Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Get extra benefits at InterContinental, Indigo and Kimpton with IHG Luxury & Lifestyle Collections

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

With IHG and American Express launching a new £75 cashback offer, I though it was worth looking again at the benefits of the IHG Luxury & Lifestyle Collections.

These can get you impressive extra benefits at many InterContinental, Kimpton, Hotel Indigo, Regent and Vignette Collection hotels.

As most HfP readers should know by now, almost all hotel brands with high-end properties offer special deals to travel agents who specialise in luxury travel.  Here is our last review of Hyatt Prive, for example.  This is driven by the American market, where many wealthy individuals still prefer to book by having a self-employed ‘travel counsellor’ visit them in their home to talk through potential options.  Keen to get in front of these people, most hotels have special packages which can only be booked by ‘travel counsellors’.

What is IHG Luxury Collection?

There are a small number of travel agents in the UK who are also accredited to book these packages.  Emyr Thomas, who we partner with, is one of them.  You can find out about Emyr’s services on this page of Head for Points.  You’d be silly to book a five star hotel without asking him if he can get you a better package.  (He won’t get you a better price, but he can often get you a better overall deal.)

Scheme 1: IHG Luxury Collection

Applies to selected:

  • Regent Hotels
  • InterContinental Hotels
  • Kimpton Hotels outside the US

What are the IHG Luxury Collection benefits?

Here are the main benefits you get when you book via a luxury travel agent who can access IHG Luxury Collection rates:

  • GUARANTEED 2pm late check-out
  • Breakfast for two in the hotel restaurant
  • $100 of hotel credit per stay
  • One category upgrade, subject to availability on arrival
  • Bottled water and fresh fruit or snacks in the room on arrival

As you can see, this is clearly a good deal.

The benefits have been diluted slightly this year because IHG One Rewards now offers free breakfast to top tier Diamond Elite members, which covers a lot of HfP readers. If you don’t have Diamond Elite status, however, the breakfast benefit has a lot of value. The $100 of hotel credit should cover a decent lunch or evening meal too.

For clarity, you WILL receive IHG One Rewards points and elite night credit too.

For total clarity, the rate you pay is the same as the Best Available Rate on ihg.com.  All of these benefits are genuinely free on top.

The full benefits list is here (click to expand):

IHG Luxury Collection benefits

Which hotels participate in the IHG Luxury Collection?

Here is the full list, click to expand:

IHG Luxury Collection hotels

Some InterContinental hotels are also part of the Virtuoso luxury hotels group.  As we wrote in this article, if you book the Virtuoso package you will receive free club lounge access at selected InterContinental hotels including London Park Lane and Paris Le Grand.  Handily, Emyr can also book Virtuoso rates, so if a hotel is part of both programmes he will give you the choice of which benefits package to take.

Scheme 2: IHG Lifestyle Collection

Applies to selected:

  • Hotel Indigo
  • Vignette Collection (the new brand for independent hotels)
  • Kimpton Hotels in the US

What are the IHG Lifestyle Collection benefits?

Here are the main benefits you get when you book IHG Lifestyle Collection rates:

  • 2pm late check-out, if available
  • $50 of value added amenity per stay
  • One category upgrade, subject to availability on arrival
  • Bottled water and fresh fruit or snacks in the room on arrival

This is a lot weaker than the benefits available via IHG Luxury Collection:

  • you don’t get free breakfast
  • your late check-out is NOT guaranteed
  • the ‘added value’ benefit is only $50 and not $100, and could be an ‘amenity’ (ie a bottle of wine) rather than hotel credit to spend as you please

That said, the hotels included in ‘Lifestyle Collection’ are far cheaper than those included in the ‘Luxury Collection’, in general.

As usual, the rate you pay is the same as the Best Available Rate on ihg.com.  All of these benefits are genuinely free on top.

The full benefits list is here (click to expand):

IHG Lifestyle Collection benefits

Which hotels participate in the IHG Lifestyle Collection?

Here is the full list – click to expand:

As you will see, not all Hotel Indigo properties are on the list.  Only Bath and London Kensington are included from the UK, for example.

Conclusion

The IHG Luxury and Lifestyle Collections offers some useful benefits if you are staying at a participating property, especially as there are no minimum stay requirements.

If you would otherwise book a cheaper non-refundable rate, you are paying slightly extra here because you need to book Best Available Rate.  You need to do the maths to see if the benefits stack up.

For anyone who would usually book a cancellable rate anyway, these are genuine free extras.

You CANNOT book these rates online.  If you don’t know any other luxury travel consultants, you can contact Emyr Thomas via the form on this page of Head for Points with your dates.  He will confirm the rate and benefits and will then book once you’ve given final approval.  You pay at the hotel as usual.

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 (31)

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

  • Rand says:
    21 Nov21 November 04:46

    What is the theory about “travel counselors visiting people at home” based on…? Sounds like another urban legend.

    • RussellH says:
      21 Nov21 November 10:17

      When I was tour operating I met a number of these travel experience planners at international trade fairs, and even dealt with a couple.
      They do not, by any means, ‘always’ visit people in their homes; much of the consultation will be done over the phone or by e-mail.
      But I would expect than when one is trying to seal a several thousand dollar deal a home visit to do just that would make a huge amount of sense.
      These people will usually be highly knowledgeable specialists in either one type of holiday, or one quite small area, nothing like general travel agents.
      They do not need to make a huge number of deals a year as their overheads will be low, usually working from home, and, at least in my experience, do not handle client monies – I would be asked to charge the client’s Amex directly.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      21 Nov21 November 13:00

      If you are cash rich but time poor you’re more than willing and able to pay someone to do the scut work for you.

      These people aren’t flicking through holiday brochurs or doing searches on expedia or popping in to the local Lunn Poly.

      They want to tell someone ‘we want a week in Aspen on February for some skiing’ and let them do the work on finding hotels and flights and transfers.

      And whilst the days of the agent visiting someones home may have almost ended there is still the demand for the same sort of service even if it is done via phone or email.

      It’s the same with the likes of wedding and party planners. Why do the work yourself of dealing with caterers and florists and venue if you can pay someone to make all the tiresome arrangments for you;

      • Rob says:
        21 Nov21 November 13:08

        Exactly. It’s not really a European ‘thing’ but that is purely down to cultural differences and the way the markets developed. Why wouldn’t you have a trusted travel advisor alongside your financial advisor, plumber etc? Perhaps it is odd that we don’t have that route here.

        As it happens, Travel Counsellors IS developing this model in the UK and is growing very rapidly. A lot of travel agents who got fired during covid signed up to be Travel Counsellors indpendent agents. However, they tend to work with the middle market rather than the luxury market.

        • Tariq says:
          21 Nov21 November 19:43

          Instagram is awash with them trying to sign people up to their pyramid scheme…!

  • Mark says:
    21 Nov21 November 06:53

    If you are an IC Ambassador, do the benefits stack? ie should you get double level room upgrade?

    • meta says:
      21 Nov21 November 07:35

      They often do, but Ambassador benefits are not guaranteed. Hotel can deny you 4pm late checkout or an upgrade and give you 10k points instead.

    • Rob says:
      21 Nov21 November 07:44

      They have at times for me in the past but not guaranteed.

    • aseftel says:
      21 Nov21 November 07:59

      To add to the above replies, the F&B credits stack.

    • Supergers49 says:
      21 Nov21 November 09:49

      In my experience, they generally do at ICs. I have regularly received double room upgrades, F&B credits stacking, and the free drink voucher for being Spire. This was through Luxury Collection bookings completed through Emyr and FH&R bookings completed through Amex Travel.

  • Tracey says:
    21 Nov21 November 08:20

    “Extra benefits” – all I want is a guaranteed early check in.

    • Lady London says:
      22 Nov22 November 18:06

      +1
      confidence in late checkout time if wanted ditto confidence in a slightly early checkin time if needed, is what I most need from a hotel. I’ll pay for the rest if what is needed of those two, can be relied on

  • Sammyj says:
    21 Nov21 November 09:02

    Was literally about to book a single night for tonight at Kimpton Clocktower – maybe too short notice but I’ve popped a request away to Emyr anyway and will see if I get a reply in the next hour or two before I chicken out and book one of the 2 remaining rooms myself for £143! Sounds far too good to be true, but as we often see on these pages, those are often the best deals!

    • Sammyj says:
      21 Nov21 November 10:26

      So far, so good (excellent actually!), Emyr replied very quickly, and after just a few emails has booked the room for just £4 more than the rate I’d have got direct, including breakfast and $100 F&B credit. Can’t say fairer than that – a very well timed HFP email this morning!

  • Chris says:
    21 Nov21 November 10:43

    I’ve got some Regent and Intercontinental stays coming up – does anyone know an agent with IHG Luxury Collection access? Emyr didn’t have my hotels on his list, but they’re on the above list in the article.

  • Mr(s) Entitled says:
    21 Nov21 November 11:14

    Does payment still get made direct to the hotel to trigger the Amex offers and can it be prepaid to take advantage of the offer if a stay is after the deadline?

    • SammyJ says:
      21 Nov21 November 11:33

      The booking I’ve made this morning will be paid on checkout so it should count towards Amex credit too.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      21 Nov21 November 11:54

      These are fully cancellable rates and payment is taken at the hotel on departure.

    • Rob says:
      21 Nov21 November 11:57

      Works on prepay but IHG hotels tend not to charge prepay bookings until day before arrival.

      • meta says:
        21 Nov21 November 17:29

        I believe Emyr can persuade them to take payment in advance. There were reports earlier this year. I guess it depends on the hotel.

  • Steve says:
    21 Nov21 November 12:51

    Can’t see that it’s covered in the main story or comments, but can Emyr book the Ambassador free night on behalf of guests? Guessing not as this has to be done direct?

  • Gary says:
    21 Nov21 November 15:41

    not sure that list for ‘luxury’ is up to date – the Kimpton in Edinburgh, Charlotte Sq, doesn’t seem to particulate in the Virtuoso rate any longer.

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

NEW: Sign-up bonuses boosted to 3,000 and 18,000 points

Latest Forum Posts

Get 40,000 bonus points (worth 40,000 Avios) and £300 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get £10 when you spend £150 on your free Currensea card

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? SPECIAL OFFER TO 12TH MAY EARN POINTS WORTH 30,000 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

Get 20,000 bonus points, four airport lounge passes and your first year free with American Express Gold

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!