My thoughts on the Priority Club / IHG Rewards Club rebranding

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• BritBronco says:

  15 Apr15 April 07:51

  Isn’t it $6k for Platinum? The platinum bonus doesn’t even count for status points.

  • Rob says:

    15 Apr15 April 09:42

    Yes, sorry! Corrected. I think of it as £4,000 in my head (which it is) and then I used the £ figure with a $ sign in front …

• TheLady says:

  15 Apr15 April 09:43

  Seeing the illustration from afar on facebook, the thumbnail looked like a Vulcan taking off, afterburners alight!

• James67 says:

  15 Apr15 April 12:38

  IHG was my hotel chain of choice. Following the enhancments earlier this year I had decided I no longer had a chain of choice. The rebranding and associated ‘benefits’ have done nothing to make me reconsider. None of the hotel programs now offer me sufficient rewards for my loyalty so I’m now just taking best deals as and when I need them regarless of chain, or whether hotel is even part of a chain at all. I’m convinced my cummulative annual saving in doing so will outweigh any points, miles and benefits I would otherwise receive fo loyalty to one (or perhaps two) chains. It has the advantage also that I am now enjoying my hotel stays more because the hotels are more varied, and the independents invariable provide more individuality and charm than do the chains. Another factor was the cost. Even HIEs in central London were often more expensive than I could obtain high end Hiltons on special offer. IHG pricing in London has always seemed crazy to me. Not that Hiltons were to me heralded either; I have stayed in better travelodges than some of my recent Hilton experiences. So, now I just take what point and miles I can get from whatever chain when it suits me; their enhancments have cost them my loyalty and I’m sure I’m not alone.

• Dev says:

  15 Apr15 April 16:25

  Just came back from Madrid where I had booked the IC for 4 nights at the old rate of 30k per night. I was Platinum via the PC credit card which I actually cancelled in January but PC still show me being a Platinum member. A few days before the trip, I received a phone call requesting whether I would prefer a king or queen bed and what time I was expected to arrive. In addition they confirmed that as a Platinum, I would can check out at 1400 hrs rather than 1200 hrs. On arrival, the free wifi was confirmed and I received a welcome drink/snack in the room. The room itself was the lowest category. on my birthday, they sent me a bottle of cava but am not sure that was because of my platinum status or because it was my birthday. The day before checkout, I received a call thanking me for being platinum and ensuring everything went smoothly. No issues at 1400 hrs check out and wifi was useful. Overall, I got the feeling that Platinum status may start to mean something.

• Steve C says:

  15 Apr15 April 17:48

  Just a quick point that Hilton Gold does not give you guaranteed upgrades and breakfasts. In fact the only thing guaranteed with Hilton nowadays is inconsistencies. Upgrades are always subject to availability but I have had them not upgrade me even when I was told they were not at full capacity. Recently at the Hilton Dubai Jumeirah, I wasn’t upgraded but as an ‘alternative’, I was given a free breakfast, despite already getting that by being gold! I have also have heard of people being given $10 vouchers per person to spend on breakfast in Hawaiian properties which belittles the Gold breakfast benefits as $10 will be an orange juice alone at the properties. Is this not just a change by IHG and a general shift in the industry to actively promote and reward spending within properties to gain status as opposed to people getting it for free/cheaply? (No disrespect meant to this site – honest!)

  • Rob says:

    15 Apr15 April 19:04

    US Hilton properties are notoriously bad with free breakfast, taking the definition of ‘continental’ to extremes. As I found at the Conrad NYC recently. Outside the US it is a lot better, though, probably due to fewer elite members.

• Thunderbirds says:

  15 Apr15 April 19:17

  As a Platinum member (65 paid nights last year & 6 reward nights) my personal experience has been that this status isn’t worth anything if you stay in HI or HIE (except perhaps an occasional soft drink, bar of chocolate or room on a high floor). The Crowne Plaza is another matter, the last 4 bookings I’ve been upgraded from a standard room to a Club room with free wi-fi, access to the club lounge and continental breakfast (upgrade to restaurant with full cooked breakfast et al for £9)
  IHG has been sending out a number of surveys recently and I suspect the complex “fast track to elite” is due to their shock of how little people know of the brands in IHG.
  The remaining changes will help me in that carrying over to the next year of surplus nights above 50 would have been a big help this year as would counting the 6 reward nights.
  The one I cannot fathom is why offer Platinum status for the £99 PC Black Credit Card. I’ve e-mailed them to ask how they justify this compared to paying £4k for rooms. You may not be surprised to hear that I’m still waiting for an answer.

• Lostantipod says:

  16 Apr16 April 21:32

  I was a member of an online customer feedback forum run by IHG for about 18 months. There were monthly emails from their team asking us for feedback on proposed advertising campaigns or in-hotel decor, what rewards we valued, which brand email layout we liked, views on environmental policy etc etc. We received the occasional survey to complete, plus we could leave feedback amongst ourselves on IHG hotels we had stayed at. The forum members were mostly US or UK based. In return we were each bunged around 2000 points per month. For a moment there I think we thought they cared ! By the end of it (they closed it last December) we were continuously starting threads demanding free internet for premium members , simply because the message was not getting through via the structured feedback we gave. Well – it only took IHG 18 months to work out that the free internet thing matters (indeed, is really a catch-up with other chains)…. so if anyone here doesn’t like these other IHG changes… my experience is that you only need to wait another 18 months for the IHG management to wake up and smell the coffee….. so good luck with that.

  Meanwhile, for those that are interested in the credit card thing, I built an excel model based on my spend patterns and found that the Hilton Honors Visa edges PCR Black, mainly because of the value I assign to the far better experience in upgrades and free breakfasts with Hilton (as a Gold), than I ever have had with IHG as a Plat. (YMMV, you need to spend £10K on the cards p.a. to keep your status, and I am not including joining points bonuses in this analysis as I have had both cards for a year or more).

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