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

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UPDATE – APRIL 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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

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IHG Rewards Club, the Holiday Inn, HI Express, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental etc loyalty scheme, has launched a website for its Spring 2017 promotion – IHG Accelerate.  Yes, it is repeating the Autumn 2015, Spring and Summer and Autumn 2016 offer!

But that is not a bad thing.

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 5) covers stays from 1st January to 15th April

All hotels are participating

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

The 1st January start date means that IHG has excluded the Christmas period from both the current and next Accelerate ofers.  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 56,600 points maximum, comprising:

  • 1,000 points for a stay in January
  • 5,000 points on my next stay
  • 10,000 points for staying five nights
  • 5,300 points for booking four stays via the IHG app
  • 16,800 points for staying in IHG hotels in two different countries outside the UK
  • 2,500 points for booking on my corporate rate (of the company I haven’t worked for since 2011)
  • 1,000 points for making any redemption
  • 15,000 points for completing five of the six targets above, excluding the January bonus

This is not a terrible selection of offers.  The corporate rate is tricky because not that many IHG properties offer a special rate to my ex-employer.  However, I already have a four night stay at InterContinental Hong Kong booked in which will help me on my way.  Let’s see.

My wife got an easier one for 41,000 points:

  • 3,000 points on her next stay
  • 1,000 points for a stay in January
  • 10,000 points for staying five nights
  • 2,000 points for applying for an IHG Rewards Club credit card
  • 3,600 points for booking a Bonus Points Package
  • 21,400 points for completing three of the four targets above excluding the January bonus

This is exceptionally easy.  All she has to do is make ONE stay, for one night, on a Bonus Points Package rate!  As long as she also applies for the free IHG credit card, that will be 30,000 points banked.

Note that if you have a target which involves meeting a certain ‘food and beverage’ spending target, this is EXCLUDING VAT for UK stays.  IHG also uses a weak exchange rate when converting your spend to US$.  If you were asked to acheive $39 of cumulative spend (£31), you actually need to spend £37 due to the 20% VAT and in reality probably need to do £40 due to the FX rate IHG uses.

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 Spring.

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

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 (139)

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

  • TGLoyalty says:
    10 Dec10 December 10:26

    Complete all of your Accelerate offers and earn 41,000 total bonus points.

    3,000 – One Stay
    1,500 – Stay and pay with your IHG® Rewards Club Premium Credit Card
    3,000 – when you book 1 stay(s) using Points and Cash.
    3,200 – Book 2 stay(s) with the IHG® App
    10,000 – stay 5 night(s)
    19,300 – Complete 4 of the 5 offers
    1,000 – January Bonus Offer

    Stay Once in Jan, book vis app, pay with IHG card – 5,500
    Book point+cash, book via app – 25,500

    Probably won’t chase the other 10k

  • Brian says:
    10 Dec10 December 10:32

    Hi do reward stays on points qualify to help meet your targets? Or does it have to be cash bookings?

    Thanks, Brian

    • Nathan says:
      10 Dec10 December 10:59

      I’m sure I read here once that ‘redemptions now count as qualifying stays’, which I duly did but those stays were not credited toward my Accelerate total 🙁

      • Janeyferr says:
        10 Dec10 December 11:56

        They count toward elite status targets I believe, maybe that’s where the confusion came from.

        • Andy S says:
          10 Dec10 December 14:07

          Yes, I’ve had two reward nights this year and they count towards nights required for status, but not for accelerate

    • Janeyferr says:
      10 Dec10 December 11:53

      Redemptions only count if you have a redemption as a task, and even then only for that task.

  • RussellH says:
    10 Dec10 December 10:34

    Not exciting, but marginally better than the last one!

    Same Book and stay Once Get 2,000 which will happen at some stage.

    Stay More, Earn More “only” 8 nights rather than 9. Still likely to be ignored.

    Travel with the IHG® App now requires 3 bookings instead of 2. I **hate** the app. And you cannot get the HfP bonus.

    A Bonus Weekend Stay. One rather than three. A definite improvement.

    Earn More, Faster. Only one night required this time for the same number of points. Good!

    Eat, Drink and Earn. A rediculous $110, even if it is an improvement on the previous $160.

    Earn When You Redeem. Just one night required. Did not have this one before.

    The completion bonus is only 13 5000 too Not good compared with last April’s 32 900.

    Last years Jan bonus was 5 000 and the Stay Once bonus was 3 000 rather than the current and next 2 000..

    They seem to have stopped the “stay at x different barnds” offers too.

  • Richard says:
    10 Dec10 December 10:44

    Mine is rubbish!

    Bonus points after 6, 9, 15, 18 and 21 days.

    Need 21 days to earn 38,600 points. What rubbish!

    • Jake says:
      10 Dec10 December 11:10

      Mines the same! I could potentially do it as travelling for 3 solid weeks in Feb, but A) why would I want to stay in only IHG properties and B) what would my target be for the next quarter!

      • Chris says:
        10 Dec10 December 11:32

        Yep mine’s the same – not had a decent one since the initial one – where I did a Holiday Inn stay in Barnsley, Lancaster, Stonehenge and Luton and got 2 nights in Hong Kong Intercontinental for my trouble…. Think I’ve been punished ever since…..

        • Nadir says:
          10 Dec10 December 14:20

          I did the same. 4 x stays at HI(X) at Windsor, Heathrow then twice at Excel. Got two nights at IC Hong Kong. My next set of Accelerate targets was terrible. But the most recent one was okay. And this new one seems pretty good.

  • Simon says:
    10 Dec10 December 10:59

    I have a promo that needs a stay outside country of residence.
    A bit of a long shot, but would somewhere in Scotland or Wales count as a stay?
    Mattress running in Hemel Hempstead is one thing, abroad is another.

  • Alistair Todd says:
    10 Dec10 December 11:02

    It’s been rubbish for me the past few times, but this time for 2 nights booked via the app and paid with my IHG mastercard, plus $90 food and drink, I’ll get 31k points.

    It’s really interesting how many different offers there are. They obviously want to encourage take up of the credit card and the app etc, and presenting it this way seems to work. At least, it works when you get something that seems achievable.

  • Ben says:
    10 Dec10 December 11:02

    Maybe a silly question but do you know if hotel chains give points to both adults sharing a room or only to the one making the booing?

  • Janeyferr says:
    10 Dec10 December 11:08

    Mine is ~okay.

    InterContinental Hotels Group IHG Rewards Club
    Fast forward to your happy place

    Jane, earn 41,000 total bonus points when you complete your offers.

    Points Earned
    Complete all of your Accelerate offers and earn 41,000 total bonus points.

    3,000 Book and stay Once Get 3,000
    10,000 stay 5 night(s) and earn 10,000 bonus points.
    2,200 Book 2 stay(s) with the IHG® App
    4,000 A Bonus Weekend Stay
    5,000 bonus points when you renew your Ambassador Membership.
    15800 for 4 out 5
    1000 for January stay

    We’re looking to buy our first home right now so I don’t think I’ll actively be going for it this time.

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