IHG bits: earn and redeem at Kimpton, new InterCon in Singapore, hitting Spire Elite

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• Michael C says:

  22 Oct22 October 06:55

  I can imagine the IC river views being fabulous in Singapore, and look forward to hearing about the lounge. The smaller rooms might make it a little harder to bring our toddler along.

• mark2 says:

  22 Oct22 October 07:33

  I have looked at statusmatcher.com and there does not seem any way to get Spire by matching from another programme. Is that other readers’ experience?

  • Gareth says:

    22 Oct22 October 07:59

    Just get it the proper way by staying nights like everyone else

    • John says:

      22 Oct22 October 08:08

      … or by spending 75K virgin miles

      • Genghis says:

        22 Oct22 October 08:11

        Or £37,500 on the IHG Black

      • thomas says:

        22 Oct22 October 16:52

        would this be considered a good spend of 75000 VA points, seeing one would get 100,000 IHG in return ?

        • Alan says:

          22 Oct22 October 16:54

          I’d estimate £162 loss on that transfer, assuming .75/.4p valuations…

        • Rob says:

          22 Oct22 October 19:55

          …. but for 2 full years of Spire Elite? Not a bad deal if you have enough stays at the right places.

          Put another way, I spent about £200 on mattress runs to ensure I locked in Hilton Diamond to March 2019, which was about 20 months-worth.

        • Alan says:

          22 Oct22 October 23:23

          Thing is for Hilton Diamond I’d potentially do the same (I’m going to drop to Gold in March, not looking forward to it!), but without masses of stays (to make use of the extra 50% bonus) I don’t feel Spire offers nearly as much. Now if they gave inclusive breakfast, then I might consider it at that price. As it is I’ll be able to lock it in for 10k VS and another £3k IHG Black spend, which for the 25k bonus looks like a decent deal.

      • Genghis says:

        22 Oct22 October 17:05

        @thomas do you stay at IHG properties a lot (but not 75 nights)? 100% bonus if SE (vs 50% if Plat). The occasional drinks voucher and upgrades etc mean it could be worth it for you

      • Genghis says:

        22 Oct22 October 17:10

        To quite a few here:
        VA = Virgin Australia
        VS = Virgin Atlantic
        KA = Dragon Air
        KE = Korean Air

    • John says:

      22 Oct22 October 08:11

      I mean you don’t actually get anything for being Spire (maybe some lounge access at certain Crowne Plazas but this can’t be guaranteed if you haven’t been before and nobody has posted on flyertalk) so it really isn’t worth getting it the “proper” way

      • mark2 says:

        22 Oct22 October 08:27

        I would have agreed with you until June this year when we stayed one night in the Holiday Inn Vancouver BC and were upgraded to an enormous suite on the top floor (I did not know that HI had suites). But we had to pay a lot for poor breakfast.

      • Rob says:

        22 Oct22 October 09:01

        The 100% base points bonus on stays also puts an extra value on hitting it. I have done quite well at CPs this year – lounge access at Heathrow and Geneva, 2-bed suite in Salzburg.

      • Andrew says:

        22 Oct22 October 09:19

        I was given the presidential suite at a Crowne Plaza last month.

    • mark2 says:

      22 Oct22 October 08:30

      or by upgrading to Ambassador by paying 32,000 points and getting 25,000 back (with a struggle).

      • CV3V says:

        22 Oct22 October 09:22

        By timing IHG accelerate offers and a bit of luck you can get Ambassador for pretty much points neutral cost.

        I haven’t done the required stays, or points earning etc and yet my Spire status has renewed twice.

    • Rob says:

      22 Oct22 October 09:02

      Where’s the fun in that?!

      • TripRep says:

        22 Oct22 October 09:21

        +1 – Sounds like Gareth is missing the point of this site, ie. the spirit of HfP is to get great value awesome travel experiences for less outlay whereever possible.

• Steve-B says:

  22 Oct22 October 08:09

  Any experience on how long it takes for the option to claim 25k points to show on your account?

  Last year was my first year to reach Spire and the option appeared almost immediately… this year it seems not to be the case 🙁

  • Liz says:

    22 Oct22 October 08:18

    Mine was instant – as soon as my credit card points posted over in Sept which took me over the 75k the offer was there the same day.

    • Steve-B says:

      22 Oct22 October 12:36

      Hmm…. thanks Liz. Another call to IHG CS then…

  • Leo says:

    22 Oct22 October 20:59

    I’ve just had this issue. Sailed through the 75K mark in July .The 25K option still hadn’t turned up by last week. I did post on here but no-one had had this specific problem. I emailed IHGRewards explained and the next day the option was showing on my account.

• Cassie says:

  22 Oct22 October 08:48

  The new Sing IC appears to be several blocks away from an MRT station – that’s one of the advantages of the current IC at Bugis.

  • Alan says:

    22 Oct22 October 08:55

    Yep, I’m just the for a night on the way back from Oz so using my IHG credit card night there and like the location of the existing one (plus it looks like it has had a nice refurb with decent-sized rooms, about 38sqft up).

    • David2910 says:

      22 Oct22 October 10:21

      Any other recommendations for hotel and area to stay in singapore with young family? (2 year old and 2 month old). Have a 3 night stopover in june en route to brisbane and never passed through before. Looks like there are lots of big chains and cash prices seem generally reasonable.

      • Alan says:

        22 Oct22 October 10:29

        I’m afraid I can’t advise on the family side, but personally I like the Conrad Singapore – I’ve had excellent elite recognition over the years as Gold and Diamond and the breakfast buffet is superb. Walking distance to Gardens by the Bay too.

      • Rob says:

        22 Oct22 October 10:38

        If not cash sensitive, Capella on Sentosa is excellent. You can even rent a villa in the grounds. Hotel is on the beach.

      • DAZ says:

        22 Oct22 October 11:33

        Depends on your price limit really. The Raffles has decent double bedded rooms in the Palm court that would suit your needs. The rooms at the IC Bugis can be small. Some really nice hotels on Sentosa like the Shangri La and Sofitel, and its good for the kids. The Conrad had decent rooms and it not bad for Marina Bay. And you’ve also got the Marina Bay Sands hotel. For kids I would stay away from the Fullerton, its lovely but the rooms are not what you want.

      • Genghis says:

        22 Oct22 October 17:06

        Not a hotel but Singapore Zoo is fantastic!

    • DAZ says:

      22 Oct22 October 11:25

      You could also use the CP at Changhi Term 2 and just get the taxi or MRT in to town if its for 1 night. My family and I got an upgrade in room and access to the lounge.

      • Alan says:

        22 Oct22 October 11:49

        Yep I’ve stayed there before, decent airport hotel. I arrive late afternoon though so thought I may as well head in to town (plus IC cost more points so felt like a better use of voucher lol). Also getting taxi back to Changi to use SQ Suites private immigration and security is fun 😀

  • Sam G says:

    22 Oct22 October 15:38

    New extension to the Downtown line opened yesterday with a station at Fort Canning, so not too bad now. Its also a reasonable walk to Marina Bay, Chinatown etc and there is a decent (though not particularly local/authentic!) amount of restaurants/ cafes nearby

    Personally I think the rates are a little punchy for the room size and I suspect the pool etc is small (can’t see any pics) but location wise not bad at all

    • DAZ says:

      22 Oct22 October 16:23

      My daughter and I love the information “garden/planted area” just outside Fort Canning for people who have never seen the likes of Nutmeg, ginger, bananas and all sorts of exotic spice plants growing before. The Cinnamon trees smell lovely.

• Alan says:

  22 Oct22 October 08:58

  Timely reminder, thanks Rob. I’ll be approx 14k points off Spire after this month’s CC points post, so popping 10k across from VS will reduce credit card spending target to more easily achievable levels when I’ve still got targets to hit on some other cards!

  • Rob says:

    22 Oct22 October 09:04

    I am sticking the VAT on my wife’s new Premium card this month – that should get her over the line.

    • Alan says:

      22 Oct22 October 09:11

      Good plan, I’ll be due a refund on that front so not an option! Was considering a cancellable Expedia stay but would then still have to hit spend next year so this might be an easier route.

    • Michael C says:

      22 Oct22 October 09:45

      Rob can I whack my Corporation Tax on my BA Amex?

      • Alan says:

        22 Oct22 October 09:46

        You’d need to use billpay (3%) fee to use Amex, only MC/Visa accepted directly.

      • Rob says:

        22 Oct22 October 10:39

        Only via Billhop (search for our review) and a 2.95% fee

      • Michael C says:

        22 Oct22 October 10:41

        Thanks – so if I’m taking out a card just to obtain Avios on paying Corporation Tax, would the best be Tesco Clubcard Mastercard?

      • Genghis says:

        22 Oct22 October 12:54

        The Tesco debit card would be better, no? No fee for the same number of points?

• Matt says:

  22 Oct22 October 09:16

  Hey all, is there any news on the IC Venice regarding opening date, points required, photos etc? After a quick search online, there are plenty of press reports from 2016 announcing the opening in early 2018 but I cannot find any updates which is surprising considering it is due to open in 3 months(ish)!

• mark2 says:

  22 Oct22 October 09:17

  OT
  I ordered an Economist subscription through the Avios site on Tuesday.
  The 10,200 points posted this morning.

  • the real harry1 says:

    22 Oct22 October 17:04

    so: no points? 🙂

• Ronald D says:

  22 Oct22 October 09:58

  OT – Partner airlines to DME/SVO

  Hi,

  Trying to arrange flights for the World Cup next June. Only issue is that I have left this relatively late. I’ve managed to book an inbound flight with BA, but now need to figure a way of getting out there (as no seats left with BA). Can anyone think of any smart routing with partner airlines which can help me avoid the expensive cash fares?

  I did have S7 and Finnair in mind, but am struggling to see availability when going to book on BA. Is there any easy way to view availability in partner airlines without searching the specific dates one at a time? Is this something the call centre can help with? Additionally, I don’t actually know when the seats are released on partners, although assume t-355.

  Any advice would be much appreciated!

  • Jonathan Martin says:

    22 Oct22 October 17:09

    I’m planning on going for the first weekend (match tickets notwithstanding) via LED (St Petersburg) – its a very nice train journey from there to Moscow. Worth considering if you’re struggling to find availability into DME/SVO

    • Genghis says:

      22 Oct22 October 17:15

      Is it a nice journey? I took the Sapsan 7 years ago and remember how boring the landscape was.

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