I recently wrote about the changes which are in place now with the Priority Club Reward nights, and also about the grace period available till 18th March 2012 to make a booking at the old point redemption rate. Reader David stopped by and asked a question which I thought I should answer here since others may also have similar doubts.

do you know if there is a fixed number of times that you can make a booking(s) under the old rate?

It would appear that this is a one-off thing (in terms of reservations) and I couldn’t make additional bookings after utilizing my points once for an older rate

As per my information and experience, there is no fixed limit on the number of times you can make bookings under the old rate. I’ve personally redeemed about 3-4 times as of now, and only one of the bookings was cancelled (however, the old and new rates were the same there, so no difference).

The preferred flow of events in this case is to make a room reservation on the Priority Club website, and then call the helpline, ask for the Priority Club agent, and tell them about your booking. They will be able to validate your old rates v/s new rates, and credit points back into your account basis the difference that exists between these two numbers.

I hope that works for you. Else, do stop by for more queries. Hurry, you only have 9 more days to make good on the old rates.

Related Posts:

• Devaluation to the Priority Club program
• 2 Months grace period to book using the old Priority Club rates
• Speculation about changes to the Priority Club program

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Like you know by now, IHG has went ahead and adjusted their Reward Chart, to take effect from 18 January 2012. I also indicated there that if you want to take the benefit of the old award chart in the case of the 25% IHG properties where the cost of awards is going up, you do have a 2 month grace period to book on the old chart via the PC service Centre till March 18.

This has now been confirmed by the Loyalty Traveler on MilePoint. He states after a chat with IHG officials that:

Priority Club members have a 60-day window from January 18 to book hotels through the customer service center at the old lower cost or rebook hotels that have dropped in points cost. There is a 360-day booking window.

So there you go, it is confirmed that you can still burn your PC points on the old award chart if you think that is more beneficial. Check up around the 18th Jan 2012 for which properties changed their awards.

Related Posts:

•  Devaluation of Priority Club Reward Nights
• Speculation on devaluation of PC Reward Nights?

A few hours ago I blogged about the PriorityClub Reward Nights valuations being readjusted. However, at that time, Priority Club seemed to have forgotten to put up the award charts on the table. They did do that shortly after and here is how the new chart looks like:

IHG has usually followed a hotel brand based redemption level, and in this latest round, they’ve just added more tiers in the redemption tables. I’d have assumed this would have happened after the points they minted away in last year’s promos. Here are the key changes, which are going to affect about 25% of the hotels:

• Candlewoods at 20K (New 20K tier added)
• Intercontinentals at 50K (New 50K tier added)
• Holiday Inns at 20K (New 20K tier between 15K and 25K)
• Indigos at 25K (New 25K tier added)
• CrownePlaza at 35K (New 35K tier added)

Now, I see more devaluations on this chart than value additions, but as customers, you and me should only expect to be squeezed and be at the short end of the stick, right? But if you plan to burn your points in Bangkok, the InterContinental Bangkok will go down to 30K instead of 40K PC points at present…

A 2 month grace period, anyone?

According to USA Today’s travel columnist, Priority Club does not want to be in for a massive backlash after it weaned HHonors members with the Luckiest Loser promo in 2010. So, if you want to be booking at the old rate, you just gotta call the PC line, and through March, you should be conveniently book with the old rates. This information, apparently, will not be put out on the record in a press release by IHG executives, but they gave it away to the Media anyways!

More details will come in shortly, I hope. Watch this space for more…