Register now: IHG brings back its generous ‘Accelerate’ promotion for the Spring

UPDATE – APRIL 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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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IHG Rewards Club, the Holiday Inn, HI Express, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental etc loyalty scheme, has launched a website for its Spring 2017 promotion – IHG Accelerate.  Yes, it is repeating the Autumn 2015, Spring and Summer and Autumn 2016 offer!

But that is not a bad thing.

To be honest, during 2016 IHG has been the only major hotel chain offering global promotions 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 5) covers stays from 1st January to 15th April

All hotels are participating

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

The 1st January start date means that IHG has excluded the Christmas period from both the current and next Accelerate ofers.  This is a shame as hotels are traditionally very cheap between Christmas and New Year and it was possible to pick up some ‘mattress run’ nights to hit your target very cheaply.

This was my target for 56,600 points maximum, comprising:

• 1,000 points for a stay in January
• 5,000 points on my next stay
• 10,000 points for staying five nights
• 5,300 points for booking four stays via the IHG app
• 16,800 points for staying in IHG hotels in two different countries outside the UK
• 2,500 points for booking on my corporate rate (of the company I haven’t worked for since 2011)
• 1,000 points for making any redemption
• 15,000 points for completing five of the six targets above, excluding the January bonus

This is not a terrible selection of offers.  The corporate rate is tricky because not that many IHG properties offer a special rate to my ex-employer.  However, I already have a four night stay at InterContinental Hong Kong booked in which will help me on my way.  Let’s see.

My wife got an easier one for 41,000 points:

• 3,000 points on her next stay
• 1,000 points for a stay in January
• 10,000 points for staying five nights
• 2,000 points for applying for an IHG Rewards Club credit card
• 3,600 points for booking a Bonus Points Package
• 21,400 points for completing three of the four targets above excluding the January bonus

This is exceptionally easy.  All she has to do is make ONE stay, for one night, on a Bonus Points Package rate!  As long as she also applies for the free IHG credit card, that will be 30,000 points banked.

Note that if you have a target which involves meeting a certain ‘food and beverage’ spending target, this is EXCLUDING VAT for UK stays.  IHG also uses a weak exchange rate when converting your spend to US$.  If you were asked to acheive $39 of cumulative spend (£31), you actually need to spend £37 due to the 20% VAT and in reality probably need to do £40 due to the FX rate IHG uses.

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 Spring.

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

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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.