Combining Two IHG Promotions
IHG Rewards Club is currently running their Accelerate Quarter 2 promotion. These quarterly promotions set up a personalized set off offers to complete for points. Offers include things like staying number of nights, stays at certain properties, spending on a co-branded credit card. Typically there are bonus offers for meeting a certain number of the offers. I have never actively worked on completing my offers. However last month IHG offered another promotion on stays at Kimpton properties that stacks the Accelerate promotion. In that promotion, when you booked a prepaid rate at a Kimpton property for two nights, you got a free night certificate for any IHG property.
I value IHG points at about 0.5 cents a piece. My Accelerate offers (with my valuation in parentheses) were as follows:
- Stay Once Get 2,000 Bonus Points – Thank you for being a loyal IHG® Rewards Club member. Stay once and earn 2,000 bonus points. ($10)
- Stay More, Earn More – Get closer to the rewards you want when you stay 5 night(s) and earn 10,000 bonus points ($50)
- Travel with the IHG® App – Book 2 stay(s) with the IHG® App and earn 9,600 bonus points. ($43)
- Spend on Your IHG® Rewards Club Credit Card – Book and pay for one stay with your IHG® Rewards Club Credit Card and earn 1,500 bonus points. ($7.50)
- Your Achievement Bonus – Complete 3 of the 4 offers and earn (an additional) 16,900 bonus points ($84.50)
- May Bonus Offer – Stay once in May and get 2,000 bonus points. ($10)
- Exclusive Brand Bonus – Stay once at an InterContinental®, Hotel Indigo® or Even® hotel and earn 1,500 bonus points. ($7.50)
I had a weekend trip to Boston coming up. I already had the Hyatt Regency booked with my Chase free night, but decided to switch over to the Kimpton Nine Zero. The rate that earned a free night was slightly higher than the standard rate. For two nights it was $620 + tax.
My two nights netted me the free night certificate plus fulfilled two of the offers (Stay Once Get 2,000 Bonus Points and Spend on Your IHG Rewards Club Credit Card). Unfortunately I didn’t realize you could book the Kimpton promotion via the app so the stay wouldn’t count towards that offer.
I had two other trips planned during the promotion period. One was a weekend in Las Vegas and the other was a night in Redding, CA as part of an annual event in which I volunteer to help.
Typically in Vegas I stay at an M life (MGM) property as they earn Hyatt points and I often get discount offers. The IHG associated property on the strip is the Venetian/Palazzo, but rates were high for my weekend. I decided to stay off strip; one night each at two different Holiday Inn Express properties.
My first night was at the Henderson location for $103 + tax. Second night was at the South Vegas location for $126 + tax that also included a bonus 5,000 IHG points (value of $25). There are no resort fees on these properties which made them significantly cheaper than any of the strip properties where I typically stay. However, they were also Holiday Inn Express properties and they were off the strip.
I was pleasantly surprised by both properties. They had newly been renovated and at both locations I was upgraded to a suite as an IHG Platinum elite. The rooms were large, clean and actually attractive. I was surprised. My only complaint was the included breakfast which I skipped the second morning.
The two nights in Vegas fulfilled the Travel With The IHG App offer plus the Achievement Bonus.
For the Redding stay I have the Holiday Inn booked (not many choices in Redding) for $118 + tax. It will earn me the Stay More, Earn More offer.
Cost & Benefits
My five total nights will end up costing a total of $967.35 + tax.
All IHG Rewards Club members earn 10 points per dollar spent. That means I will earn 9,674 points for my spend.
Plus as a Platinum Elite, I receive a 50% bonus on my points for another 4,837 points.
I put all the stays on my IHG credit card which earns 5 points per dollar spent at IHG properties (including tax). That means I will earn an additional 5,502 points from the credit card.
Each of my two Holiday Inn Express stays earned me a 500 point Welcome Amenity. I assume my stay at the Kimpton and Holiday Inn will also get 500 each. Four stays earns me 2,000 points in Welcome Amenities.
I opted to pay a bit more for one of my Vegas stays in order to get 5,000 bonus points.
Through completing 5 of the Accelerate offers I will earn an additional 40,000 points.
All in for the five nights I will earn 67,013 IHG Rewards Club points plus one free night at any IHG property worldwide. Free nights cost between 10,000 and 70,000 points. I value those points at $335. I have a trip to Australia coming up in November and hope to get $250+ value out of the free night certificate.
UPDATE: The Free Kimpton Night ultimately ended up to be too good to be true for me. Had I waited to book the Kimpton property in Boston until last minute (day before arrival), I would have paid $170 LESS for my stay. I imagine this is a sign of low occupancy rates at the property. I suppose the price could have increased, but in my case, had I reserved a refundable rate, I could have re-booked and saved $170. Still, a free night at any IHG property should be worth $170, so while I should still come out ahead, it isn’t as good of a deal as first thought.
Are you participating in the Accelerate promotion? Did you book a Kimpton stay to get your free night certificate?