Which sort of IHG One Rewards points count towards elite status, and which don’t?

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• e14 says:

  30 Jul30 July 04:07

  There are a few rather obvious issues with the program

  The Confirmable Suite Upgrades can only be applied 14 days in advance and to non prepaid rates. If the hotels like the ones in Hong Kong and Bali play the game then the one category they offer as a suite for the CSUs suddenly becomes unavailable 15 days in advance.

  The other issue is the upgrade
  Diamond Elite now comes with free breakfast and (theoretically) a better chance of a good upgrade. This means that it does now offer something of real value.

  It is cheaper for the hotel to pay the IHG penalty than process an upgrade – they will get more revenue overall by selling the rooms than paying out points. It is very clear that the upgrades are capped at one category up for all levels … zero incentive.

  I could also moan that the dining rewards need to have a consistent value and any residual value be stored £15 is not $20, and if I redeem a £15 dining reward for a £12.50 bill the residual goes into the ether.

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

    30 Jul30 July 04:19

    The only penalty for not upgrading is for AMBs staying at ICs not normal IHG status

  • Nick says:

    30 Jul30 July 04:52

    Your experience is different to mine. I am a Diamond Elite Ambassador and had no problem using my CSU at Intercontinental Bali Jimbaran last year. Also I have usually been upgraded automatically by more than one category on most of my stays which are mainly at Indigo and sometimes Crowne Plaza properties.

    The loss (without notice) of the perk of being able to retain earned Diamond Elite status by renewing Ambassador membership is irksome to the extent that I will move my loyalty to another brand having activated a status match before my current Diamond Elite status expires.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

      30 Jul30 July 16:15

      The diamond “perk” from buying AMB was never a formal benefit. It was a glitch.

      And of course you had to be Spire / Diamond in the first place to benefit from the glitch.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      30 Jul30 July 17:06

      It irks you they didn’t notify you that they fixed an It issue?

    • Craig Vassie says:

      1 Aug1 August 16:47

      I’ve done the same. IHG are poor at retention.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    30 Jul30 July 04:59

    Obviously they would rather sell the room than a free upgrade. Upgrades are for rooms which would otherwise be unsold during your stay.

    I think applying them to prepaid stays is an IT issue they should fix, I can’t remember if I’ve read you can just phone CS to have it applied?

    I do think IHG hotels are generally poor at giving upgrades compared to Marriott Hotels even when I’m a regular guest at the hotels. The training/culture seems to be different

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

      30 Jul30 July 16:17

      You have to call to have a CSU applied but some people are reporting it can be done over chat.

      That they can’t be applied to pre- paid rates isn’t any sort of IT issue. It’s a deliberate part of the T&Cs of the CSU.

  • Phillip says:

    30 Jul30 July 05:43

    My experience has been very different. I have been very impressed with many hotels in terms of upgrades over the past few years as Diamond. I have often received multiple categories up. And when applying confirmable suite upgrades, I received further upgrades for being a repeat customer at a specific IC compared to a fellow traveller of identical status on their first stay who received the confirmable upgrade as it was applied.

    Yes, it’s a bit of a pain that they only apply upgrades to flexible bookings and that you have to call but have found access to the Diamond line swift and generally staff know what they’re doing (don’t go off script though)! They did promise online functionality – let’s see when that happens.

    Granted, there are hotels that play games and those who are sticklers for rules (one category upgrade and nothing more – which includes a different view). Have had no issues in Bali or Hong Kong. In fact I was surprised at the IC Bali to have been able to get a Duplex suite! The let down there is that if you don’t have a lounge pass, you are relegated to a sorry excuse of a secondary lounge.

    I have seen some good investment with the Club Lounges with some ICs doing a fantastic job with the space and food offerings!

    There is always room for improvement but the recent changes have certainly encouraged me to stick around.

    • NorthernLass says:

      30 Jul30 July 12:45

      I was delighted with my 5 night CSU at the Indigo Grand Cayman last month, definitely going to be prioritising earning this perk going forward.

• Rob H not Rob says:

  30 Jul30 July 05:44

  Any jungle drums about a new IHG credit card coming down the pipes?

• Liz says:

  30 Jul30 July 06:51

  I will lose my Platinum status at the end of this year. I have been Platinum or Spire since 2015 when I started following HFP. Sad to this status end as it’s served us well for our many USA road trips and multiple HIX, HI and Staybridge Suites bookings over the years. Lots of benefits we’ve received have been free breakfasts when it wasnt included, free parking when it should have been paid, snacks and many upgraded rooms. Next year we will be lowly club members and will likely get nowt! Hopefully one day the UK will have a credit card again.

  • John says:

    30 Jul30 July 07:09

    Even if you don’t want to spend USD 200(soon 225) on Ambassador, you can easily renew plat by booking ten nights on 5000 point bonus packages, it will probably cost more than USD200 but you also get 50k points

    • Liz says:

      30 Jul30 July 07:24

      I buy the max pts most years and always book reward nights that give me better value than what I paid for the points to help with overall road trip costs. I never pay cash for my IHG bookings. Won’t be doing many IHG nights next year as we have a tour in India and Japan booked. But we do have Alaska booked next year too to take us up to 49 states!

      • Liz says:

        30 Jul30 July 09:18

        I always compare my pts again the cancellable rate as I have an elderly MIL and step son with illness to consider. As we always do month long road trips its about keeping the costs down. I always do a spreadsheet of all my costings including the cost of buying the pts and we always manage to save around £1500 on the cost of the hotels compared to paying cash and earning pts. This way has suited us for many years. Now we have almost conquered the USA we are going to work on Canada and NZ.

• John says:

  30 Jul30 July 07:05

  Platinum is a waste of time.

  As Diamond without ambassador, my treatment at ICs has been equivalent or better to when I did have amb.

  The benefits other than the free night aren’t worth paying for (for me – as I very rarely need a late checkout), so I will only be buying Amb again when I have a plan to use the free night.

  If you have a lounge pass and Gold (possible if you activate it from Jan-Mar and don’t renew plat the next calendar year), I think you get more value from an IC than Amb or Diamond on their own

• LittleNick says:

  30 Jul30 July 07:42

  Currently diamond which I will very sadly lose at the end of the year. Served me very well last year on many reward bookings with free breakfast included.

  In my experience as a diamond, upgrades have been near guaranteed apart from the odd holiday inn in the US where it was just ignored. Wasn’t too bothered about those as it was just one night on my own. Occasionally with unexperienced/new staff I’ve had to ask and they’ve obliged.

  I had platinum before diamond and rarely got an upgrade except at ICs when I was ambassador. Buying ambassador just for Platinum I don’t think is worth it unless you’re staying at a lot of ICs then it is

• Concerto says:

  30 Jul30 July 08:31

  So, if I buy Ambassador just before the price increase in October, how long will Platinum status last? And if I buy at beginning of January (as planned), how long will it last?

  • John says:

    30 Jul30 July 12:39

    Probably until Jan 2026 / Jan 2027 respectively

• BJ says:

  30 Jul30 July 08:37

  I recently read on another blog that bonus point packages were no longer qualifying but just chevked IHG and according to them they still are.

  On my IHG app many hotels are labelled ‘certified’. Can somebody explain what that is all about please?

  I’ve lost patirnce with IHG elite status, it’s broken and I’m no longer maintaining. Looks excellent on paper but in practice it’s a mess. I’ve not been getting upgrades regardless of brand, have been unable to use suite upgrades, and have not got lounge access either although I don’t think this is a benefit anyway. The writing was finally on the wall with recent reward devaluations; as somebody who ‘grew up’ with 35k IC rewards I just cannot stomach paying more that that for a HIX these days. Rewards in London are particularly horrendous a 100% Diamond bonus doesn’t even make me think it worth it. I’ll still stay IHG if rates are goid but loyalty is no longer a draw for me.

  OT: Belated thanks @TGLoyalty and @Peggerz for advice on Birmingham and EDI respectively.

  • Rob says:

    30 Jul30 July 08:52

    ‘Certified’ is their new environmental base standard.

    • BJ says:

      30 Jul30 July 08:58

      Thanks, I had been wondering for some time.

• Neil says:

  30 Jul30 July 08:50

  Does the complimentary ambassador weekend night stay count towards a milestone reward?

  I’m going to hit 20 nights this year if it does and then hopefully use the upgrade for 5 nights at the Carlton Cannes next year.

  • Charlie says:

    30 Jul30 July 10:10

    Yes. The complimentary weekend night is just a rate. Also counts towards promotions such as stay 4 nights for 8,000 bonus points.

    • Neil says:

      30 Jul30 July 10:41

      Good news. Thanks.

  • JDB says:

    30 Jul30 July 17:45

    Can you do that now that the Carlton is a Regent?

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