IHG extends the booking period for its generous 4x hotel promo

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• RussellH says:

  8 Dec8 December 11:06

  OT, but IHG:

  Unlike many here, my partner actually had quite a decent Accelerate offer this time. Four tasks, with considerable overlap, so pretty straightforward. Plus 58K bonus points for completing all four tasks. The last task completed on 17 November, her accelerate page has shown all four tasks as complete since about 20 November.
  But still no sign of the completion bonus yet.
  Should we be concerned? She has had to do a lot of chasing IHG this year for points promised, but delivered without a gentle kick to the system…

  • ChrisC says:

    8 Dec8 December 12:47

    I think the T&Cs say the bonus points credit approx 6 weeks after the promo end.

    I called last week about my mising bonus points (49k) from the promo that ended in August and after a quick check by the phone agent they were in my account a few seconds later.

    • RussellH says:

      8 Dec8 December 12:50

      Thanks

• Michael Capper says:

  8 Dec8 December 14:08

  IF YOU ARE ALREADY AN ELITE SPIRE MEMBER THE MAXIMUM BONUS POINTS YOU WIL GET ARE 3X. THEY COUNT THE 100% BONUS POINTS YOU GET BECAUSE OF YOUR STATUS AS A PART OF YOUR REWARD. NOT VERY CLEAR AND I BELIEVE VERY MISSLEADING!

  • aston100 says:

    8 Dec8 December 15:02

    I noticed this too.
    The x2 / x3 / x4 bonus seems to be in place of the original ‘normal’ bonus rather than in addition to it.

  • Rob says:

    8 Dec8 December 15:08

    That makes no sense at all!

    • aston100 says:

      8 Dec8 December 15:29

      The x2/x3/x4 bonus seems to be based on the normal base points, minus the original base points.
      So if you were due 2000 base points for the stay, for the x4 bonus you’d be getting those 2000 points plus a further 6000 points, rather than say an actual ‘bonus’ of 8000 points.
      Not that my opinion really matters, but I would have presumed that the word ‘bonus’ means something in addition to what you would normally have received. So in my opinion if you were due 2000 base points when there was no promotion running, and you are told you are getting a x4 bonus, I would have expected 8000 additional points on top of the original 2000 points I would have been due anyway.

      • pommy ray says:

        8 Dec8 December 18:47

        seem to get 5 lots of points so on the 2000 example
        2000 are base points
        2000 spire
        6000 are the triple to make the 4x offer as you have base points already
        or is that wrong way to look at it?
        or maybe you get 4x and no further points ie spire or even platinum.

        • Lady London says:

          8 Dec8 December 21:13

          Yes that is the same way other hotel groups are also headlining their “x points” promotions.

      • Brian W says:

        8 Dec8 December 21:21

        I’ve done well from this promo and I’m on about my 10th booking that is in x 4 bonus points bracket and checked the maths when I read this. I’m the same, only getting my Spire bonus and 3 x the base points as the bonus. Nowhere in the terms does it state that it is anything but a bonus on top nor to top up base or elite bonuses to give the total multiple. I’ emailed them asking them for the missing bonus points and they replied saying the base points ‘become’ bonus points! Terms don’t cover this at all. I’ve gone back and asked them to clarify where the terms cover the fact that these bookings effectively earn no base points, but get 4 x bonus points (even though the base points are still listed!).

        Hi Brian,

        Thanks for dropping me an email and I’m grateful to be of help to one of our awesome Spire Elite members. I trust that your weekend’s going well.

        I’m sorry to get you confused about our Earn Up To 4X Bonus Points offer. I appreciate that this made you move your stays back to IHG to be able to maximize what we have in store. I carefully checked your account and can confirm that you’ve earned the right number of points. I see that you got qualified to get the 4x points starting from your stay at our Holiday Inn Milton Keynes East M1, Jct.14. It did not sacrifice your Elite Bonus points but instead counts the base points as part of it.

        I hope this clarifies it. Let me know if you have more.

        Yours in Hospitality,

        Frank Lester Amistoso
        eMedia Coordinator
        IHGService

        • Crafty says:

          9 Dec9 December 01:13

          This is very shoddy. Rob, perhaps you could approach?

• Harry T says:

  8 Dec8 December 20:07

  Do the bonus base points count towards attaining Spire? If so, I think I’d be pretty close to Spire by the end of January with some tactical bookings.

  • Lady London says:

    8 Dec8 December 21:13

    Erm… Spire…. Why?

    • Harry T says:

      8 Dec8 December 21:46

      @Lady London – not aiming for Spire as a priority but might happen if extra base points count.

      I’m unlikely to get top status in any other program because I only travel for holidays, unfortunately.

      • BJ says:

        8 Dec8 December 22:24

        Don’t lose any sleep over it, they should rename it Dire, would be much more appropriate.

        • Harry T says:

          9 Dec9 December 09:35

          Haha, thanks – you’re not a fan? I’m just looking to capitalise on my stays. The IC Sydney and Amstel look fantastic and Ambassador free night has gotten me a wonderful suite with club lounge access and a harbour and opera view.

          Couldn’t justify the extra £500 or so for the Waldorf in Amsterdam (maybe next year when I get a pay rise) and wasn’t impressed by Hilton’s in Australia.

        • BJ says:

          9 Dec9 December 11:09

          IHG is secondary to Hilton for me. I’m Diamond but I even rate Gold above Spire from my experience. The best think you can do with Spire is get a Hilton Diamond challenge IMO. Should you wish to do that then I recommend you wait for the new variant that will hopefully come out April. That is what my partner will be doing if I don’t retain Diamond. In reality I am not a huge fan of high end hotels. I will stay at them if I can make them work for me but more typically I’ll stay at doubletree. Also perfectly happy to stay in budget places provided they are clean and bed and linens are comfortable. I spend so little time in the hotels during the day that it is hard to justify extra luxury. Even the worst travelodge is probably a better place to sleep than a Qatar Qsuite so…

        • Harry T says:

          9 Dec9 December 13:50

          Hilton Diamond does look excellent – thanks for the tip on status matching. Currently Hold through Amex.

        • Harry T says:

          9 Dec9 December 13:52

          *Gold.

          I know what you mean about high end hotels – I haven’t stayed at many and tend to use them for special occasions or when all hotels are expensive. Will be quite happy with the HIX in Melbourne, I imagine.

  • Marcw says:

    8 Dec8 December 21:32

    Nope.

  • Genghis says:

    8 Dec8 December 21:34

    Remember your account resets end of Dec. 75k base points by end of Jan would be v impressive. It normally takes me till about March / Apr (with spend).

    • Harry T says:

      8 Dec8 December 21:44

      Thanks. Looks like I could earn over 50,000 bonus points in January (including bonus base points) if I made a few cheap HI stays before my four nights at the Amstel Amsterdam.

      • Harry T says:

        8 Dec8 December 21:44

        *over 50,000 base points

  • BJ says:

    8 Dec8 December 22:56

    To the best of my knowledge no form of bonus points will count.

    • Harry T says:

      9 Dec9 December 09:36

      Thanks, shame! Guess it doesn’t really matter when you’re looking at ICs and have Ambassador.

      • BJ says:

        9 Dec9 December 10:49

        If you want to stay there anyway then why not, strange things happen some times and stuff just comes together.

  • Doreen says:

    9 Dec9 December 14:44

    Just catching up on the comments … great choice Harry – IC Sydney. I was there last month – ask (nicely) for the Suite ending xx02 if you can when they contact you about your arrival – there is a Suite in each corner, and the other harbour/opera view hasn’t such a panoramic scape as the xx02. You will love the Club – wonderful just to sit there with a coffee, or something stronger, to take in that glorious view!

    • Harry T says:

      9 Dec9 December 15:57

      @Doreen – thank you, duly noted!

• BJ says:

  8 Dec8 December 22:05

  All a bit of a yawn considering £100 spend at Hilton thus month got me over 29k honors points, 700 avios (still go come), £20 amex credit, 4x free breakfast, 2x free dinner, 2x free drinks, 4x free water, 2x lounge access, car park fee waived, and unlimited telephone calls…way to go 🙂

  • Zara says:

    8 Dec8 December 22:24

    That’s amazing! May I ask how?!

    • BJ says:

      8 Dec8 December 22:43

      2x 1 night stays, myway bonuses plus x3 one night and x2 one night via power up promotion. Media promotion 7.5k, targeted offer 5k, 40 night 10k milestone bonus. £20 from the £50/£250 amex offer, 6 avio/£ via AerClub, 125 avios BA blue amex. Breakfast, water, lounge, and drinks were Diamond benefits. Car park fee was waived as I complained it was free at the adjacent hotel. Telephone calls were free because it seems their building us blocking vodafone signals! Free dinner for 2 was because of a lot of dogs (don’t ask lol).

      • Harry T says:

        9 Dec9 December 09:32

        Nice work, @BJ! Thankfully it looks like I’ll be well rewarded by IHG for choosing the Amstel in Amsterdam and the IC Sydney this year – decided to base my hotel choice on where I most wanted to stay. Seemed logical to buy Ambassador after choosing these two!

        • BJ says:

          9 Dec9 December 10:47

          I’m doing the same for Amstel next summer. It is a bit cheap at around £450/night considering the WA is about £300 more. Amsterdam is weird for hotels, best to push the boat out considering basic places are sky high too.

        • Harry T says:

          9 Dec9 December 13:48

          Yeah, I did a single night at the W in Amsterdam with 60000 Bonvoy when cash prices were something like £500! The Spa was great and staff were friendly but wasn’t otherwise massively impressed – small room and noisy bar.

      • Zara says:

        9 Dec9 December 11:24

        wow good strategising! Wish i could work up a good strategy like that! Well done 🙂

        • BJ says:

          9 Dec9 December 14:12

          Not really much strategy Zara, the mobile and dog problems were just ‘good luck’ while the benefits and promotions were standard to Hilton.

• SJ says:

  20 Dec20 December 10:48

  Anyone else having recent issues with 4X points posting? My stays up until mid December have all come through with the 2x to 4X points, but since the ‘book by’ period was extended to 15th Jan, my stays booked and stayed past 15th December have not attracted the 4X points, only standard points (for status). Any ideas?

• Hardpack says:

  26 Dec26 December 09:55

  I’ve been getting my 4x and IC bonuses no problem, but I’ve since ha a couple of Crowne Plaza stays that meet my accelerate requirements. They have posted just with the accelerate bonus but no 4x. Booked after 4x registration as well. Can you not get both sets of bonus points/

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