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Time to make final plans to hit your IHG ‘Accelerate’ targets

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UPDATE – APRIL 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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.

Click here for our article on IHG’s ‘2000 Bonus Points’ promotion which runs from 1st April to 31st May 2024. You can register for the offer by clicking here.

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If you are working towards your IHG Accelerate target – and this is probably the most generous hotel promotion you will see this quarter – you have only three weeks left to complete all of your tasks.

As the cheaper Advance Purchase rates tend to disappear about a week before the stay date, you should be planning any final stays now, especially if you are going to end up doing a ‘mattress run’ and booking a room where you don’t stay, only check in.

You can check your progress towards your targets here.

How did we do?

My wife has successfully completed 4 of her 5 tasks and earned 43,200 points.

She could still earn an extra 10,000 points by doing another three nights before the end of April but that is highly unlikely.

The two stays were both ‘necessary’ and so the points were genuinely free.

I am in a trickier position.

I have currently earned 12,600 of a possible 58,200 points.

However, I should have earned another 35,600.  IHG is not accepting that a particular stay was booked via the IHG app, which is a condition I need to trigger to receive the remaining points.  I cannot prove it either way – the confirmation email I got from IHG does not show how I booked.

The issue now is whether I should do a mattress run – as I don’t need a hotel room before the end of the month – to guarantee unlocking the 35,600 points.  As they are worth around £150 it makes economic sense to spend £50 on a room, except for the fact that I believe IHG owes me the points anyway.

Here are some tips to help you hit specific targets:.

IHG has launched a targetted bonus for buying IHG Rewards Club points

Until 15th April, IHG Rewards Club is offering a bonus of up to 75% if you buy points.

Both my wife and I have an Accelerate target which is ‘buy some IHG points’.  If you got that too, now is your best chance to do it as you will receive a 30% bonus on a 1,000 point purchase.

To see if you are targetted for a bonus, visit the IHG ‘buy points’ page here.  You will initially see the normal pricing but the special offer will appear once you are logged in, if you qualify.

‘Earn When You Redeem’ – option 1

Many people have a challenge which involves making a points redemption.

This triggers on making the booking and NOT on completing the stay, it seems.  If you have this challenge, make a hotel booking for a few months down the line – beyond the 30th April promo closing date for safety.  You can always cancel later.

‘Earn When You Redeem’ – option 2

Alternatively, there are some digital downloads available in the IHG rewards catalogue.  The  Language Translator Software is FREE.

A reader downloaded this and it triggered the ‘earn when you redeem’ bonus, albeit it took a month to show up on his Accelerate home page.  Easy!

Warnings when doing a booking for someone else via the app

If you need to make a booking via the IHG app to hit your target, but someone else will be checking in who is not the named person on the account, BE CAREFUL.

You cannot add a ‘second guest’ name via an app booking.  You need to book via the app and then amend the booking via ihg.com to add the 2nd name.

However, this is what happened when I did this on my wifes account:

My name replaced my wifes name as the first guest (this disqualifies her from getting points)

Bizarrely, my wifes name became the ‘company name’ attached to the booking

Her IHG Rewards Club number was wiped from the booking

Luckily, I spotted this at check-out at the hotel.  The property was happy to put her name back as lead guest and add back her IHG number.  The stay tracked OK as an app booking even though it had been modified online.

This is not an issue for desktop bookings because you can add the 2nd guests name (ie the name of the person checking in) during the booking process.  It is only an issue with app bookings.

I’d recommend taking a couple of minutes to visit this page, see how far down the line you are to hitting your targets and then deciding if it makes sense to pursue them or not.

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.

Category

IHG One Rewards

Comments (90)

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

  • Moore says:
    6 Apr6 April 06:11

    I had the same issue with an app booking. Contact the hotel and ask them to send you a copy of the sheet which you sign upon check-in. That should state the rate as being IHG App. Hope this helps you mate.

  • Peaceful Waters says:
    6 Apr6 April 06:13

    I’ve had a booking via the app that hasn’t picked up.

    • Adamsdown says:
      6 Apr6 April 09:36

      I made 2 bookings specifically to complete my “2 App bookings” target and downloaded the App to do so. Both were rejected and when challenged, IHG said that both were made via the Mobile Web but were not App bookings. Seems no way to prove my case now.

      • Moore says:
        6 Apr6 April 10:32

        Hi Adam

        You should try what I did. Contact hotel and ask for copy of check-in form or rate. My app stays have always stated ‘IHG App’ as the rate.

        Good luck
        Moore

        • Enigma368 says:
          6 Apr6 April 15:36

          I also had IHG reject an app booking. I lost out on 60k in the previous accelerate promo because one of the 7 stays I made did not track as an app booking. IHG will not back down on it and I cannot prove otherwise. I had planned my entire travel over 3 months around completing this promo so it is very frustrating.

          I will try contacting the hotel.

      • John Rambo says:
        6 Apr6 April 18:15

        Might be worth taking a screenshot of the confirmation when you book using the app

  • Joe says:
    6 Apr6 April 06:30

    I made two Iphone app bookings, worked ok and credited.
    Yesterday and today logged in to see offers page, said 100 days to go then today 99 days?? Previously was correct at X number – end of April

  • Dave says:
    6 Apr6 April 06:59

    Is Accelerate going to become a regular promotion? I’ve already hit all my targets (only netting 35k though), so I’m looking forward to the next one!

  • PJK says:
    6 Apr6 April 07:14

    My targets were:
    +5,000 Stay Once
    +Stay 5 night(s) and earn 10,000 bonus points
    +3,200 Book 2 stay(s) with the IHG® App
    +3,600 bonus points for 1 stay using Points and Cash
    +28,200 Complete 3 of the 4 main offers above

    So i had targeted all but the stay 5 nights element to net 40,000 points by doing 2 stays, booked through the App, at least 1 as Points & Cash.

    I’ve had terrible tech problems with the app on my Android phone and tablet so ended up booking 2 nights over the phone explaining the issues and asking them to confirm on the booking that is attempted to book via the app but only to be thwarted by “IHG backend server issues” as the app quotes every time.

    They agreed but when I came to chase the points they won’t credit them as a Points & Cash night is not a “Stay” but a “Reward night” which is exempt.

    I’m currently arguing the toss with their email address.

    They’ve offered to credit the 3200 and 3600 points but not the 5000 nor the 28200 points… I’m obviously carrying on complaining “unhappy Spire Elite member here” etc.

    I’m underlining the fact their terminology is vague as they call the Points & Cash target a “stay” not a reward night.

    Hurrumph!

    • Brian says:
      6 Apr6 April 08:45

      You’re highly unlikely to win – it’s made quite clear that reward stays ONLY count for those targets that specifically require them, like redeem your points or use points and cash. This has been frequently discussed in the comments pages on here. You’d do better to book a cheap night somewhere, if you really want those extra points.

    • Chris says:
      6 Apr6 April 09:42

      I doubt you will have much luck tbh.

      Cash and points nights are stays but they are not qualifying ones and it’s clearly laid out in the general terms and conditions that stays must be qualifying to count towards the promo.

  • Paul says:
    6 Apr6 April 07:30

    I signed up my wife as she had not had a stay in a year and her targets would net over 100,000 points. The app bookings have never registered and she had two. The biggest hurdle was two stays in two separate countries other than the UK. She did a mattress run in Germany for 59 euro and we have stayed in IHG hotels while here in the US. She will complete her challenge of 6 nights and 4 separate brands on Thusday and trigger the bonus.
    In my experience achieving a target means you get unrealistically more difficult one the next time round, consequently I have no stays in this quarter.

  • Dave H says:
    6 Apr6 April 07:40

    Just logged into my account, and it shows 99 days to go on the target page and via my profile it shows the offer expires 15/7/16.

    • Mark B says:
      6 Apr6 April 07:49

      Mine says 99 days too, the cynic in me would say it’s to fool us to thinking we’ve got more time

    • MadMiler says:
      6 Apr6 April 11:12

      As does mine. There was no way I was going to hit all my remaining targets in 3 weeks…..but 3 months, well this is now a possibility

  • HayMow says:
    6 Apr6 April 08:06

    I hadn’t read the Accelerate fine print about reward nights not counting as stays, so 1 Points+Cash night booked on iPhone app (since the iPad app amazingly doesn’t seem to offer Points+Cash, only Points) and a 2-night reward night stay haven’t counted towards my targets. .. Like PJK I felt the Points+Cash stay (at least) should count towards my 2x app booking target. .. My previous app booking for Germany in Jan, made on iPhone for cash rates did successfully track & count, no problems. Trying to pursue with IHG by email to see what happens.

    • PJK says:
      6 Apr6 April 10:45

      Thanks HayMow, I’m glad it’s not just me who misunderstood that.
      The T&Cs are not clear what counts as a “Stay”, especially as the “Points & Cash” target does not refer to these being “Reward Nights”.
      Let me know here if you get anywhere!

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