IHG brings back its generous ‘Accelerate’ offer for 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UPDATE – APRIL 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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 its new Autumn 2017 promotion – IHG Accelerate. Yes, it is repeating the Autumn 2015, Spring and Summer and Autumn 2016 and Spring and Summer 2017 offer!

But that is not a bad thing.

To be honest, during the last 18 months IHG has been the only major hotel chain offering global promotions which offer genuine outsize 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 7) covers stays from 1st September – so it is already running – to 31st December

All hotels are participating, including Kimpton Amsterdam (which was, despite what IHG told me, excluded from the Summer version of Accelerate)

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

This was my target for 48,100 points maximum, comprising:

• 5,000 points for a stay in September
• 2,000 points on my next stay
• 10,000 points for staying five nights
• 4,000 points for booking a two-night weekend stay
• 2,500 points for two stays booked via my corporate rate (the company I haven’t worked for in 6 years!)
• 6,600 points for booking a Bonus Points Package
• 2,000 points for getting the IHG credit card
• 5,000 points for renewing my Ambassador membership
• 11,000 points for completing six of the seven targets above, excluding the September bonus

Getting the lot could be a little tricky, to be honest, given my Autumn plans.  However, the Accelerate one is basically free points as I was going to do that anyway.  I could get 13,600 points for a one-night stay in September on a Bonus Points Package rate, so it would make sense to fit that into my schedule if possible.   Let’s see how it goes.

My wife got this one for 43,000 points:

• 3,000 points for a stay in September
• 2,000 points on her next stay
• 10,000 points for staying five nights
• 3,200 points for two stays booked via the IHG app
• 2,400 points for making a ‘points and cash’ redemption stay
• 1,500 points for paying for a stay with her IHG credit card
• 600 points for spending $60 on food and beverage
• 20,300 points for completing five of the six targets above excluding the September bonus

This is an interesting one.  One cash stay in September, booked on the app with $60 spent on food and drink and the bill paid on the IHG credit card, would earn 9,500 points and tick off three of the five boxes needed for the final bonus.  It would then need either a 2nd app booked cash night or a ‘points and cash’ redemption to trigger the final chunk.

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.

A note on rebooking

Most of the time, existing bookings – ie bookings made before 1st September – made online do count for this promotion.

Last time, however, some people got an app booking target which DID specifically state that stays must be booked after the starting date.  If you have a ‘book stays via the app’ target then check the small print and be prepared to rebook.

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.  And, with four months to hit your target, you have plenty of time to make the necessary stays.

Log in to the Accelerate website here, register 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.