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List of IHG hotels changing category is released

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Late last night, IHG Rewards Club released a list of the hotels which will be changing reward categories on May 1st.

You download the list as a PDF here.

A lot of this was already predicted because it was clear that some hotels were cheaper than comparators.  Here are a few I picked out:

InterContinental Hong Kong up from 45,000 to 50,000

InterContinental Amstel Amsterdam up from 40,000 to 50,000

InterContinental Dubai Festival City up from 45,000 to 50,000

Holiday Inn Wembley up from 10,000 to 20,000

Holiday Inn Stratford (Westfield) up from 25,000 to 35,000

Holiday Inn Express Wimbledon South up from 15,000 to 25,000

Holiday Inn Commercial Road London up from 20,000 to 30,000

Three Glasgow hotels go up by 10,000 points per night

There are another 450 or so to look at.  Some hotels also go down – the Holiday Inn London Heathrow Terminal 5 drops from 20,000 to 15,000 points for example – but most of the fallers are in places you won’t be planning to visit.

My initial impression is that there is now a lot of pressure on the 50,000 point per night cap on pricing.  Having the Holiday Inn Stratford City at 70% of the cost of the InterContinental Park Lane simply isn’t in balance – although the Holiday Inn at Stratford City / Olympic Park / Westfield is a very decent hotel.

If you are impacted by any of the hotels changing category, go to ihg.com before May 1st and make your bookings at the old rates.  You can book for up to a year ahead.

You can read about the more extensive changes to the club which take place on July 1st here.


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 (15)

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  • RK says:

    I think they have unfortunately corrected a lot of the lower priced hotels they had in large expensive cities where the points price was extremely low compared to their competitors(or compared to cash). In London, LA and Hong Kong for example, they had a selection of very good hotels in reasonable locations for 15k-20k a night when all other chains had nothing in the equivalent range pointswise.

    Disappointing that the points drops do not really open up any new competitive redemption offers.

    I also agree that all this pointscreep in the lower priced hotels does mean that the value is more and more in the 50k hotels – who is going to waste 35k on a suburban HIE when they can spend 50k on a city centre IC?

    I think it will be a year ot two, before IHG announce new higher top points categories, just as Hilton and Carlson have done 🙁

  • Nick Massey says:

    Anyone know roughly how long it takes for virgin miles to transfer to IHG points? Have I got enough time before the changes?

    Failing that, if you buy IHG points do they credit to your account instantly?

    • Liz says:

      I bought some on 21st March and they we in the account within a day or two. Still waiting on the elusive 60000 bonus from the credit card 17 days after my 1st statement!

      • Christian says:

        My 60k bonus credited yesterday, on the same day that the credits from my first statement were posted.

    • James67 says:

      If you ha e sufficient pointd alredy just do the points plus $70 option. If not do the cash and points and cancel trick until you generate number of points required.

  • Chris says:

    Obviously the ones on the outskirts of London have seen redemptions soar since central went up to 35k a night and they have now tried to bring them into line. Brent is not worth another 10k that’s for sure.

    Outside London, Glasgow Riverside didn’t surprise me as its two mins walk from the city centre, Glasgow Airport isn’t worth 25k when the CP & HI in town are only 20k with it being less than £10 in a taxi to the airport from either. Even Glasgow Indigo is only 30k and is head and shoulders above.

  • Rda says:

    Wembley is still a decent redemption even at 20k

  • Britbronco22 says:

    Oh for the days when all CP’s were 25,000

  • Derek Shillcock says:

    Hi really glad I booked the Intercontinental danang sun penninsula resort vietnam for 9 nights at 25k as it will be going up to 35k but it’s still a great redemption either way considering the quality of the resort, can’t wait to go!!!!!

    • CV says:

      I was looking at a redemption next year at IC Da Nang, the cash price for my dates was 600 USD per night! So a bargain redemption at 25K points.

  • Elena-MuslimTravelGirl says:

    I have about 6 hotels I want to visit from this list before they go up. I guess I will have to book them and plan my holidays around them. The Koh Samui was an awesome redemption at 25K points per night!

  • Simon says:

    Yes all the ones within the M25 seem to be edged up, when I stay in London for work Wembley and Windsor were a little far out but 10,000 points was a bargain considering you can book room on the 5000 bonus point rate and earn a free night’s stay for every 2 stays. The redemption rate is still pretty good with some 10,000 and 15,000 properties still out there and with all the targeted offers year on year spending the little extra and choosing an IHG over the likes of a Premier Inn or Travelodge does pay off.

    The new tier does give something to strive for as 75 nights is not impossible but will require some very regular stays and deserved to be rewarded as a hard to attain level.

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