Questions and Answers

Hi,

I recently bought a small number of IHG points in the Daily Getaways offer. I have received my points but my status remains the same. I didn’t read anything about the points not counting for status or is that just standard practice?

Thanks,

Trevor

I don’t think purchased points count toward status. This is from the [URL=’https://www.ihg.com/content/us/en/customer-care/member-tc.html’]T&C page of IHG Rewards Club[/URL]:

1. [B]Points for Elite Status[/B] – For purposes of determining Elite status, IHG® Rewards Club points are classified as either Qualifying Points or Non-Qualifying Points. Points earned from Qualifying Rates paid for hotel stays, spend on IHG® Rewards Club credit cards, select partner activity, IHG® Rewards Club Bonus Points Packages, and Qualified Spend through IHG® Business Rewards are considered Qualifying Points and are counted toward Elite status. A Qualifying Rate includes the following: non-discounted rate, standard corporate rate, worldwide sales negotiated rate, national/regional/local government rate and specified leisure rates as confirmed by the IHG reservation system. [B]All other point earning transactions,[/B] including points earned from IHG® promotions, Elite status bonuses, activation bonuses or select promotions offered through IHG® Rewards Club credit cards, select partner promotions, point vouchers, [B]point purchases[/B], point transfers, and point deposits, [B]will be considered Non-Qualifying Points and will not be counted towards Elite status.[/B]

(select bolding mine)

And that’s pretty standard for loyalty programs. Otherwise lots of folks would just buy a bunch of points and become elite. And since the you can get Platinum status with IHG just for owning their credit card, status with them is pretty simple, plus you get a free night at any IHG property anywhere in the world, all for only $49 (waived the first year).

[QUOTE=”MidSouth Skier, post: 31383, member: 184″]I don’t think purchased points count toward status. This is from the [URL=’https://www.ihg.com/content/us/en/customer-care/member-tc.html’]T&C page of IHG Rewards Club[/URL]:

1. [B]Points for Elite Status[/B] – For purposes of determining Elite status, IHG® Rewards Club points are classified as either Qualifying Points or Non-Qualifying Points. Points earned from Qualifying Rates paid for hotel stays, spend on IHG® Rewards Club credit cards, select partner activity, IHG® Rewards Club Bonus Points Packages, and Qualified Spend through IHG® Business Rewards are considered Qualifying Points and are counted toward Elite status. A Qualifying Rate includes the following: non-discounted rate, standard corporate rate, worldwide sales negotiated rate, national/regional/local government rate and specified leisure rates as confirmed by the IHG reservation system. [B]All other point earning transactions,[/B] including points earned from IHG® promotions, Elite status bonuses, activation bonuses or select promotions offered through IHG® Rewards Club credit cards, select partner promotions, point vouchers, [B]point purchases[/B], point transfers, and point deposits, [B]will be considered Non-Qualifying Points and will not be counted towards Elite status.[/B]

(select bolding mine)

And that’s pretty standard for loyalty programs. Otherwise lots of folks would just buy a bunch of points and become elite. And since the you can get Platinum status with IHG just for owning their credit card, status with them is pretty simple, plus you get a free night at any IHG property anywhere in the world, all for only $49 (waived the first year).[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the info. I’m new to all this so still getting to know the ins and outs!