For the most couple of years, most of IHG’s global hotel promotions have been customized. Everyone gets some type of offer, but different members get targeted for different versions of the offer. The logic is that hotel loyal programs want to generate incremental business, so they’d rather try to get you to increase the business you’d otherwise give them, rather than just reward you for stays you’d make anyway.
The past several such promotions have been called “Accelerate,” and IHG is now back with their latest version of the offer. IHG has just announced the details of their latest Accelerate offer, valid for stays between September 6 and December 15, 2016.
You can now go to this page to see your IHG Accelerate offer, and register for it.
My IHG Accelerate offer is for a total of up to 79,300 IHG Rewards Club bonus points.
My tasks include the following:
- September Bonus Offer — 5,000 bonus points (stay once in September)
- Stay Once Get 3,000 — 3,000 bonus points (stay once during the promotion period)
- Stay More, Earn More — 10,000 bonus points (stay five nights during the promotion period)
- Discover Our Brands — 20,800 bonus points (stay at three brands during the promotion period)
- Authentic Experiences — 16,000 bonus points (stay at two InterContinental properties during the promotion period)
- Stay for Less and Earn — 1,000 bonus points (book a stay using Points and Cash)
- Spend on your IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card — 1,500 bonus points (pay for one stay with your IHG credit card)
- Your Achievement Bonus — 22,000 bonus points (for completing five of the six offers)
Earlier in the year I had an incredible Accelerate offer, where I could earn 55,000 bonus points after a single stay. I stayed one night at the Holiday Inn Helsinki Airport, which earned me more than enough points for a free night at any IHG property in the world. That worked for me!
Holiday Inn Helsinki Airport — it was worth it for the points!
As a Hyatt and Starwood loyalist, this promotion isn’t quite as compelling. If I happen to have a stay at any IHG property anyway in September then I’d earn 8,000 bonus points (3,000 bonus points, plus the 5,000 bonus points for staying in September), but other than that this just isn’t worth it.
If I stayed a total of five nights at three different brands and two InterContinental properties I could earn 78,300 IHG bonus points. I just wouldn’t earn the 1,000 bonus points for the Points and Cash booking, since that’s not a qualifying stay for the purposes of the promotion otherwise. I guess 15,600 bonus points per night is a nice bonus, but this also requires a bit of effort, since I’d have to make at least four separate stays spread across three brands and two InterContinental hotels.
Bottom line
I understand why IHG Rewards Club has these Accelerate offers, since they actually give members an incentive to give IHG incremental business. They’re able to figure out how many stays you’d usually make, and then give you a goal based on that.
The last promotion was compelling enough for me to make a stay at an IHG property, but I don’t think this one will be. I might make a stay in September for 8,000 bonus points if an IHG property happens to be convenient, but beyond that I won’t go out of my way to complete the offer.
What does your Accelerate offer look like, and do you plan on taking advantage of it?
Any way to go back and view the results of this previous promotion? I believe there is a discrepancy where they did not count my weekend stays which in turn is affecting my collecting of the "5 or 6" bonus. When I click on the links it just tells me the promotion is over. I need some way to provide proof.
I just noticed that IHG does it once again, change the parameters of their quarterly program; just 2 weeks before it ends! Originally if I had attained 6 of 9 offers (10 listed) I would acquire roughly 22K bonus points. NOW the goal post has moved to 6 of 7 offers (8 listed; they removed 2 which I attained). Therefore, I had already attained the "bonus" level, but not now, 3 months into it with their last minute change. I believe it's time to go back with Marriott.
@danifio89
It depends on how much cash you're spending. Trying to keep it below what IHG sells points for is a good start.
I'll get 45,000 pts. for staying at 2 different Holiday Inns (i.e., HI, HIE, Club, Vacation), staying five nights, booking in September and using the app to book.
My wife is having surgery 80 miles from where we live, so the program and my need for a hotel coincided.
@danifio89
It depends on how much cash you're spending. Trying to keep it below what IHG sells points for is a good start.
I'll get 45,000 pts. for staying at 2 different Holiday Inns (i.e., HI, HIE, Club, Vacation), staying five nights, booking in September and using the app to book.
My wife is having surgery 80 miles from where we live, so the program and my need for a hotel coincided.
Club Carlson is currently having a better promotion, but I already have enough points for five nights at the Rad 1919 in Iceland.
I need to repenish my IHG loyalty account anyway, and I don't mind bouncing from property to property for a week to get the best value.
I personally have zero complaints about the IHG awards program, my status recognition (platinum), or their properties!
Guys, I think I got a good one. The amount of points I will get is small, but it's really easy and very tempting. Any comments?:
5,000 September Bonus Offer
Stay once in September and get 5,000 bonus points.
1,000 Stay Once Get 1,000
Thank you for being a loyal IHG® Rewards Club member. Stay once and earn 1,000 bonus points.
30,000 Double Points
Earn double points starting with your...
Guys, I think I got a good one. The amount of points I will get is small, but it's really easy and very tempting. Any comments?:
5,000 September Bonus Offer
Stay once in September and get 5,000 bonus points.
1,000 Stay Once Get 1,000
Thank you for being a loyal IHG® Rewards Club member. Stay once and earn 1,000 bonus points.
30,000 Double Points
Earn double points starting with your second stay.
I could stay for 2 nights and get 36,000 points. That may be worth it what do you think?
agree with rob on the start date looking over the terms, and the counter shouldnt have started if you cant participate yet.
Why is this starting from the 6th September? Quite infuriating considering I have 5 nights booked in the first 6 days of September.
I have a paid stay in September that I booked in February and paid for with my IHG credit card.
Do you know if that will count for my challenge? I just checked the hotel web site and the room is avail at about 2 x the cost now. otherwise I would have just cancelled and rebooked. Do you know if stays have to be booked through the web site to count or can you walk into the hotel and book?
I have the same low-ball offer as Lukas:
One of the criteria is two nights using "Your Rate". For one hotel stay I am considering, when I select a "Your Rate", it has a 2nd tab that offers an extra 5K miles for $15, which I think is very good. But does that still qualify as a "Your Rate" stay? "Your Rate" disappears once the 2nd tab is selected.
Has anyone had problems with the correct allocation of bookings to the accelerate categories?
I think you all are missing a major point here. Am I the only one to look up actual hotel rates using this promotion? It turns out you can pay as much as $25 more per night for a room (versus a rate not using this promotion) to receive as little as 1,000 bonus points! Who wants to pay to use a companies rewards program….NOT ME!!
I posted my reward, but it was blocked/not accepted by the blog???
Mine is pretty bad. I will stay 2-3 nights to get the 21k, but staying 19 nights to get another 38K is not going to happen. (The Coca-Cola one before was structured similar, where I had to stay something like 69 nights to get 120k.)
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Earn 59,000 total bonus points. - Complete all of your Accelerate offers and earn 59,000 total bonus points.
5,000 Stay Once Get 5,000 - Thank you for being a...
Mine is pretty bad. I will stay 2-3 nights to get the 21k, but staying 19 nights to get another 38K is not going to happen. (The Coca-Cola one before was structured similar, where I had to stay something like 69 nights to get 120k.)
-------------------------------------------------------
Earn 59,000 total bonus points. - Complete all of your Accelerate offers and earn 59,000 total bonus points.
5,000 Stay Once Get 5,000 - Thank you for being a loyal IHG® Rewards Club member. Stay once and earn 5,000 bonus points.
38,000 Stay More, Earn More - Get closer to the rewards you want when you stay 19 night(s) and earn 38,000 bonus points.
4,000 A Bonus Weekend Stay - Stay with us for the weekend and earn 4,000 bonus points. A Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday night stay required.
1,500 Spend on your IHG® Rewards Club Credit Card - Book and pay for one stay with your IHG® Rewards Club Credit Card and earn bonus points.
5,000 Your Achievement Bonus - Complete 3 of the 4 offers and earn (an additional) 5,000 bonus points. Terms
5,000 September Bonus Offer - Stay once in September and get 5,000 bonus points.
500 Registration Bonus - Register for Accelerate and earn 500 bonus points.
Mine is sweet. I don't know how I got such a good one:
1. Stay Once get 3000
2. Stay More, Earn More (Stay 6 nights earn 12,000)
3. Pay with IHG credit card, get 1500
4. Earn when you redeem - redeem points on anything and earn 1000 bonus points
5. Achievement Bonus - complete 3 of 4 offers and earn an additional 22,500
6. September Bonus offer - Stay...
Mine is sweet. I don't know how I got such a good one:
1. Stay Once get 3000
2. Stay More, Earn More (Stay 6 nights earn 12,000)
3. Pay with IHG credit card, get 1500
4. Earn when you redeem - redeem points on anything and earn 1000 bonus points
5. Achievement Bonus - complete 3 of 4 offers and earn an additional 22,500
6. September Bonus offer - Stay once in September and get 5000 bonus points.
So basically I'm going to combine 1, 3, 6, in one stay. Then I will do 4. This will trigger 5. The only one I may not complete is 2, but who cares? One night will get me 33K points - not a bad haul.
Looked at mine, different from everyones
Complete all of your Accelerate offers and earn 90,800 total bonus points.
My Offers
1. Stay Once Get 5,000
Thank you for being a loyal IHG® Rewards Club member. Stay once and earn 5,000 bonus points.
2. 44,000 Stay More, Earn More
Get closer to the rewards you want when you stay 22 night(s) and earn 44,000 bonus points. Terms
3. 16,800 Stay...
Looked at mine, different from everyones
Complete all of your Accelerate offers and earn 90,800 total bonus points.
My Offers
1. Stay Once Get 5,000
Thank you for being a loyal IHG® Rewards Club member. Stay once and earn 5,000 bonus points.
2. 44,000 Stay More, Earn More
Get closer to the rewards you want when you stay 22 night(s) and earn 44,000 bonus points. Terms
3. 16,800 Stay Smart® by staying at 4 Holiday Inn Express® hotel(s) and earn 16,800 bonus points.
4. 6,000 A Bonus Weekend Stay
Stay with us for the weekend and earn 6,000 bonus points. A Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday night stay required.
14,000 Your Achievement Bonus
Complete 3 of the 4 offers and earn (an additional) 14,000 bonus points.
5,000 September Bonus Offer
Stay once in September and get 5,000 bonus points
Mine is ok, but I'm not going to do it. 1,000 for staying one night; 6,000 after 6 nights; 9,600 for staying at 2 Holiday Inn Express properties; and 23,400 for completing all three (plus the 5,000 September bonus). I have no reason to spend 6 nights in IHG hotels in the next few months, and I have no interest in staying at 2 Holiday Inn Expresses.
This is so silly. I have 5 offers, plus one offer of bonus points if I complete 4 of the 5 offers, plus 1 offer that seems to be independent of the 5 offers in that it doesn't count towards the 4 bonus point-qualifying offers. Each offer has a whole page of fine print specifying dates, qualifying hotels, qualifying rates, and other terms. One needs a degree in accounting to keep track of all this.
...This is so silly. I have 5 offers, plus one offer of bonus points if I complete 4 of the 5 offers, plus 1 offer that seems to be independent of the 5 offers in that it doesn't count towards the 4 bonus point-qualifying offers. Each offer has a whole page of fine print specifying dates, qualifying hotels, qualifying rates, and other terms. One needs a degree in accounting to keep track of all this.
Compare that to Hilton, where it tends to be "this quarter, register to receive 3x bonus points on all your stays" or something similar.
IHG is very generous (especially their annual free night that comes with the $49 annual fee credit card), but they are also very annoying.
I got the same as Lukas
Just for reference I got:
Earn 91,600 total bonus points.
Complete all of your Accelerate offers and earn 91,600 total bonus points.
Points Value Offer Description Status
3,000 Stay Once Get 3,000
Thank you for being a loyal IHG® Rewards Club member. Stay once and earn 3,000 bonus points.
10,000 Stay More, Earn More
Get closer to the rewards you want when you stay 5 night(s) and earn 10,000 bonus points.
Just for reference I got:
Earn 91,600 total bonus points.
Complete all of your Accelerate offers and earn 91,600 total bonus points.
Points Value Offer Description Status
3,000 Stay Once Get 3,000
Thank you for being a loyal IHG® Rewards Club member. Stay once and earn 3,000 bonus points.
10,000 Stay More, Earn More
Get closer to the rewards you want when you stay 5 night(s) and earn 10,000 bonus points.
31,200 Discover Our Brands
Stay at 3 brands and get 31,200 bonus points. Terms
9,600 Change Your View®
Stay at 2 Holiday Inn® hotel(s)—including Holiday Inn Resort® and Holiday Inn Club Vacations®—and earn 9,600 bonus points.
2,500 Corporate Account Bonus
Stay 2 time(s) using your corporate rate and earn 2,500 bonus points. Terms
2,300 Spend on your IHG® Rewards Club Credit Card
Book and pay for one stay with your IHG® Rewards Club Credit Card and earn bonus points.
28,000 Your Achievement Bonus
Complete 5 of the 6 offers and earn (an additional) 28,000 bonus points.
5,000 September Bonus Offer
Stay once in September and get 5,000 bonus points.
Not so great this time. The lsat promotion I stayed three nights at came out with nearly 95K points. Well worth the ~$210. That's on top of the fact that two were stays I had already booked.
500 Download the IHG® App
Earn 500 bonus points when you download and sign in to the IHG® App. You'll get mobile-exclusive rates, access your virtual membership card & find more ways to go further, faster. Terms
DOWNLOAD THE APP
2,000 Stay More, Earn More
Get closer to the rewards you want when you stay 3 night(s) and earn 2,000 bonus points. Terms
BOOK NOW
2,000 Your Rate
...
500 Download the IHG® App
Earn 500 bonus points when you download and sign in to the IHG® App. You'll get mobile-exclusive rates, access your virtual membership card & find more ways to go further, faster. Terms
DOWNLOAD THE APP
2,000 Stay More, Earn More
Get closer to the rewards you want when you stay 3 night(s) and earn 2,000 bonus points. Terms
BOOK NOW
2,000 Your Rate
Stay 2 times using our member exclusive discount, Your Rate, and earn 2,000 bonus points. Terms
BOOK NOW
2,000 Change Your View®
Stay at 2 Holiday Inn® hotel(s)—including Holiday Inn Resort® and Holiday Inn Club Vacations®—and earn 2,000 bonus points. Terms
BOOK NOW
2,000 A Bonus Weekend Stay
Stay with us for the weekend and earn 2,000 bonus points. A Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday night stay required. Terms
BOOK NOW
10,000 Your Achievement Bonus
Complete 3 of the 5 offers and earn (an additional) 10,000 bonus points. Terms
15,000 Your Achievement Bonus
Complete 5 of the 5 offers and earn (an additional) 15,000 bonus points. Terms
Not as lucrative for me:
Earn 45,000 total bonus points.
Complete all of your Accelerate offers and earn 45,000 total bonus points.
My Offers
Points Value Offer Description Status
3,000 Stay Once Get 3,000
Thank you for being a loyal IHG® Rewards Club member. Stay once and earn 3,000 bonus points. Terms
BOOK NOW
10,000 Stay More, Earn More
Get closer to the rewards you want when...
Not as lucrative for me:
Earn 45,000 total bonus points.
Complete all of your Accelerate offers and earn 45,000 total bonus points.
My Offers
Points Value Offer Description Status
3,000 Stay Once Get 3,000
Thank you for being a loyal IHG® Rewards Club member. Stay once and earn 3,000 bonus points. Terms
BOOK NOW
10,000 Stay More, Earn More
Get closer to the rewards you want when you stay 5 night(s) and earn 10,000 bonus points. Terms
BOOK NOW
6,400 Stay Smart®
Stay Smart® by staying at 2 Holiday Inn Express® hotel(s) and earn 6,400 bonus points. Terms
BOOK NOW
4,000 A Bonus Weekend Stay
Stay with us for the weekend and earn 4,000 bonus points. A Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday night stay required. Terms
BOOK NOW
1,000 Stay for Less and Earn
Earn 1,000 bonus points when you book 1 stay(s) using Points and Cash. We'll reward you with more bonus points when you use a combination of points and cash. Terms
BOOK NOW
1,500 Spend on your IHG® Rewards Club Credit Card
Book and pay for one stay with your IHG® Rewards Club Credit Card and earn bonus points. Terms
BOOK NOW
14,100 Your Achievement Bonus
Complete 5 of the 6 offers and earn (an additional) 14,100 bonus points. Terms
5,000 September Bonus Offer
Stay once in September and get 5,000 bonus points. Terms
Great promotion for staying maybe a night or two depending on your offer. It has worked well for me in the past as someone who spends about 5-10 nights per year at an IHG property.
I'm assuming points stays don't count...what about points + cash?
"For the most couple of years,.."
I love Accelerate. It's the only promo that will actually get me to change my stays