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IHG brings back its generous ‘Accelerate’ promotion for the Summer

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UPDATE – APRIL 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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

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IHG Rewards Club, the Holiday Inn, HI Express, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental etc loyalty scheme, has announced its Summer 2016 promotion – IHG Accelerate.  Yes, it is repeating the Autumn and Spring offer!

To be honest, IHG is the only major hotel chain offering a global promotion this Summer which offer genuine 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 3) covers stays from 1st June to 31st August

All hotels are participating

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

This was my target for 55,000 points maximum, comprising:

  • 6,000 points on my next stay
  • 5,000 points for a stay in June
  • 10,000 points for staying five nights
  • 3,500 points for booking three stays via the IHG app
  • 6,400 points for booking 2 x 2-night weekend stays
  • 2,000 points for booking a Bonus Points Package
  • 1,000 points for purchasing IHG Rewards Club points
  • 21,100 points for completing five of the six targets above, excluding the June bonus

This isn’t bad.  Let’s ignore the ‘two weekend stays of two nights’ one as I doubt I will do that.

I will receive 48,600 bonus points – plus the base points – for completing five nights, as long as those nights involve at least three stays (booked on the app) and one is for a Bonus Points Package.  This is worth – assuming 0.4p per point of value – £200 of free future stays.

I could earn 13,000 bonus points from just one stay, as long as it is in June and is a Bonus Points Package.  I will do my best to hit that if nothing else.

My wife got an even easier one for 55,000 points:

  • 5,000 points on her next stay
  • 5,000 points for a stay in June
  • 10,000 points for staying five nights
  • 4,800 points for booking two stays via the IHG app
  • 3,000 points for booking a Bonus Points Package
  • 27,200 points for completing three of the four targets above excluding the June bonus

All she needs to do is book two one-night stays via the app as she can skip the ‘five nights’ one.  Job done, 45,000 points banked!  That is £180 of bonus points, plus base points, which should be possible fairly cheaply.

Note: if you have a target saying that you must spend $x on food and drink, be aware that this is EXCLUDING VAT.  Ensure you spend ‘x + 20%’ and then add on a bit more because IHG will probably use a duff exchange rate!

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 Summer.

Log in to the Accelerate website here and see what your target is.

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.

Category

IHG One Rewards

Comments (142)

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

  • Roger Carpenter says:
    16 May16 May 17:36

    Do bookings made at the ‘mastercard’ rate qualify for this promotion?

    • Rob says:
      16 May16 May 17:59

      Yes, the cut off point for stays not counting is more than 30%. Doesn’t the small print also say that these rates definitely earn points?

      • Scottnothing says:
        19 May19 May 15:23

        Rather unhelpfully, the small print says “most business and leisure rates” are included:

        A Stay constitutes a “Qualifying Stay” when member pays qualifying rates, which include most business and leisure rates at InterContinental®, Crowne Plaza®, Hotel Indigo®, Holiday Inn®, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites®, EVEN® or HUALUXETM hotels worldwide.

        But then goes on to say:

        Bonus points are not issued for Non-Qualifying Room Rates or Non-Qualifying Stays. “Non-Qualifying Room Rates” or “Non-Qualifying Stay” include the following: any stay at a Kimpton Hotel, net wholesale individual and group rate, certain package rates, employee discount rate, friends and family rate, crew rate, special discounted contract rates, seasonal worker/crew rate, 50% travel club discount rate, travel industry discount rate, distressed passenger rate, IHG® Rewards Club Reward Nights/Airline Hotel Reward rate, rates booked through third-party web sites, complimentary hotel Stays and any other rates not defined as a Qualifying Room Rate at IHG’s sole discretion.

        So they haven’t been express about whether the MasterCard rate is in or out and have left themselves a great deal of discretion.

        • Scottnothing says:
          20 May20 May 23:33

          And just to settle the issue for the avoidance of any doubt … IHG just emailed back as follows:

          “Dear Mr. Scottnothing,

          Thank you for contacting IHG Rewards Club regarding your Gold Ambassador account. We appreciate the opportunity to assist you.

          Please be advised that in order for stays to qualify for Accelerate promotion, the rate should not be more than 30% percent discounted than the regular rate.

          Should you require further assistance, please feel free to contact the IHG Rewards Club Service Center again. Have a great day!

          Sincerely,

          [Name redacted]
          Customer Care Representative”

          🙂

  • Danksy says:
    16 May16 May 18:33

    Mine…

    6,000 Stay Once Get 6,000

    10,000 Stay More, Earn More (5 nights stay required)
    2,600 Travel with the IHG® App (2 x stays needed to be booked by the app)
    6,400 Saturday Stays Bonus (Stay 2 weekend(s), including a Saturday night and another night)

    12,800 Globetrotter Bonus (for 2 x IHG outside my region)
    2,000 Earn More, Faster (2000 points when booking bonus points package)
    1,000 Earn When You Redeem (1,000 points for redeeming)
    15,000 Your Achievement Bonus (for 6 of 7 above)
    Plus
    5,000 June Bonus Offer (stay once in June)

    Not very appealing to be honest. my hotels for trips coming up are already booked up now, so not really going to be doing the globetrotter, nor the 2 x weekends.

  • Tilly71 says:
    16 May16 May 19:02

    OT: how long does it take for VA miles on auto convert from clubcard take to credit into your account?
    Do you need to contact them on the first time redemption like avios?

  • Tilly71 says:
    16 May16 May 20:38

    Has anyone doing a VA autoconvert from the latest clubcard vouchers not received their miles into their accounts yet?

  • Fenny says:
    16 May16 May 21:03

    Mine’s pretty reasonable, although I’m guessing that the 3 nights in Rome and 2 nights in Copenhagen booked on points & cash won’t count. I may end up staying somewhere near LHR on the way home to earn 8000 points.

  • Trickster says:
    16 May16 May 22:59

    If you have the food and beverage offer, this is calculated across multiple stays. I had this in the 2015 campaign. Got it again this time, again for the very achievable $40

  • Melvin says:
    18 May18 May 20:49

    Please can someone help me understand what I need to do with my current reservations to maximise my offer below?

    I already have 4 nights (2 rooms) booked in July but as this was at the points break price of 5000 each, I now cannot amend without losing the points break offer. I also have another 2 reward nights booked in July too at 20k points each which, in theory, I could rebook individually via the app. Am I correct in assuming that would cover me for three out of the four offers listed? It may be four out of four but I don’t understand whether the ‘points and cash’ offer is covered too?

    6,000 Stay Once Get 6,000
    Thank you for being a loyal IHG® Rewards Club member. Stay once and earn 6,000 bonus points.

    10,000 Stay More, Earn More
    Get closer to the rewards you want when you stay 5 night(s) and earn 10,000 bonus points.

    3,200 Travel with the IHG® App
    Book 2 stay(s) with the IHG® App and earn 3,200 bonus points.

    1,000 Stay for Less and Earn
    Earn 1,000 bonus points when you book 1 stay(s) using Points and Cash. We’ll reward you with more bonus points when you use a combination of points and cash.

    29,800 Your Achievement Bonus
    Complete 3 of the 4 offers above and earn (an additional) 29,800 bonus points.

    5,000 June Bonus Offer
    Stay once in June and get 5,000 bonus points.

    • Melvin says:
      18 May18 May 20:51

      Just to clarify, when I say “4 nights (2 rooms)” I mean that I’ve reserved two rooms for four consecutive nights.

    • TimS says:
      18 May18 May 21:04

      Reward bookings don’t count for any of the Accelerate targets I’m afraid.

      Only cash bookings count (except where the target explicitly refers to needing a cash & Points booking).

  • TimS says:
    18 May18 May 21:06

    Follow the link in the article above & sign in again (no need to re-register, just sign in) and you should be able to see your targets.

    Worked for me just now anyway.

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