Getting discounts at Holiday Inn, HI Express, Crowne Plaza, Indigo and InterContinental hotels

I spent last night in the true luxury experience that is the Holiday Inn Rotherham / Sheffield M1 Junction 33 (catchy name!). That is as good an excuse as I need to remind people of all of the special discounts that are available on Holiday Inn and their sister hotels.

All hotel chains offer discount codes to big companies or special interest groups. However, whilst these codes are often available on websites such as Flyertalk, they should not in theory be used except by authorised employees. It is not unusual to be asked for ID when booking on a corporate rate, especially if you do not walk in looking like a business traveller.

InterContinental Hotels Group – which in the UK encompasses Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental, Hotel Indigo and Staybridge Suites – takes this process a bit further, though. It offers a number of discount codes which can be used by anyone, as long as they know the special codes required. And these codes can lead to substantial savings.

Let’s assume that you fancy spending the weekend at the main Holiday Inn in Edinburgh (pool picture below!) for a short break. This is only an example, though, and the links below will get you a discount at most of the group’s properties in the UK, Europe and Middle East. The Friends & Family code is also valid worldwide. Note that these prices were pulled up two weeks ago and may have changed by now.

Standard rate

First we need the standard rate for comparison via the IHG website. For 27th to 29th September, 2 adults, a standard room on the pre-paid Advanced Purchase rate is £100 per night.

This rate does earn IHG Rewards Club points and they post without difficulty.

Friends & Family rate

For a couple of years, the InterContinental group has had a Friends & Family rate plan, which in practice is open to anyone.  This link (click) was actually supplied to people who were members of an IHG online forum, and they are happy for it to be used widely. The rate offered here is £85.

This rate does NOT earn IHG Rewards Club points, but for a £15 saving I would take it.

Exclusive Prepaid Rate A

(EDIT, March 2014 – these rates are now harder to find than they were when I originally wrote this article)

Available via this Leeds United branded website, it offers a 35% discount per night.

Holiday Inn Edinburgh comes out at £72 per night using this rate, which is still a decent saving (albeit not 35%, because it discounts from the Best Flexible Rate) on the Advanced Purchase rate. It is also cheaper than the Friends & Family rate.

In theory, this rate does NOT earn IHG Rewards Club points because your nightly rate is discounted by more than 30% from the standard rate. However, you will often get lucky.

Summary

Using these codes brought up a wide variety of savings:

Advanced Purchase (standard rate) – £100

Friends & Family – £85

Prepaid Rate A – £72

All of these are for a non-refundable, prepayable room. In this example, the 2-4-1 rate was by far the best available.

(By the way, I am NOT recommending the Holiday Inn Edinburgh, where I have never visited!)

As you can see, there are plenty of options to choose from if you are looking for a discount at a Holiday Inn or related hotel. Whilst some of the links above say that the discounts are only valid on certain days (ie weekends) or until a certain deadline, this is often not true. Individual hotels often load rates outside of these periods – you won’t know until you search.

PS. If you do make a booking at an IHG hotel using any of these links, please don’t forget our affiliate link. If you click here it will open the main IHG website. If you then follow up by clicking any of the links above, Head for Points should still receive a small commission on your booking. Thank you!