IHG has launched its fully revamped loyalty program, which we’ve been expecting for quite some time. This is in addition to the credit card portfolio recently being refreshed.
Historically IHG’s loyalty program hasn’t been very competitive with Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy, and World of Hyatt. That’s finally changing, and I’m really impressed. IHG has greatly improved elite perks, including free breakfast for top tier elite members, plus the introduction of Milestone Rewards, offering confirmed suite upgrades and club lounge passes. Let’s go over all the details.
IHG Rewards becomes IHG One Rewards
To start, IHG’s loyalty program has been rebranded as IHG One Rewards. This is part of a bigger focus by IHG to promote unity, and to emphasize that we all share one world.
To coincide with the launch of the new program, IHG has launched a new mobile app, which offers a greatly improved experience for members.
IHG One Rewards has five membership tiers
IHG One Rewards has five membership tiers, as follows:
- IHG One Rewards Club is the entry level membership tier, with no qualification requirements
- IHG One Rewards Silver Elite requires 10 elite nights per year, and offers a 20% points bonus; you can also get this simply by having the IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card (review)
- IHG One Rewards Gold Elite status requires 20 elite nights or 40,000 qualifying points per year, and offers a 40% points bonus
- IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite 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 One Rewards Premier Credit Card (review) or IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card (review)
- IHG One Rewards Diamond Elite status requires 70 elite nights or 120,000 qualifying points per year, and offers a 100% points bonus; you can get this by spending $40,000 per year on either the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card or IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
Below is a chart comparing the membership benefits by elite tier.
While most of the new perks come in the form of Milestone Rewards, and while breakfast is a huge new perk (I’ll cover both below), let me just note a few things about the other perks:
- Early check-in and late check-out isn’t anything to get too excited about, as it’s not guaranteed for any elite tier, but rather is subject to availability
- IHG Platinum Elite and Diamond Elite members will get access to award night discounts several times per year; there are no specific promises about how often we’ll see these, though
- IHG Platinum Elite and Diamond Elite members get suite upgrades up to standard suites; however, I’m told there’s not actually a policy change here compared to the old rules, but rather hotels have just been better coached and encouraged to try to upgrade guests, including up to 48 hours before arrival
- IHG Diamond Elite members get access to a dedicated phone number, which should offer better customer service
We were told from the beginning that these new elite perks would be live as of June 2022, so it’s good that members can now start enjoying these benefits.
IHG Diamond members get free breakfast
One of the most exciting features of the new IHG One Rewards program is that select elite members finally receive complimentary breakfast. Specifically, Diamond Elite members are able to select breakfast as their welcome amenity:
- This will include a hot breakfast for two people; hotels can exclude certain items (like alcoholic beverages or specialty coffees), but this does seem to be a “real” breakfast, and not a watered down continental breakfast
- The only properties excluded from this are limited service properties that already offer breakfast to all guests, plus Candlewood Suites, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, InterContinental Alliance properties (in Las Vegas and Macau), and Mr. and Mrs. Smith properties
I’d consider it to be huge that IHG is finally offering free breakfast as an elite perk, and it’s a pretty legitimate offering at that.
IHG One Rewards Milestone Rewards program
The most exciting aspect of the IHG One Rewards program is the introduction of Milestone Rewards, which is a way that members can get confirmed suite upgrades, club lounge passes, and much more. Specifically, members will receive perks for every 10 elite nights that they earn in a calendar year, from 20 to 100.
At 20 elite nights, IHG One Rewards members can choose one of the following:
- 5,000 bonus IHG points
- Two food & beverage rewards worth $20 each
- A confirmable suite upgrade
At 30 elite nights, IHG One Rewards members can choose one of the following:
- 5,000 bonus IHG points
- Two food & beverage rewards worth $20 each
At 40 elite nights, IHG One Rewards members can choose two of the following:
- 10,000 bonus IHG points
- Five food & beverage rewards worth $20 each
- A confirmable suite upgrade (limit one)
- An annual lounge membership (limit one)
At both 50 and 60 elite nights, IHG One Rewards members can choose one of the following:
- 10,000 bonus IHG points
- Five food & beverage rewards worth $20 each
At 60 elite nights, IHG One Rewards members can choose one of the following:
- 10,000 bonus IHG points
- Five food & beverage rewards worth $20 each
At 70 elite nights, IHG One Rewards members can choose two of the following:
- 10,000 bonus IHG points
- Five food & beverage rewards worth $20 each
- A confirmable suite upgrade (limit one)
- An annual lounge membership (limit one)
At 80, 90, and 100 elite nights, IHG One Rewards members can choose one of the following:
- 10,000 bonus IHG points
- Five food & beverage rewards worth $20 each
It’s important to note that IHG Milestone Rewards are specifically linked to how many elite nights you earn in a calendar year. So if you receive status through a credit card, you wouldn’t automatically be entitled to Milestone Rewards.
For context, I value IHG points at 0.5 cents points. Therefore the food & beverage rewards generally represent a better value than the points, if you’re trying to make a selection. Personally I’d pretty consistently select the confirmed suite upgrades or lounge passes when they’re options.
How do IHG confirmed suite upgrades work?
It’s exciting to see IHG finally introducing confirmed suite upgrades:
- These can be used to confirm a suite upgrade for a stay of up to five nights
- These can only be applied on paid stays when booking eligible rates
- These can be applied by calling IHG One Rewards customer support between 14 days and one day prior to arrival
- There’s no waitlisting mechanism here, but rather if there’s a standard suite for sale, you can confirm it at that time
- The upgrade can be up to a standard suite, though if that’s not available you can confirm an upgrade to another premium room that’s not a suite
- In the future there are plans for this process to be possible online, and for members to be able to waitlist upgrades
How do IHG annual lounge memberships work?
IHG has also finally introduced club lounge upgrades as part of the Milestone Rewards program:
- An annual lounge membership gets you access to lounges for the entire year in which it’s earned, plus the following 12 months (in other words, if earned in June 2022, it would be valid through December 31, 2023)
- This can be used to get club lounge access for an unlimited number of stays, regardless of whether you’re paying cash or redeeming points
- This can be used at virtually any IHG property with a club lounge, including InterContinentals
How do IHG food & beverage rewards work?
The food & beverage credits can be accrued over time, and will show up in your IHG account. That way you can choose whether you want to redeem them individually, or use multiple toward a single purchase. They’re valid for 12 months after they’re issued, and they don’t retain any residual value.
Note that while you can select these as your Milestone Rewards perks, the functionality to redeem them isn’t quite live just yet.
My take on the new IHG One Rewards program
The new IHG One Rewards program greatly exceeds my expectations. As mentioned above, previously I didn’t consider IHG to have competitive elite perks, but that has finally changed:
- IHG is finally offering breakfast as an elite benefit, and it’s a full, hot breakfast, rather than a continental one
- Members can earn up to four confirmable suite upgrades per year, plus can get unlimited club lounge access if they earn at least 40 elite nights per year, which is exciting
- The fact that you earn your first confirmable suite upgrade at 20 elite nights is pretty remarkable, as that’s the easiest to attain confirmable suite upgrade in the industry
- It sounds like IHG is instructing hotels to be more proactive about suite upgrades for elite members, but there’s still not much there in the way of guarantees, aside from when a confirmed suite upgrade is used
So, am I ready to switch some loyalty to IHG?
- My biggest issue is that I find IHG’s portfolio to be rather uninspiring; aside from limited service properties, I quite like Kimpton and Six Senses (even though Six Senses isn’t fully integrated into IHG yet), but I find most InterContinental properties to be rather drab
- It’s unlikely I’d earn the 70 elite nights per year to earn Diamond Elite status, though I could spend $40,000 per year on a co-branded credit card to earn the status; while this would get me free breakfast, the issue is that it wouldn’t get any of the valuable Milestone Rewards
All things considered I’m really impressed by the program. This won’t make me switch my loyalty fully to IHG, simply because I don’t find the portfolio to be that interesting. But it will cause me to stay at IHG properties a bit more.
I can’t help but wonder what the future holds for the InterContinental Ambassador program. This is a separate paid membership program that offers perks at InterContinental properties. With IHG’s new loyalty program offering more robust perks at InterContinental properties, I imagine we’re going to see a significant refresh to this over time.
Bottom line
IHG’s new loyalty program have just been formally launched, and I’m impressed. The new program is called IHG One Rewards. With this, we’re seeing the introduction of free breakfast for top tier Diamond Elite members. Furthermore, we’re seeing the introduction of the Milestone Rewards program, offering everything from confirmable suite upgrades, to unlimited club lounge access.
IHG’s loyalty program has finally evolved to the point that it’s competitive, and that’s exciting.
What do you make of IHG’s new loyalty program?
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