Register now: IHG brings back its generous ‘Accelerate’ promotion for the Autumn

UPDATE – APRIL 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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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IHG Rewards Club, the Holiday Inn, HI Express, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental etc loyalty scheme, has launched a website for its Autumn 2016 promotion – IHG Accelerate. Yes, it is repeating the Autumn 2015, Spring and Summer 2016 offer!

To be honest, during 2016 IHG has been the only major hotel chain offering global promotions which offer genuine value.  Everyone has their own personal target but, for most of us, the challenge is pretty straightforward.

Here are the headline details:

• IHG Accelerate (Version 4) covers stays from 6th September to 15th December

• All hotels are participating

• Your bonus is personalised – you need to log in here to discover yours

This year IHG has excluded the Christmas period.  This is a shame as hotels are traditionally very cheap between Christmas and New Year and it was possible to pick up some ‘mattress run’ nights to hit your target very cheaply.

This was my target for 64,900 points maximum, comprising:

• 5,000 points on my next stay
• 5,000 points for a stay in September
• 10,000 points for staying five nights
• 3,500 points for booking three stays via the IHG app
• 6,400 points for booking 2 x 2-night weekend stays
• 2,500 points for booking two stays using my Corporate Rate (where I haven’t worked for 5 years!)
• 12,000 points for one stay in North America, South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Greater China, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa
• 1,500 points for spending $160 on food and drink (this is excluding VAT or local taxes)
• 19,000 points for completing six of the seven targets above, excluding the September bonus

This is a bit trickier than last time, to be honest.  Even ones that you may think are easy, such as the Corporate Rate one, are not because only about 10% of hotels used to give a special deal to my ex-employer.  The Corporate Rate is also higher in many cases than sale rates.  Spending $160 (roughly £150 when you add back VAT) on food and drink isn’t easy either.

At the moment, I don’t think I can manage this.  My plans are still very flexible for the Autumn so things may change.  64,900 points is also well worth having – even if I had to spend £175 on mattress run nights it would be worth it.

My wife got an easier one for 46,600 points:

• 3,000 points on her next stay
• 5,000 points for a stay in September
• 10,000 points for staying five nights
• 6,400 points for booking 2 x 2-night weekend stays
• 3,600 points for booking a Bonus Points Package
• 18,600 points for completing three of the four targets above excluding the September bonus

It isn’t a no-brainer though.  It would require at least four nights over weekends or five nights midweek to trigger the 46,600 points.  I might be able to justify two mattress run nights if necessary – perhaps another day out before Christmas at the Holiday Inn Brent Cross?!

Conclusion

As long as your target is sensible, this is highly likely to be the most generous hotel promotion you are likely to see this Autumn.

That said, for my household it may be that the maximum bonuses are out of reach.  8,000 to 10,000 bonus points for a stay in September (well, 6th September to 30th September) is not to be sniffed at though.

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.