IHG One Rewards Offering Status Challenge

Earlier this year IHG revamped its loyalty program, with the introduction of IHG One Rewards. These changes were overwhelmingly positive, and I’d consider the program to be more compelling than ever before. For those interested in earning elite status, IHG One Rewards has introduced a new fall status fast track promotion.

The bad news is that this offer isn’t nearly as generous as the offer we saw over the summer — you can’t earn Diamond status with this promotion, and you also don’t receive elite status upfront.

IHG One Rewards status challenge basics

IHG One Rewards has a status challenge program, with no requirement to have elite status with a competitor. Members who register have the opportunity to earn either Gold or Platinum status based on how many nights they stay by December 31, 2022:

• If you stay two nights during the offer period, you earn Gold status through December 2023
• If you stay five nights during the offer period, you earn Platinum status through December 2023

For the purposes of this offer, a qualifying stay is one booked directly with IHG where a member is paying cash and the rate exceeds $30 per night. Registration is required prior to check-in of your first qualifying stay, though it’s fine if you booked your stay prior to registering.

Is this IHG One Rewards status challenge worth it?

For some context on what’s normally required to earn IHG One Rewards Gold and Platinum status:

• IHG Gold status requires 20 elite nights or 40,000 qualifying points per year, and offers a 40% points bonus
• IHG Platinum status requires 40 elite nights or 60,000 qualifying points per year, and offers a 60% points bonus; you can also get this simply by having the IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card (review) or IHG® Rewards Premier Business Credit Card (review), or by enrolling in the InterContinental Ambassador program

A few thoughts:

• This offer definitely isn’t as generous as the one we saw over the summer, where you could earn IHG Diamond status as part of a status challenge, and also received Platinum status at the start of the challenge
• IHG Platinum status is easy to earn in the United States with co-branded credit cards, but for those outside the United States, this is a pretty good opportunity
• One thing to keep in mind is that the most value with status comes from Milestone Rewards, and those are unlocked based on how many nights you stay, so you’d only earn suite upgrades and club lounge access at the “regular” rate with this status challenge

Bottom line

IHG One Rewards is offering a publicly available status challenge. If you register and then stay two or five nights before the end of the year, you can earn IHG Gold or Platinum status through December 2023. It’s not the most generous offer we’ve ever seen, but it’s better than nothing.

Do you plan on taking advantage of this IHG status challenge offer?