Bits: IHG launches strong 3-4-2 suites offer, new Accor Wembley events bookable

News in brief:

IHG launches a good ‘3 for 2’ suites promotion

IHG One Rewards, the loyalty programme for InterContinental, Regent, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza etc, has launched a good ‘buy two, get one night free’ promotion on suites and ‘premium rooms’.

You can find full details here.

What is intriguing about the deal is that your booking is fully cancellable. When IHG has a sale, it usually quotes a discount from the refundable rate but makes your booking non-refundable, so you’re not comparing apples with apples. With this deal, you are.

Here are the terms:

• book between 10th June and 30th September

• stay between 13th June and 31st October

• ‘stay 3, pay 2’ rate is based on your 3rd night being free, irrespective of the average price of each night or your length of stay

• bookings can be cancelled up to three days before arrival

Particpating countries are: Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bulgaria, Egypt, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe.

Participating brands are: Regent, InterContinental, Vignette Collection, Kimpton, Hotel Indigo, voco, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn & Suites, Holiday Inn Express & Suites and Staybridge Suites.

The offer is not well described when booking online. Take a look at the screenshot below for a full suite at Hotel Indigo Paris Opera – the hotel is pictured below.

The ‘3 for 2’ rate is the ‘Member Rate’ with a three day cancellation rule. The giveaway is the three day bit. It is explained more clearly when you click through. Click to enlarge:

As you can see, for a three day stay the sale rate is substantially lower than the alternatives. In fact, the ‘3-4-2’ deal is far cheaper than non-refundable rates even though the ‘3-4-2’ booking is cancellable.

You can find out more about the offer on this special page of ihg.com.

Thanks to Nick for flagging.

Accor Live Limitless adds new Wembley events

Accor Live Limitless has added tickets for more upcoming concerts at OVO Arena Wembley.

The tickets give you access to the exclusive ALL Terrace, which I explained here.

The current options are:

• Billy Idol – 24th June – 7,000 ALL points

• Gurdas Maan – 13th July – 3,000 ALL points

• Bad Friends: Andrew Santino & Bobby Lee – 18th July – 5,000 ALL points

• Afrobeats Legends – 26th July – 6,000 ALL points

You can redeem your points for the ALL Terrace on the Accor website here.

As a reader reminded me yesterday, the ALL website is weird. To ensure that all the UK options appear, you must set your ‘place of delivery’ (the truck icon at the top of the screen) to ‘United Kingdom’. If you don’t, you won’t necessarily be shown everything.

Accor is the largest hotel group in the world outside the Americas, so there are no shortage of ibis, Novotel, Pullman, Mercure, Sofitel, Raffles etc hotels where you can earn. Our full overview of Accor Live Limitless is here if you want to find out more about how the scheme works.

There are no credit card partnerships, directly or indirectly. You CAN transfer Avios into Accor Live Limitless points via Qatar Airways Privilege Club but the rate isn’t great at 4.5 to 1 – read more here. It may work for you if there is an act you are very keen to see and tickets are otherwise unavailable.

PS. If you are interested in sailing, there are some very interesting VIP packages coming soon ….