InterContinental: Have you tried booking as a combining of cash & points?

[cap]

I am a Diamond Ambassador in IHG Rewards Programme. Today I have been trying to book a suite in InterContinental London Park Lane for 3 nights (weekdays), 5 months in advance. To my surprise of a total of 22 different type of rooms that I could book with cash, I can only book 3 if I attempt to use any combination of points and cash, the lowest category that is. I cannot book any of the suits, such as forget suite Mayfair Floor, suite City Skyline, Hyde Park Suite, not even the 1 King Premium Park view room. I can only book the King Cosy and the Cosy rooms. I mean… this is unacceptable.

As a side topic, several Crown Plaza and Holiday Inn have been closed to regular customers in London, in places such as Kingston, near Gatwick or Heathrow, to be put to the service of the Home Office receiving refugees. This has resulted in an even narrower availability of IHG places where to book in London and environs, and pushed prices up substantially. Consequentially, IHG Reward programme’s customers have seen their capacity to enjoy their benefits considerably reduced.

How on earth, all that I pay to this programme and the 103 nights my wife and I stayed in IHG hotels during 2022 is paying off? Does IHG really care about us, their faithful customers?

[davefl]

Unlike Hilton (where you can book std rooms and then better rooms at insane amounts of points) IHG only allow booking basic rooms for points across all brands as far as I’ve seen.

And no, they really don’t give a flying xxxx about their customers as my best price guarantee thread illustrates. They have a team that specifically lies to their customers to stop claims.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

Points bookings have always been for the lowest level rooms. And that extends to the points plus cash rates (which are in effect points bookings).

Status makes no difference to what type of points rooms you can book.

If IHG isn’t working for you then switch programmes. But the grass isn’t always greener.

[Lady London]

Why is this in Housekeeping? Shouldn’t it be under IHG in the Hotels section?

@Cap Someone much smarter than me once told me employers will only pay you for what they think you’re going to do for them. Not, for what you’ve done for them. Implication : Not, if it’s not in your contract.

I can’t help thinking hotel loyalty schemes are exactly the same.

[NorthernLass]

Prices have rocketed everywhere since the pandemic, and not just for IHG properties. We had a 2-night stay on points at the ICPL a couple of weeks ago and were upgraded to a very spacious King Premium room (also Diamond Ambassador) – I’m sure you’d be allowed to pay to upgrade to a suite on top of that if you contacted the hotel, I found the service outstanding.

We had the 40k pn rate from last year but it had gone up to 120k pn last time I looked, and I’m not sure it would have been worth that, tbh!

[cap]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Much like a ‘cooling drink’ in the heat of the summer, it is great to have some like-minded fellows in this forum. Onwards and upwards that is. Cap.