:
- Book and stay from September 12th
- Stay by October 26
- 15% off all award night redemptions globally
For now it’s a “pre-sale” to select members (Diamond / credit card holders?) only, and will be rolled out to the public in a few days. We don’t know the book-by date yet.
You won’t see any discount in Europe or Americas yet, as the offer doesn’t kick in until midnight hotel’s local time. If you search hotels in Asia however, you can already see it:
Scandals are that IHG increases the redemption price at some properties soon after the sale starts, so you may want to lock in some reservations as soon as possible.
IHG anniversary offer: 10K or triple points
IHG has been trying to diversify its bonus offer forms lately, and some people have received an incentive to celebrate their anniversary.
In this particular case the offer is sent to members who are having their 5-year anniversary with IHG. The bonus is 2,000 points per night, up to five times. You can try signing up here, but it is a very specific offer so I’d be surprised if you succeed.
There are two other variations:
- 1-year anniversary: 1,000 points per night, up to 10 nights
- 5- and 10-year anniversary: triple points for 90 days
Another offer that is triple bonus points for 90 days, is targeted at those with 10- and 15-year anniversary.
Meanwhile, IHG has been sending out reminders to update your birthday in the profile recently. The current birthday offer is 3,000 points for one stay, although it seems that not all people received it.
IHG’s new targeted 14K / 20K bonus points offer
This morning a reader reached out about an email he received, that contained a new targeted promotion.
You can (try to) sign up here.
- Book your paid stays by October 31
- Stay by December 31
- Earn 3,000 bonus points for each stay, up to 3 times
- Complete 3 stays for an additional 5,000 points
It is a very good offer, and there isn’t any minimum-stay requirement, which means it can be three one-night stays.
I have, on the other hand, received a different version of the offer.
- Stay between September 1 and October 10
- Stay 4 nights to earn 10,000 bonus points
- You can earn the bonus twice
It turns out there’s third version: stay 4 nights to earn 4 elite night credits, and the same rules apply as the offer above. This offer may come handy if you are aiming for the annual lounge pass milestone this year.