REGISTER NOW: IHG Rewards Club launches a mini-Accelerate promotion

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• Sandra says:

  4 Sep4 September 12:38

  Pretty rubbish!
  Up to 15000 double points from 2nd stay
  2200 for using app twice – probably make that one
  13200 4 W/E stays inc. Sat night – not in next few months!
  6600 for booking 2 bonus point stays
  11000 for achieving 3 out of 4
  Points from last accelerate still not credited account yet, have anyone else’s?
  Have Spire until Dec 2019 anyway & will most likely get enough points this year to keep it but, having stayed in a decent Westin on holiday this summer , I might from now on concentrate on Marriott/Westin/SPG who they told me are all under the same group now.

• Michael says:

  4 Sep4 September 12:46

  Do I win the prize for the worst targetted offer?:
  3,200 bonus points for 2 stays with the IHG® App
  🙁

  • Lumma says:

    4 Sep4 September 13:11

    I got the exact same thing

    • Robert says:

      4 Sep4 September 13:15

      Me too… Although my max points on the double points was 30,000, so probably more useful than some of the other targets mentioned for me!

  • Michael Jennings says:

    4 Sep4 September 14:06

    Well, I got that, plus I also got 19,000 odd points for five weekend stays including a Saturday. Two stays I might do – and in fact I have done – but five is just not practical, even if I wanted to do it. So the whole thing is completely useless for me.

    I got pretty easy targets for the last three Accelerate promotions, though. I should probably use some of those points and then see what I get next time.

• Kip says:

  4 Sep4 September 13:00

  175k for me.

  15k – double stay
  51k for 5 brands
  22k for 2 IC stays
  6k for 2 app bookings
  80k bonus for doing all 4.

  Haven’t looked into it but only have 1 x CP planned and the 2 x IC stays will probably mean not worth chasing.

  • Michael Jennings says:

    4 Sep4 September 14:09

    What has your recent activity like? I am wondering what kinds of customer IHG gives targets like that to, compared to those of us who get complete rubbish.

    • Michael Jennings says:

      4 Sep4 September 16:17

      Also, does the “80k for doing all four” require you to get the full 15k points for the double stay offer, or do you just have to get *some* points from the offer, meaning essentially that you have to make two stays in the period. This makes a huge difference in terms of how easy it is to get the bonus, I would think. I haven’t got an offer like that, so I can’t check my own terms and conditions.

    • Steve-B says:

      4 Sep4 September 17:08

      I’ve always wondered how their algorithms determine these offers. I was a heavy user of IHG properties attaining Spire two years running and not surprised to see a significant decline in the offers I was getting… but having switched away from IHG for three clear quarters now I’ve been surprised to see no upswing whatsoever.

      Typically vague terms from IHG regarding the 15k offer and whether it needs to be completed in full, but if that is the case, it is in effect the same as the ‘stay x, get y’ offer that was prevalent on virtually all previous Accelerate offers:

      “Number of bonus points listed above will be awarded after the number of required Offers under the Promotion are completed on or before…”

    • Kip says:

      4 Sep4 September 22:09

      My 2018 stays have been paid: 3 x IC, 1 x HI and redemption: 1 x IC, 2 x HI although you inevitably spend some money on redemption stays (or I do).
      Getting the full 15k wouldn’t be an issue as the planned stay would probably cover that.

      I had a quick look tonight and the cheapest IC was £287 in London or more realistically £180 Frankfurt so I could theoretically make it pay but to spend £500+ in real money to make a nominal £700 in points money doesn’t add up for me.

• phenian says:

  4 Sep4 September 13:52

  First time I have done something like this – can you double them up and stay two weekends at two brands and get both bonuses or purchase each stay with bonus points and trigger three bonuses? The final incentive is Complete 4 of the 4 offers and earn (an additional) 54,400 bonus points but I am not sure what counts as completing the offer and the T&Cs are not that helpful

  • Rob says:

    4 Sep4 September 13:58

    Yes, one stay counts towards multiple bonuses.

    • phenian says:

      4 Sep4 September 15:30

      Thanks – so I am sure, my offer is
      15,000 Double Your Stay – Earn double points on every stay, starting with your second stay, up to 15,000 bonus points.
      22,400 Discover Our Brands -Stay at 2 brands and get 22,400 bonus points.
      24,000 Saturday Stays Bonus – Stay 2 weekend(s), including a Saturday night and another night, and earn 24,000 bonus points.
      8,000 Earn More, Faster Earn 8,000 bonus points when you book 2 Bonus Points Package stay(s)
      54,400 Your Achievement Bonus Complete 4 of the 4 offers

      So with 2 weekend stays at different brands booked via Bonus Points package deals I will get all of this (apart from all of the 15,000 from the Double Your Stay offer)?

      If I am right, then this looks like a very good deal

      • HAM76 says:

        4 Sep4 September 18:19

        Double Your Stay is a new type of achievement. So there is a lack of experience here.

        You need to look at the T&Cs to see wether you get the Achievement Bonus upon receiving the first Double Your Stay bonus (on the second stay) or upon completing the maximum of 15,000 bonus points.

• Ian M says:

  4 Sep4 September 14:19

  I can’t see Marriott/Starwood launching a promotion anytime soon considering they can’t even manage of the most basic IT issues. Their merger has been a disaster

  • Rob says:

    4 Sep4 September 14:27

    Putting it a bit strong. Yes, there are issues, but (speaking personally):

    * Managed to merge my SPG and Marriott accounts with no issue
    * Able to rebook a hotel for next year OK which had dropped in points
    * Able to book St Regis New York for 60k as promised
    * Points for two stays since the 18th have posted OK

    I am missing a few SPG Amex points and I can’t see a breakdown of points from my 2nd stay but that is it. None of the other issues (ie inability to book the SPG super luxury resorts) impact me.

    • Ian M says:

      4 Sep4 September 14:38

      You got lucky.

      I’m still missing 610k points.

      Got 7 nights from my YTD missing.

      Still waiting on stays to post from 15-17 Aug, 17-21 Aug and 21-22 Aug.

      and now my activity on the website which was correct, no longer is!

      Marriott emailed me back again today saying:

      “Thanks for your reply. We understand your frustration, but due to the merging process we have encountered several technical issues, our IT department is working on them, but still, it will take some time for the two programs to run smooth.

      We are aware that some of the latest nights are not being reflected on the guests’ accounts, this issue has been reported and is being worked on. As for your missing points, I have checked your account, these belonged to your SPG account, and we do not have access to this information, nor can we check why is the issue. But our colleagues in the Starwood office would be more than happy to assist you.

      We have reported the issue with your total nights being wrongly calculated after the merge, as soon as we get any updates, we will let you know, but this may take sometime.”

      Hardly reassuring. Considering their ‘All Together Now’ message, the fact the programs are meant to have merged, I find it odd that Marriott customer care can’t even access my SPG account!

      • Lee says:

        4 Sep4 September 15:22

        Ian, have you got all your missing retention points? I’m still waiting after 3 attempts.

      • Ian M says:

        4 Sep4 September 15:36

        Hey Lee, you mean the SPG Amex double points ones yeah?

        Amex accepted my complaint and gave me a substantial amount of points to cover the missing points and the time I has spent on calls and their dreadful online chat service. Interestingly they haven’t corrected their IT and I am still only receiving 1 extra point per pound on my spend. But the points they deposited into my account more than covers that. Next I just have to hope that they find their way to my Marriott/Starwood account!

      • rams1981 says:

        4 Sep4 September 16:32

        Did you call to get those Ian? Their online chat people were useless

      • Ian M says:

        4 Sep4 September 18:21

        Rams1981 I put in a formal complaint. It took about 8 or 9 days to get resolved but they compensated me very well in the end. The only way to get this sorted with Amex in my experience was the formal complaint route.

    • Pangolin says:

      4 Sep4 September 16:14

      So I’ll file that one under the “I’m alright, Jack” category.

      Not only do I have missing nights but it seems that an executive decision has been made to revoke the extra stays acquired during SPG Select promos from earlier in the year – these are targeted offers where you can receive, for instance, double stay/nights credit for a certain period of time. These were stays that showed up in my old SPG dashboard but now it’s impossible to even track the #stays, and even CS agents struggle to find it.

      But it gets worse, those that managed 25 SPG stays thanks to this 2x offer have already received an acknowledgement of qualifying for Platinum via the legacy requirement. But those (like myself) who were still a few stays short before the changeover have been told that ALL of our previously recorded 2x stays are now inadmissible – they no longer count towards the same status qualification requirement that others successfully used their double stay credits to achieve before August 18.

      So if you got SPG 25 Platinum before Aug 18 your extra stays were counted; otherwise, they’re junked and you can go rotate.
      If I had been warned of that in advance I could have put in the stays required but the word put out was that the SPG legacy option remains open till the end of the year, so there’s absolutely no reason to bank the Platinum qualification before the changeover. Anyone who took this advice has subsequently been cheated.

      When I see this kind of thing happen I lose confidence in a programme. Now that I’ve been cheated of my double stays and lost the chance to qualify for Platinum I’m going to ditch MR/SPG/Whatever for Hilton.

    • John says:

      5 Sep5 September 03:25

      My IHG offer is -stay 6 brands for 48000 points. Not sure worth chasing for this.

      O/T, I got SPG gold status with Amex Platinum which wasatched to Marriott Gold before. Post merger, am I getting Gold or Platinum elite?

      Marriott app is still saying there are still error. Probably I’ll hold off booking Marriot/SPG for now.

      • Ian M says:

        5 Sep5 September 05:55

        You’ll be Gold status with Marriott

• Tracy says:

  4 Sep4 September 16:49

  double points – 15,000
  3 brands -19,200
  2 weekends – 8,400
  3 bonus points packages – 6,600
  complete all 4 – 34,200 bonus points
  total available – 84,400
  All I have booked to date is an IC 241 weekend. Would need to book 3 bonus points packages over 3 weekends with 2 diff brands. Worth it?

  • Genghis says:

    4 Sep4 September 16:57

    Only you can tell. Taking “par” 0.4p / point, the 84,400 points is £337.60 in cash terms. Have a play around to see what you can get and then decide if it’s worth your time.

    • Michael Jennings says:

      4 Sep4 September 18:10

      Again, it all comes back to the question of do you have to get the whole 15,000 points from the “double points”? If so, you need to spend the equivalent of $1500 + VAT + cost of first night’s stay to get the bonus points, in which case it is a lot of work and ultimately probably isn’t worth it. If not, you can do it with four nights over two weekends, one of which involves a hop to a different hotel between the two nights. In that case, choose the cities and hotels right and it’s doable for a spend of less than £200, and is easily worth it.

      • Genghis says:

        4 Sep4 September 18:34

        Yes – listen to Michael. He’s speaking more sense than me

      • EwanG says:

        4 Sep4 September 19:29

        Bearing in mind the “double points” element of everybody’s first target says “up to” then my understanding is as long as you have made two or more stays then you have ticked that target. It also means if you have loads of stays/spend during the promotion window then the double points are capped.
        As always take some screenshots of the T&Cs and if IHG start being difficult at the promo end because you have not maxed out the “double points” element and because of this not eligible for the bonus points element (assuming you have met the other criteria) I am confident the advertising watchdog would agree with the understanding above. But I don’t think IHG will be trying to trick anyone here on this promotion (it will have had a fair dose of legal scrutiny) and I expect them to act in a genuine and honest way.

      • Tracy says:

        4 Sep4 September 20:24

        Thinking it through, think its too much effort and expense for too little reward…..especially as I only have one planned booking. I have other bookings but they are all reward night bookings.

• Sandra says:

  4 Sep4 September 17:22

  Westin did have some IT issues I have to admit, they said they had only merged mid August (not sure if that is correct or not) but did find my very old Marriott account in their system. One thing posted incorrectly on bill which they removed as soon as I queried. The main IT problem seemed to be the key cards for the rooms wiping depise not being anywhere near mobile phones which they’d warned us about. To be fair on the second complaint, the kids having gone to floor 19 and back again when they couldnt get in their room, the manager gave us CAN $30 credit per room for the inconvenience.

• Simon says:

  4 Sep4 September 18:00

  I have an IC 241 night weekend stay booked in October. I was wondering whether this would count as a weekend stay for the purposes of this promotion given that one night is complementary.

  • Rob says:

    4 Sep4 September 21:31

    Probably not because – if treated properly by the hotel – these stays only post as 1 qualifying night. Sometimes a hotel gets it wrong and posts it as two nights but it shouldn’t happen.

    • Simon says:

      4 Sep4 September 23:15

      Thanks Rob

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