The IHG Employee Rate Program is called “The IHG Employee Room Benefit Program” and offers employees big savings when they stay at IHG properties for leisure. The discounts can be huge and range from 50 – 75% off the average room rate at any given property.
These are heavily discounted room rates designed exclusively for:
- Employees of companies in the InterContinental Hotels Group (“IHG”), and
- Eligible employees of third-party franchisees, who work at IHG-branded hotels that are franchised by a subsidiary or affiliate of IHG.
Limitations and Restrictions with the IHG Employee Rate
These employee rates are designed exclusively for IHG employees and their guests (while traveling with the participating employee) so the employee will be required to show proof of identification upon check-in.
Because the discounts are so large, there are limits to the use of the employee rate, including:
- Employees may not book more than seven (7) room nights, at the employee rate, in the same hotel each calendar year.
- Employees cannot book more than two rooms with the employee rate per hotel, per visit.
- Each room counts towards the maximum of seven (7) room nights per calendar year at the Employee Rate.
- For example, if an employee uses their employee rate to book two rooms for three nights at a hotel, that will count as six of the seven room nights for that hotel in that calendar year.
- An employee room reservation booked at the Employee Rate cannot be made more than 90 days in advance of the first day of the scheduled stay.
- The employee who made the reservation must check in and stay at the hotel for the duration of the reservation:
- Employee Rates are not available and must not be used for business-related travel.
- Employee Rates do not qualify for IHG Rewards Club points.
Can family members use the Employee Rate?
Family members can only participate in this program when they are traveling with an employee for a limited number of nights. However, they can get a nice discount when not with the employee via the IHG Family and Friends Rate, which is open to anyone, at any time!
How IHG determine what rate employees pay?
IHG does not have a flat rate across categories of hotels for employees. Rather, they have a calculation call IVEDI to determine what rate a hotel will charge employees per night. The employee rate IVEDI is determined by using a hotel’s 12-month Average Daily Rate (ADR) from the STAR Report (A benchmark that shows how a hotel is doing against its competitive set).
Rate Tier | ADR Range | Employee Rate |
| 1 | $84.99 or less | $39.00 |
| 2 | $85.00 – $99.99 | $49.00 |
| 3 | $100.00-$124.99 | $59.00 |
| 4 | $125.00-$149.99 | $69.00 |
| 5 | $150.00-$199.99 | $79.00 |
| 6 | $200.00-$249.99 | $89.00 |
| 7 | $250.00-$299.00 | $99.00 |
| 8 | $300.00-$399.99 | $119.00 |
| 9 | $400.00 and up | $139.00 |
IHG determines the Employee Rate for the next calendar year based on a hotel’s 12 month rolling Average Daily Rate (“ADR”) as of September 30 of each year. The rate will then remain in effect from January 1st for the next full calendar year.
New Hotel Opening rates will be based upon the 12-month market class tract average on the Star Report. Once the hotel has a 12-month rolling ADR, the Employee Rate will be adjusted as outlined for existing hotels.
IHG Employee Rate Codes
When booking rooms, employees will have two rate types to choose from. Either an IVEDI rate, with the flow through room, meaning the actual room will assigned by the hotel. Or an IVED2 rate that is associated with a specific room type.
The pricing for IVED2 could be more or less than the rate available for IVEDI.
How to book a room with the Employee Rate
There are three things an employee must do before being eligible for the employee rate
- Sign up for the IHG Rewards Program.
- Have a Merlin ID
- Link the IHG Rewards Club number with their Merlin ID
Once these steps are complete, the employee will be able to book the employee rate online or with the IHG mobile app.
What’s an IHG Merlin ID?
Since we made reference to Merlin, we might as well tell you what it is. Merlin is IHG’s internal website that connects all IHG employees. It is a single communication platform across all hotels that provides up-to-the-minute information on their business performance.
Here is a brief video to give you a little more information:
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