How I maximised the value of an IHG reward night, including free lounge access
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I have just finished three nights at InterContinental Le Grand in Paris, a hotel which I rate highly for its frankly epic public areas – including the most astounding ballroom you will ever visit – and great location.
I successfully pulled off one of the best tricks you can do to maximise the value of a reward night – stacking it behind a paid night and assuming that the hotel will continue to honour your existing room and benefits.
In actual fact, this is what I did:
Friday night – paid for a Club InterContinental room
Saturday night – used my InterContinental Ambassador free weekend night certificate
Sunday night – redeemed my IHG Premium Visa free night voucher for a standard room
I spent my 4th night, in case anyone is wondering, at a non-descript place near Gare du Nord. With a 4pm check-out from the InterContinental and an early train, it wasn’t worth splashing out.
The InterContinental did not blink an eyelid about letting me keep my Club level room. More importantly, they didn’t blink an eyelid about me continuing to use the Club lounge on my reward night. They could have done, because Le Grand sells lounge access as an add-on for €120 per room per night for Ambassador members (€140 for non-members).
The club lounge is a big deal here. The staff are excellent, especially Gilles. There is food available pretty much all day, as well as free flow champagne at breakfast and in the evenings. The food is of high quality, although does not vary much so got a little repetitive by my third night. Because the hotel is so central, it is easy to pop back in during the day for a top up.
This technique is one solution to the problem of how to book ‘premium’ rooms for IHG points. It is also a solution if you want to bring children with you but a standard room cannot sleep more than two people. Book yourself a larger room for cash for the first night and then book redemption nights behind it.
It is not 100% foolproof. I hear the odd story about people who are asked to change rooms. In general, you WILL get away with it. Of course if you book a suite for one night and then book a standard room on points for seven nights then you should expect trouble.
In my case, I had booked two cash nights – although the Ambassador voucher made one of them free – so extending the benefits for one reward night was not asking much. I could almost certainly have added at least one more reward night without fear of being moved.
IHG One Rewards update – December 2023:
Get bonus points: Our article on IHG’s current bonus promotion is here. You will receive 2,000 bonus points for every two cash nights you stay until 31st December. Nights do not need to be consecutive. Click here to register.
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.
IHG is offering a 100% bonus (some members may be offered less) when you buy points by 30th December 2023. Click here to buy.
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.
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