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IHG’s promised “biggest member event” appears to be here with the hotelier boosting its current 4Q promotion to offer customers 5 times the usual number of base points per dollar on bookings made in the next two days.
IHG’s 5x promotion
- Earn 5x base points/dollar on bookings made by 30 November 2021
- Valid on stays consumed through 31 December 2021
- No minimum stays required
This isn’t a new promotion. It’s an enhancement of the promotion that has been running since the beginning of October so if you’ve already signed up for IHG’s year-end promotion, you’re also set to earn 5x points on bookings made today and tomorrow on stays consumed through the end of the year.
What this means is that the key terms and conditions for the 5x promo are (mostly) the same as the terms for the 3x promo.
- You must be an IHG Rewards member (join here) and must register your member number in advance of staying (here), to participate in the “3X” promotion and the 5x promotion.
- Members can register, stay, and earn for this Promotion beginning 1 October 2021 and ending on 31 December 2021.
- Upon registration, members will be presented with the opportunity to earn 2X points upon completion of their second qualifying stay, and then 3X points completion of their third qualifying stay and all subsequent qualifying stays, during the Promotion Period when paying a Qualifying Rate (as such rates are defined in the IHG Rewards terms and conditions).
- For the Promotion, earning “2X” or “2X points” or “double points” on a 2nd qualifying stay means the member will receive two (2) times the “base points” the member would normally receive just for being an IHG Rewards Club member.
- For the Promotion, earning “3X” or “3X points” or “triple points” on a 3+ qualifying stay means the member will receive three (3) times the base points on their 3rd qualifying stay, and all subsequent qualifying stays.
- The promotional bonus points under this Promotion are calculated based solely on the base points the member is eligible to earn for a qualifying stay just for being an IHG® Rewards Club member, and any Elite status bonus points or any other bonus or promotional points the member may be eligible to receive for the same stay are not included.
- You must register, book, and stay on or before 31 December 2021 to earn points during the Promotion Period.
- Members will only receive points for stays occurring within the Promotion Period. A stay can begin before the Promotion Period or end after the Promotion Period but will only receive the Promotion bonus points for dates within the Promotion Period.
- Nights that occurred before or after the Promotion Period are excluded.
- Qualifying Stays are a minimum 1-night stay booked under a Qualifying Rate, with total spend exceeding US $30 for each night. Note that multiple checkouts for consecutive qualifying nights at the same hotel will count as one (1) qualifying stay; non-consecutive qualifying nights at the same hotel may count as separate qualifying stays.
- The Promotional Period includes 92 nights and the maximum number of promotional bonus points that can be earned is 70,000 over the entire Promotional Period.
- No retroactive points will be awarded for nights prior to member’s registration in the Promotion.
- For cardmembers in the United States using an IHG Rewards Club Credit Card from Chase, an additional 3,000 bonus points will be awarded on your second Qualifying stay and an additional 3,000 bonus points will be awarded on your third Qualifying stay during the Promotion Period at any IHG Hotel and Resort worldwide, with some exclusions.
Full terms and conditions can be found on the promotion page
The key thing to note here is that, unlike the original year-end promo, the 5x promotion doesn’t come with any minimum stay requirements so all bookings made today and tomorrow will earn 5x base points per dollar on stays consumed through the end of the year.
Sadly, the cap of 70,000 points that the 3x promotion introduce still stands so this new 5x promo isn’t a license to print IHG Rewards points, you can just earn the maximum amount of points available with less spending.
Chase cardholders still earn a bonus
Holders of all Chase IHG Rewards credit cards can still earn additional bonus points in this promotion:
- Earn 3,000 bonus points on your second stay during the promotion period
- Earn a further 3,000 bonus points on your third stay during the promotion period
What this effectively means is that holders of Chase co-branded IHG Rewards credit cards have their earnings cap raised to 76,000 bonus points.
Credit Cards That Will Earn Bonus Points From This Promotion:
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- card_name (review)
- IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card (Not open to new applicants)
Note: Only US-issued IHG Rewards credit cards will earn bonus points in this promotion.
Thoughts
I’ve already given my thoughts on the original 3x promotion (here) so I’m now only going to focus on the 5x promotion that’s running for the next two days.
The first thing to note is that the absence of a minimum stay requirement is a big improvement on the original promotion so although the 5x deal is only available for stays made in the next month, the bonus points on offer are easy to earn.
The second thing to note is that with a cap of 70,000 bonus points in place, just $1,750 of spending will max out this promotion for anyone without a Chazse-issued IHG Rewards credit card.
Most IHG properties offer guests 10 base points per dollar spent so this promotion sees guests earning 50 points per dollar for stays through the end of the year.
As I value IHG Rewards Points at 0.4 cents each, this means that the 5x promotion is effectively offering guests a rebate of 20% on all valid stays until the points cap is reached.
Holders of a qualifying IHG Rewards credit card who will earn an added bonus of 3,000 points on their second and third stays will, effectively, be getting a bonus rebate of $15 on each of those stays.
This is a notable improvement on the existing promotion so anyone with existing flexible reservations for stays through 31 December may want to consider canceling and rebooking if there hasn’t been a significant price change since the original booking was made.
Bottom line
The IHG Rewards year-end promotion has been boosted for 2 days and is now offering all guests up to 5x points on nights consumed by 31 December 2021. When compared to the other currently available year-end promotions this one appears to be the one to beat so it’s a shame that it’s only applicable to bookings made in the next two days.
Still, if you’re still making plans for December, this is a promotion worth keeping in mind.
Currently, successful new applicants for the 
