Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

(DEAD) CRAZY IHG OFFER: free Diamond status until 31st December, shows instantly

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

UPDATE – APRIL 2025:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.  We produce a monthly summary of the top hotel bonus point offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ menu above.  Thank you.

Hilton has just launched two new UK debit cards – and they come with Hilton Honors elite status! You can get Hilton Honors Gold status simply by applying for the Plus debit card. You can learn more here and you can apply here.

Hilton Honors is offering a 100% bonus when you buy points by 29th May 2025. The annual purchase limit is also increased to 240,000 points pre-bonus. Click here to buy.

Keep up to date with new hotel offers by signing up for our free daily or weekly newsletters.

Well, this is potentially one of the craziest hotel loyalty offers that we have ever seen.

We are used to seeing ‘status challenges’ – where a hotel group will temporarily match your status in another programme for a short period – but this usually requires you to already be top tier elsewhere. This is also usually only offered to status levels with no real tangible benefits.

This is different.

IHG One Rewards instant Diamond upgrade

IHG One Rewards is offering an INSTANT upgrade to its top-tier, Diamond Elite.

Click this link, type in your membership number and you’ll be upgraded. That’s all you need to do.

The upgrade lasts until 31st December 2022.

Diamond Elite benefits include eligibility for suite upgrades and free breakfast. Free breakfast applies at all brands, and includes reward stays. Diamond Elite does not include lounge access, where available.

You will retain your Diamond Elite status for 2023 if you complete 10 cash nights between now and the end of the year.

The only caveat I have is that I don’t know where this offer originated. A few non-UK frequent flyer sites have posted it. There is no ‘puff’ page apart from this registration link. It could be aimed at specific groups or employees of certain companies. The comments suggest that this is somehow linked to Amazon although no-one has found a link to confirm this.

However, whilst there is a caveat emptor to this, in reality the worst that could happen is that IHG downgrades you back to your original status level. Be wary of making pre-paid IHG bookings purely because you will receive Diamond benefits. My gut feeling is that IHG may ride it out, given that the status only lasts for 10 weeks.

I should, however, highlight the official notice on the registration page:

Many offers are only available to IHG One Rewards Club members who receive a specific, targeted communication from IHG. Successful registration does not guarantee that you will receive the points or miles offered when the offer requirements are met if you are not eligible per the offer terms and conditions. Six Continents Hotels, Inc.(SCH) and its subsidiaries and affiliates which are InterContinental Hotels Group companies (collectively IHG) reserve the right to cancel any IHG One Rewards Club membership and revoke any and all unredeemed IHG One Rewards Club points for fraud or abuse of any portion of the program per the IHG One Rewards Club membership terms and conditions.

You can upgrade your account here. You can learn more about IHG One Rewards in our overview article here.

Click here for a complete guide to getting hotel elite status from UK credit cards.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

IHG One Rewards news

IHG One Rewards update – April 2025:

Get bonus points: IHG is not currently running a global promotion.

New to IHG One Rewards?  Read our overview of IHG One Rewards here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our article on ‘What are IHG One Rewards points worth?’ is here.

Buy points: If you need additional IHG One Rewards points, you can buy them here.

Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from IHG and the other major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.

Category

IHG One Rewards

Comments (172)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • meta says:
    13 Oct13 October 11:16

    As confirmed on some other blogs in comments. This was intended for Amazon employees only, but it was leaked somehow.

    Beware that IHG has a habit of suspending and cancelling accounts that use offers they are not eligible for, so proceed at your own risk.

    • BJ says:
      13 Oct13 October 11:29

      Could be hundreds of thousands of accounts and tens of thousands of good platinum members, unlikely they would close accounts wholesale.

      • Rui N. says:
        13 Oct13 October 12:46

        You really believe hundreds of thousands of people will ready these niche blogs and then decide to do something about this? LOL

        • Rob says:
          13 Oct13 October 13:33

          The article has been up 3 hours and 4,000 people have clicked the link to register. By the time our emails have gone out tomorrow I would expect that we will have done 15,000, plus probably another 100,000 from the US blogs.

          • Rui N. says:
            13 Oct13 October 13:38

            Yeah, so no hundreds of thousands of people will register, exactly like I said.

          • Rob says:
            13 Oct13 October 13:40

            Ironically, the best way to stop IHG going after people who register for targetted promos is for as many people as possible to register. They can’t penalise 100,000 of their top customers.

          • BJ says:
            13 Oct13 October 19:45

            @meta, if nothing gives it will play out as chaotic breakfast rooms from Aachen to Zanzibar.

        • BJ says:
          13 Oct13 October 14:10

          Yes, absolutely! I think Rob’s estimate might be conservative too in respect of US blogs.

          • meta says:
            13 Oct13 October 15:39

            But the thing is these 100k are probably not all of their top customers as evidenced here in the comments people are signing up as Club members or even with totally new accounts.

            I am really curious how this will play out. Several possible scenarios and nobody can say with certainty what will happen. It brings back fun to the game.

  • ohanssen says:
    13 Oct13 October 11:20

    Have a points-stay booked with an IHG hotel this year, would now being diamond still contribute to benefits? Or should I cancel the points reservation and do a cash-based one?

    • Rob says:
      13 Oct13 October 11:57

      You get free breakfast and potential upgrade – no difference reward vs cash.

  • Carlos says:
    13 Oct13 October 11:20

    Didnt they recently get hacked? Now are offering Diamond for the remaining 2 months.
    It is unlikely to get upgraded at this time of the year.

  • allycat says:
    13 Oct13 October 11:22

    Clicked and upgraded. Will new diamond elite status (if it lasts) give the benefits to reward bookings already made? We have 3 reward nights in the Grand Hotel in Vienna in December booked earlier this year when HfP had an article on a good redemption offer. Do you have to ask for the free breakfast and a suite upgrade (if available) or do they give it automatically?

    • Andrew J says:
      13 Oct13 October 11:43

      Free breakfast is a welcome amenity option: 500 or so points, a drink voucher, or free breakfast for 2 people for up to 5 nights. So you do need to request at checkin as your option. And is valid on points stays too.

      • Matty says:
        13 Oct13 October 13:18

        Is there a limit on the free breakfasts to 5 nights? I thought it was free for the duration of your stay?

        • Points Hound says:
          13 Oct13 October 14:09

          It’s for the duration of your stay as per the terms and conditions.

          “ Diamond Elite Members’ Welcome Amenity choice also includes Free Breakfast at full-service and select-service brands (REGENT, InterContinental, Hualuxe, Hotel Indigo, voco, Crowne Plaza, Even, Holiday Inn, and Kimpton). Available for Member and one guest registered to the same room for each night of stay“.

  • Tim J says:
    13 Oct13 October 11:24

    Thanks Rob,
    Have recently booked 2 nights at the Kmpton Maa Lai Bankgkok over New Year’s Eve in 2 standard rooms so will be interesting to see if they upgrade me. Clever Promo in that it is only really for 2 months and will probably encourage some corporate bookers/ business travellers to switch their brand allegiance at short notice.

  • Damien says:
    13 Oct13 October 11:31

    So earlier this year I renewed my Ambassador and it extended my Diamond till the end of next year. So I just used the link provided for my girlfriends account and it made her Diamond till 31/12/2022. Her Ambassador was due for renewal, So I just did that there now, and it’s now showing she’s Diamond until 31/12/2024.

    • Damien says:
      13 Oct13 October 11:38

      PS my GF’s renewal for AMB was 1st Jan, so that may explain why it jumped to 2024

  • Gary says:
    13 Oct13 October 11:35

    Thanks and it worked!
    Our only planned IHG stay (Kimpton Samui, breakfast included, cash booking) is in Aug 23. Newbie question. 1. Do I buy AMB towards expiry of this offer to extend the diamond elite status? 2. Is it worth pursuing given breakfast is included? 3. Is there a soft landing for IHG status?
    Ps This served as gentle reminder of one’s deep regret over missing Creation albeit an avid reader at that time…. Sigh.

    • Damien says:
      13 Oct13 October 11:37

      Just renewed the AMB and it extended it to 31/12/2024. Though the date showing for my girlfriends renewal was 1st Jan. So I’m not sure if that’s why it jumped to 2024

      • Kev says:
        13 Oct13 October 12:01

        Where does it show tier expiry date? I cannot locate this on the app.

        • Damien says:
          13 Oct13 October 12:20

          On Android apps (though probably the same on apple), you click on the Account icon (silhouette of a person) at the bottom right. It should then show you all the details, including expiry.

          • Kev says:
            13 Oct13 October 20:46

            Ah sadly not on apple. I’ll try to find an Android phone to check. Shame this is so complicated.

    • BJ says:
      13 Oct13 October 11:43

      It’s a risk! Personally I’d only take it if I envisioned X stays where breakfast exceeded $200 in total for stays

    • PG says:
      13 Oct13 October 11:45

      Is the Ambassador points bonus offer still running?

  • DP says:
    13 Oct13 October 11:45

    try off your corporate network?

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Get 25,000 Avios with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

GET A SIGN-UP BONUS OF 18,000 VIRGIN POINTS!

Latest Forum Posts

Get 80,000 bonus points (worth 80,000 Avios) and £400 of dining credit with The Platinum Card (Offer ends 27th May)

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get up to 10,000 bonus Hilton Honors points

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? GET THE ONLY FREE SMALL BUSINESS CREDIT CARD WHICH CAN EARN AVIOS

Get points worth 30,000 Avios with 'first year free' American Express Gold (ends 27th May)

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!