Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Airline miles alternative for IHG’s ‘Set Your Sights’ hotel promotion launched

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UPDATE – APRIL 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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

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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The current IHG Rewards Club (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental etc) promotion is called ‘Set Your Sights’.  I wrote a full explanation here.

It runs until 30th April and is pretty generous for most people.  The problem is that it requires a decent number of stays at IHG properties during this period to hit your personalised target.

If you are only planning one or two stays at an IHG Rewards Club hotel during this period, it might not be the best option for you.

IHG has thought of this, luckily.

A separate promotion, ‘Double Up Miles’, is available for anyone who has set their IHG Rewards Club account to earn airline miles instead of IHG pointsYou can register here.  Use code 10123.

As you may have guessed, ‘Double Up Miles’ gives you double airline miles on every qualifying stay until April 30th.

The earning rates from IHG Rewards Club for airline miles can be found here.  For the core programmes I cover:

Avios (BA and Iberia) – 2 per $1 at Crowne Plaza, Indigo and InterContinental, 1 per $1 elsewhere

Miles & More, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest – 500 miles per stay

Flying Blue – 250-500 miles per stay depending on brand

American Airlines – 2 per $1 except at Staybridge and Candlewood Suites (1 per $1)

Virgin Flying Club – 300-500 miles per stay depending on brand

‘Double Miles’ is not a bad deal with some of these airlines, although which is best for you will depend on how much you are spending and which brand you are at.

If your IHG Rewards Club account is set to earn airline miles, you can register for ‘Double Up Miles’ here using code 10123.

PS.  If you took part in ‘Into The Nights’ in the Autumn and completed all the tasks, remember that 31st January is the last day to select ‘points or free nights’ as your reward.  You will automatically receive the points – which is the less generous option – if you don’t choose.


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 (36)

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

  • Sam wardill says:

    How do you normally choose points or nights for the into the nights bonus? Is it in the website? I ask because my final task (night purchased with credit card) didn’t post so my bonus is being done manually.

    • Rob says:

      Yes, you need to do it via the ITN website.

    • Rob says:

      The free nights are a better deal for 90% of people. If you use them at a top InterContinental (50,000 points per night) your 2 free nights are worth the equivalent of 100,000 points, and most people had a points target smaller than that.

      The only downside is that the free nights MUST be booked (and stayed?) in 2015 whilst the points will never expire.

  • Joe says:

    I tried to register for Double Up Miles, but it requires a promotion code to complete?

  • Jonathan says:

    Can you get Avios under the double up miles scheme booking through a third party (like BA holidays) or do you need to book directly with the hotel?

    • Rob says:

      BA Holidays can go either way (unlike Expedia, where you will never get Avios or points).

  • Emily says:

    Does anyone know if you get points for the paid night of an ‘ambassador free weekend voucher’? And if that would count towards a Set your nights stay? Trying to work out if it’s worth going for the miles – but not sure if it qualifies for either!

    • Rob says:

      Yes you will. Most hotels will give you 2 qualifying nights although you should only get one. If it posts as 0 nights then contact the service centre as the hotel made a mistake.

  • Pat Butcher says:

    It says they are seperate but could you set account to earn points and sign up for set your sights promo. Then switch to miles to do double up promo at same time? I want to do set your sights for the bonus points but would rather earn miles for my qualifying HIX stays.

  • Nicola says:

    I managed to use my 2 free nights booking the Crowne Plaza Times Square the weekend before Christmas 2015 and used points for a further 2 nights. We could also have got the Intercontinental for the same dates but with 2 teenagers in tow decided that was the best option.

    • Cormac says:

      I’ve also got a stay booked with teenagers in NYC and chose the IC ahead of the CP in Times Square. Not having been to either hotel before can I ask why you chose the CP ahead of the IC?

      • Rob says:

        Also intrigued. I have stayed at the IC twice and reviewed it on here. The benefits are that it is brand new, has fantastic views from the higher floors and is expensively furnished. Downside is that there is no public space AT ALL apart from the bar / restaurant – you walk in, you have the reception desk and that is effectively it, with the restaurant off to the side. About as much public space as your average block of flats.

        Not sure if the CP rooms are bigger or simply allow more guests. It may also have more ‘hang out’ space?

        • Nicola says:

          I think the kids will be a bit more relaxed at the CP as they know the brand.

      • YKW says:

        I am staying 2 nights too and chose the CP ahead of the IC. There wasn’t much between them – I am a Gold and not an Ambassador. It just looked like a better location.

  • Macca says:

    WARNING: every time I tried to register the ‘Double Up Miles’ code it gave me an error and told me to contact customer care. I just got off the phone with customer care who told me that you can only register for ‘Set Your Sights’ OR ‘Double Up Miles’ and because I had already registered for ‘Set Your Sights’ I could not be de-registered and therefore am not eligible for ‘Double Up Miles’.

    I got a ridiculous target for ‘Set Your Sights’ which I was highly unlikely to achieve but registered anyway in case a business project dropped on my desk that saw me away a lot. In future I will have to remember not to register speculatively for a promo from IHG.

  • Andrew S says:

    “Get closer to the rewards you want when you stay 3 nights and earn 5,000 bonus points.”

    Does anyone know if this mean 3 CONSECUTIVE nights? It does not state in the T&C`s…

    • danksy says:

      Any 3 nights before 30th April :D… my local HI express is doing them for £29 😀

      • Rob says:

        My £49 flash sale room at Kensington Forum last week has posted as non qualifying by the way. Seems these are not guaranteed to earn points or promo credit.

        • Scott says:

          I spoke to IHG Rewards Customer Services before doing 2 flash sale bookings to complete 4 of my 5 tasks (other one was download the app) and was categorically told they would count towards Set Your Sights. Hoping for a £97 outlay to get 50.5k points, so if they come up as non-qualifying I’ll certainly be getting on the phone to them pretty quickly.

          Did you get base points on them? Not sure how IHG define a stay as non-qualifying v qualifying.

          • Rob says:

            A non-qualifying stay is one where you pay less than 70% of the Best Flexible Rate for that night, so no base points.

            I have submitted a ‘missing points’ request so lets see. If I don’t get them then it will cost them a couple of stays as there is no way I can hit my STS target otherwise.

          • FormalHall says:

            I’m having the same problem with Kensington Forum from the Flash Sale. Sent in a missing points request and got a email back saying I had booked via a third party! Replied and said I hadn’t, sent in screenshot. Got another email back, saying rate was non-qualifying as less than %70. Replied and said why does it say twice during the booking process that I will earn 784 points for my stay. Reply as follows:

            “Our records show that the stay in question was booked using a Flash Sale rate (IDLTO). Please be informed that this is a discounted rate – room only for IHG Rewards Club Members. Further, IHG Rewards Club points do not apply per its Terms & Conditions.”

            Where in the terms and conditions did it specify not eligible, given I’ve had stays post succesfully at another 4 hotels?

        • Danksy says:

          Oops, I’m in the same boat grrrr

          • Danksy says:

            My £29 stays counted no problem… I ruffled the bed the first night and never stayed the second ! I did however get my free glass of wine when I checked in for me and the Mrs, both of whom are platinum members !

      • Stuart says:

        I have a two night £29 stay coming up as well next week. Hoping it tracks, it specifically says I’ll earn points in my screenshot before I clicked book but now I’m a little worried after what other people are saying.

        • Scott says:

          Spoke to IHG yesterday – they explicitly said that as my stays were less than 70% of normal price, they were non-qualifying even though the points showed on the booking confirmation saying what I’d earn. Having said that I’d only booked them having been told over the phone by someone that they would be qualifying and giving details of the phone call, I managed to get my stays refunded.

          I also pointed out that the T&Cs don’t explicitly say that qualifying stays are those less than 70%, and also it doesn’t list IHG flash sales as a non-qualifying stay, so the person is customer relations I spoke to said it would get sent over to head office to have a look at the T&Cs

          • Stuart says:

            I was looking for the 70% rule on the T&C the other day and couldn’t find it. Could someone point out to me where it even hints at it in the official literature?

          • Stuart says:

            Ok thanks, I don’t see how ” locally negotiated rates” could be applied to a global IHG promotion, maybe I’m just missing something.

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