IHG One Rewards: In-Depth Guide to IHG's Loyalty Program

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The IHG One Rewards Loyalty Program

IHG One Rewards, formerly known as both IHG Rewards Club and Priority Club, is the Intercontinental Hotels Group loyalty program. It allows you to earn rewards at more than 6,000 properties within IHG’s extensive network of hotels, including Kimpton, InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Candlewood and Staybridge Suites properties.

This in-depth guide will provide you with a complete overview of the program and some great tips for how to earn more points and maximize the redemption options!

IHG One Rewards Membership Tiers and Benefits

The IHG Rewards program has four levels of elite status: Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond. When you first enroll in the program, you will be at the Club level, which does count as “Status” and has some benefits, but not “Elite Status” since it is awarded automatically upon joining.

Join the IHG One Rewards Program Here…

Requirements for IHG Elite Status

Club – Just sign up and you’re at the Club Level
Sliver – 10 Nights
Gold – 20 Nights or 40,000 Elite Qualifying Points
Platinum – 40 Nights or 60,000 Elite Qualifying Points
Spire – 70 Nights or 120,000 Elite Qualifying Points

**Qualifying Points are points earned from Qualifying Rates paid for hotel stays, spend on IHG One Rewards credit cards, select partner activity, IHG Rewards Bonus Points Packages, and Qualified Spend through IHG Business Rewards are considered Qualifying Points and are counted towards Elite status

IHG One Rewards Benefits by Tier

Below is a chart that summarizes the benefits associated with each tier.

Milestone Rewards

In addition to earning points with your stays, IHG also has milestone rewards. Starting at 20 nights, you’ll get to choose a reward every 10 nights you stay each calendar year, up to 100 nights.

Intercontinental Ambassador Status

As an IHG Rewards member, you may also purchase InterContinental Ambassador status. This status entitles you to higher levels of recognition and only applies to stays at Intercontinental hotels.

Intercontinental Ambassador Status will cost you $200/year (or 40,000 IHG points) and provides the following benefits when you stay at Intercontinental Hotels:

Guaranteed one category room upgrade
Guaranteed extended 4pm check-out
Complimentary weekend night
Platinum Elite status in IHGOne Rewards, and the corresponding benefits
Restaurants & bars credit of up to USD20 for every stay
Complimentary mineral water
Complimentary internet
Dedicated check-in area
Single room rate for double occupancy
Mainland China Only: Complimentary breakfast for one each night you stay

How to Earn IHG One Rewards Points

You can earn IHG Points by staying at IHG hotels, participating in promotions, buying goods and services through IHG partners, and via credit cards – both IHG Co-Branded and Chase Ultimate Rewards Cards.

Earn Points from Hotel Stays

You will earn 10 points for every dollar you spend when staying at IHG properties, other than Staybridge and Candlewood Suites where you will earn 5 points for every dollar spent.

IHG Promotions

IHG offers promotions on a quarterly basis to help you earn more points, faster.

The Current IHG One Rewards Promotion

Earn 2,000 points for every two nights between October 12 and December 31, 2023.

IHG One Rewards Dining

You can earn IHG points every time you eat at select restaurants by signing up for the IHG Dining program with Rewards Network. All you have to do is sign up and register your credit card. When you visit any one of the 11,000+ participating restaurants and bars and pay with your registered credit card you will earn up to 8 points for every dollar you spend on dining, including taxes and tips.

One of the best ways to use this program is to keep your points active. If you have been inactive in the IHG Rewards program, you won’t want to lose your points due to 12 months of inactivity. Just register a card, go buy a pizza from a participating pizza shop and you will ensure you don’t lose any of those IHG Rewards Club points you have built up.

Earn Points with Hertz Car Rentals

IHG members can save 35% and earn at least 1,500 points when renting with Hertz.

As an IHG Elite Status member, you can get further benefits and more points with your rental.

Credit Cards That Earn IHG Points

There are two ways to earn IHG One Rewards points from credit cards – co-branded loyalty cards and cards with transfer options.

The IHG Co-Branded Credit Card will allow you to earn IHG points on every purchase you make. The points will show up automatically in your IHG account each month

IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card

Transfer points through Chase. Chase Ultimate Rewards Points can also be transferred to IHG Rewards at a rate of 1:1. The following cards earn Chase Ultimate Rewards Points:

Buy IHG Points

IHG often runs promotions where you can buy points for as little as .5 cents per point. While it is normally not a great idea to buy points, this can be a good value if you have a planned a trip to one of IHG’s higher end properties like Six Senses or Kimpton, where the redemption value is often over 1 cent. The value can be even greater when combined with IHG’s fourth night free benefit (for select IHG Cardholders)!

How to Use IHG Points

You can use your IHG points for anything from free nights, to frequent flyer miles to shopping, gift cards, and more. Just be careful, so options get a much better “return” on your points than others.

Free Hotel Nights

You can use your points for free nights at IHG hotels and resorts for as little as 10,000 points per night to over 100,000 points per night for high-end Intercontinental properties.

IHG Rewards Points and Cash – If you are coming up a little short on points you can use the Cash and Points option. These rates will automatically show up when you search for award nights.

IHG Cash and Point Rates — The IHG Website offers the cash rate for a room, the rewards rate, and multiple “cash and points” options

Fourth Night Free

This is a great perk that allows IHG members with certain IHG credit cards to pay zero points for every fourth night when redeeming IHG points for award stays of four nights or longer. So if you have a four night stay, you will only have to use points for three of those nights!

Marriott has a similar program where you can get your fifth night free, but I have not been able to use that much because I typically stay 4 nights or less. I like the IHG model much better!

The following three IHG credit cards provide access to the valuable fourth-night-free reward:

IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card,
IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card and
IHG One  Rewards Premier Business Credit Card.

Turn IHG Points into Frequent Flyer Miles

IHG One Rewards Points can be transferred to a large number of airlines for frequent flyer miles. The point-to-mile ratio varies, but the majority are 10,000 IHG points for 2,000 frequent flyer miles. The transfer time can take 4-6 weeks, so if you need miles quick, this is not the best option.

Is IHG One Rewards Right for You?

Now that we have covered the basics of the IHG One Rewards program, let’s go over the important things to think about when considering what hotel program is best for you.

1. Number of hotels in the portfolio to earn and use points

As one of the five largest hotel companies in the world, IHG is in good shape here. They 19 hotel brands in 6,000+ destinations. Finding an IHG property nearby is very easy.

2. Luxury hotel and resort options in the portfolio

IHG has several luxury brands, but they are not all consistent. Six Senses, Regent and Kimpton are consistently great properties in great locations. IHG markets Intercontinental as a luxury brand but many of their properties are dated and living off their reputation from 20-30 years ago. I find this brand to be very inconsistent.

3. Ability to earn points

It’s very easy to earn IHG points through hotel stays, promotions, credit cards and partners. Like Hilton Honors, IHG is a very easy program to earn points with.

4. Ability to use points

IHG no longer offers a published award chart so knowing how may points you will need for a stay can be a bit tricky. Redemptions range from as low as 10,000 points for a budget property to over 100,000 points for a luxury Six Senses resort.

5. Ease of earning elite status

You can earn IHG Platinum status just by having some of their credit cards and you can earn their top tier Diamond status by spending $40,000 on the IHG premier card. Outside of Hilton, this is one of the easiest programs to earn elite status.

6. Benefits of elite status

IHG has some pretty good benefits for having top tier elite status. The 100% points bonus for stays is a nice benefit for frequent travelers. On top of that there are room upgrades and free breakfast. Naturally, the benefits are more valuable then you are staying at IHG high end properties, vs the mid-tier options.

7. Credit Card option for earning points

IHG credit cards are very good in terms of elite status and availability. IHG has several co-branded credit cards with Chase, including both personal and business options. They also are a transfer partner of Ultimate Rewards so there are a ton of ways you can earn IHG points from your credit card spend.

The IHG One Rewards Loyalty Program