A potentially very good IHG Accelerate hotel promotion, especially for new members

IHG Rewards Club, the Holiday Inn, HI Express, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental etc loyalty scheme, has launched its new Autumn promotion – IHG Accelerate.

Unlike the fairly lacklustre offerings from Hilton HHonors and Marriott Rewards which I wrote about here and here last week, the IHG one does offer genuine value.  At least, it does for me.  Your own personal target may differ.

In addition, it offers a VERY good deal for new members of IHG Rewards Club should you or your travelling partner not already be a member.

Here are the headline details:

IHG Accelerate covers stays from September 1st to December 31st

All hotels are participating

Your bonus is personalised – you need to log in here to discover yours – but will be worth at least 50,000 IHG Rewards Club points (which I value at £250)

This was my target for 87,800 points maximum, comprising:

• 5,000 points on my next stay
• 7,200 points for completing four nights
• 19,200 points for staying at two different brands
• 9,600 points for staying at two Holiday Inn hotels
• 4,800 points for booking two stays with the IHG app
• 15,000 points for spending two consecutive weekend nights at an InterContinental
• 27,000 points for hitting five of the above targets

I consider this very, very do-able – probably with stays I need to do anyway.  That would be (87,800 points x my £5 per 1000 valuation) £440 of free future stays.

My wife got this for 50,000 points maximum, comprising:

• 5,000 points on my next stay
• 6,800 points for completing five nights
• 2,000 points for booking a Bonus Points package
• 500 points for spending $50 on food and drink whilst at a hotel
• 4,800 points for booking two stays with the IHG app
• 2,000 points for applying for the IHG Premium Visa
• 33,700 points for hitting five of the above targets

I don’t like this.  She had the Visa but cancelled it this year, and even if she got it again it would represent a £99 investment due to the fee, admittedly offset by the sign-up bonus.  Having to run up food and drink spend in a hotel and book a Bonus Points package both require spending which may not otherwise be needed.

That said, if I can steer her into doing one IHG stay for work then it would be an easy 5,000 points for hitting the first of her targets.

Not already an IHG Rewards Club member?  You’re in luck.

If you are not already an IHG Rewards Club member, you will receive a special offer when you sign up via the link on this page.

One free night voucher for completing two paid stays (any brand, any length)

A second free night voucher for completing four paid stays (any brand, any length)

This could work out very nicely.  The free night vouchers are valid wherever a standard reward night is shown as available.

You could make a substantial saving by doing four stays at a very cheap Holiday Inn Express – perhaps booking and checking in (but not necessarily staying) for the dead days around Christmas – and then using your two free nights at a £250+ per night InterContinental in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, London etc next year.

Before you get any ideas, I should stress that IHG is very good at picking up duplicate accounts.  They appear to cross reference lots of data, including the credit card used to pay for stays.  However, if your travelling partner is not an IHG Rewards Club member then this would be a good chance to sign them up.

Conclusion

As long as your target is sensible, this is probably the most generous hotel promotion you are likely to see this Autumn.  There is an Accor promotion coming down the line which may be better if your IHG target is unreasonable.

Log in to the Accelerate website here and see what your target is.

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IHG One Rewards update – April 2024:

Get bonus points: IHG One Rewards is offering 2,000 bonus points for every two cash nights you stay (not necessarily consecutive) between 1st April and 31st May 2024. You can read our full article here and you can register here.

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.