Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

More IHG bonus point codes, and how I am approaching ‘The Big Win’

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

UPDATE – APRIL 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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

Keep up to date with new hotel offers by signing up for our free daily or weekly newsletters.

As I wrote the other day, I spent last Friday at the Holiday Inn Rotherham Sheffield. I booked this stay through my wifes account, as she has not done a paid IHG Rewards Club stay this year.

I also put through all of the current bonus codes that are currently floating around and which I put in this article.

The stay was a big success, generating over 14,000 IHG Rewards Club points on a £48 room. I value those points at around £70.

On top of the list of bonus points codes I listed in the post linked above, there is one new one I used.

Code 1041 gives you 2,000 bonus points on EVERY stay you make for 60 days after registering. You can see this code works from the screenshot above.

There are two further codes about which I have not tried yet:

Code 1012 gives 5,000 points on your next stay within 90 days. This code may not work if you are not a Gold or Platinum member. This is easily the best one-shot code we have seen in a long, long time.

Codes 1023 and 1027 gives 3,000 points on your next stay within 90 days. These codes will work on any account.

Combining codes with The Big Win

My wifes account is now in the interesting position of giving me 4,000 bonus points on every stay she makes within 60 days. This comes from the 2,000 points per stay code above (1041) and the two 1,000 point codes.

I wrote about IHG’s ‘Big Win’ promotion here. Whilst my own targets are simply not achievable, my wife has the easiest ‘Big Win’ challenge of anyone I know. These are her targets:

  • 1,000 points for one stay
  • 6,700 points for 5 nights
  • 12,000 points for 2 different brands
  • 4,000 points for booking 2 stays online
  • 12,000 points for 2 hotels from the list provided
  • 36,000 for completing all of the above

That makes a total of 71,000 points, so about £350 of value. More importantly, we can complete all of the above with just 5 nights!

I have two options. I am in Madrid next month for a night, and there are some €40-50 Holiday Inn Express properties in Madrid on my list of hotels for the 12,000 point bonus. I will book into one of those (although I won’t stay there).

The question then is how many nights. I could just do a 4-night HIX stay at €40-50 per night and be done with it. However, because she is also getting 4,000 bonus points per stay for the next 60 days, there is also the possibility of booking – admittedly more expensive – hotels in London (also on our list) and using them for visiting family and friends in coming weeks.

If I book 4 Holiday Inn Express nights in Madrid, I am ‘all done’ for under €180. That is a real result for 71,000 bonus points, plus around 15,000 points for the stay itself using the latest codes above.

Add in the points from the Holiday Inn stay last Friday, and the five nights will have earned around 100,000 IHG Rewards Club points – enough for 2 nights at a luxury InterContinental in New York, Paris, London etc.


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.

Comments (72)

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

  • trickster says:

    I had a stay at the HI Express in Walsall on 31st August which netted me 9.5k points for only £54. Annoyingly 1 day short of the start of the big win promotion so it didn’t count towards that too.

    Staying at the CP in Manchester tomorrow night, and I have lot of bonus point codes banked which I hope will amass upwards of 15k points, not including Big Win points.

    I used to transfer IHG points to Avios but don’t anymore. Managed to get two free nights in the IC Park Lane recently – one on points and one on the Barclaycard free night. Well worth it.

  • CV says:

    Related, but not quite, I recently got the IHG Black Visa, my first statement date shall be 17th October, does anyone know how long after this date it takes for platinum status to be applied to IHG loyalty account?

    Or, if I were to book a hotel now (club status) with Platinum status subsequently awarded will my updated status show up at check in? I have some hotel bookings which I am deferring from making just in case.

    • Nick Burch says:

      There’s a strong chance that the hotel’s system will show your status at the time of booking. When you checkin, ask them if they have your new status, and get them to re-poll the IHG systems if not. (I’ve had to do this in the past, around the time of a status upgrade)

    • Rob says:

      IHG can upgrade you if Barclays has not told them to do. Others have done this, hopefully one will chip in and remind me how they did it.

  • Leon says:

    Is there also a bonus when signing up a new member, if so anyone who can share the code;

    Is there a benefit when you register as a new IHG client with a US address, or better to include a European address in order to avoid mandatory stays for the Big Win (which we will not be able to make this year).

    Thanks

    • Rob says:

      No referral bonus.

      You only need a US address if you sign up for the ‘5000 points for a weekend stay’ bonus and then do a weekend stay. However, be aware that after your first stay they will send your plastic card etc so you need the correct address in place for that.

  • Maja says:

    I just got an email this morning about a stay again bonus of 3,000 points – code 4041. Doesn’t seem targeted.

  • Ian says:

    Anybody found out if reward nights count towards the big win targets?

    • Alan says:

      They don’t – IHG reps on FT have been clear on this and they don’t count as eligible stays as no points are awarded.

  • Rda says:

    Does anybody know if you can gain points on 2×1 holiday inn stays?

    I have still managed to claim points on holiday inn express 2×1 stays but not sure about this

    I have a two night stay in stevenage coming up, but am thinking it might be worth paying per night to get all of the bonus points on offer?

    Opinions please!

    Rob

    • Alan says:

      The safer option would certainly be as separate bookings – also if you could hotel hop then that would be an extra night covered too! My understanding is that technically the 2nd night on a 241 stay would be ineligible for points but that they’re sometimes awarded.

    • Rob says:

      If it posts as a qualifying stay, it will trigger all the bonus points.

      Since you are due points on a 241, technically, I would stick with your booking as it is. You may have to retroclaim the points but you should get them.

      I’ve been to that HIX in Stevenage … I did a mattress run there during Crack The Case two years ago!

  • Rda says:

    It will only be another £15 to book two separate nights using 35% off rate so will go for that as I will definitely get the points

  • Rda says:

    I stayed there for 10 nights during the Olympics, and got reward points added for 2×1 stays, so may try again! Don’t want to miss out on all the discount codes

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

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.