The first full weekend of April means IHG Rewards Club Last Minute Reward Nights. (I am practicing the new loyalty program name.)

The list is small with 59 hotels globally and 44 of these in the USA. InterContinental Hotels in Greece, Egypt, Mexico and Panama are on this weekend’s list.

• InterContinental ATHENAEUM ATHENS (Greece) 15,000 pts.
• InterContinental MIRAMAR PANAMA (Panama) 15,000 pts.
• InterContinental CAIRO SEMIRAMIS (Egypt) 12,500 pts.
• InterContinental CITYSTARS CAIRO (Egypt) 12,500 pts.
• InterContinental PRESIDENTE PUEBLA (Mexico) 12,500 pts.

Last Minute Reward Nights are 50% the standard reward price and only available for three nights: Friday April 5; Saturday April 6; and Sunday April 7.

FlyerTalk has an IHG Priority Club thread called “IC Master Promo Thread 2013”. This thread posts current registration codes for Priority Club bonus points.

Priority Club frequent guest members refer to the stackable bonuses for hotel stays as one of the best features of the loyalty program; a program that has few defined benefits for elite members compared to other major hotel loyalty programs.

There is a note on the Stay x, earn y bonus points post I had not noticed before now. Read More…

Priority Club Rewards is making loyalty program changes. Besides the name change from Priority Club Rewards to  IHG Rewards Club, there are some additional new benefits of the program to debut in July 2013.

• Free internet to all elite members beginning July 2013 and all IHG Rewards Club members starting in 2014.
• Fast-track to elite status by staying in three different IHG brands – no details yet.
• Reward nights count for elite status.
• Platinum elite members extra nights ‘rollover’.

My take on the announced changes for Priority Club Rewards. Read More…

Priority Club PointBreaks hotels at 5,000 points per award night were released today. Bookings available for award stays through June 30, 2013.

PointBreaks Hotel List

United States

ALASKA Read More…

IHG 2-for-1 rates

One of the best discounts I know on paid rates for London and many places in Europe is 2-for-1 rates with InterContinental Hotels Group.

This is an ongoing promotion around for more than five years that provides great discounts for London.

IHG 2-for-1 discounts are prepaid, nonrefundable rates,so it best to book close to your stay dates when you are more assured of being in London for your travel.

One of the best features of the 2-for-1 rate is the ability to book higher category rooms, even suites. Also, the discount is often restricted to weekends in many locations. London usually has IHG hotels offering 2-for-1 rates any two days of the week.

Availability of the IHG 2-for-1 rates at hotels across London is not as widespread in my searches today compared to past checks. Read More…

London and Paris are the top two international tourism destinations for Americans and international travelers.

I have been to London four times and Paris three times.  I would like to spend more time in these cities, but my travels have not worked out that way. There are so many places in the world to visit.

TripAdvisor.com shows 1,079 hotel listings for London, UK in 28 neighborhoods.

My recent one night stay in London was March 13, 2013 at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, a Club Carlson category 6 property at 50,000 points per night. The hotel is ranked #73 of 1,079 London hotels on TripAdvisor.com.

I have only stayed in three hotels in London, all in the neighborhood of Westminster.

Honeymoon in London 1989 Read More…

Priority Club is giving 50% bonus points on purchases from March 6 to April 6, 2013. This sale allows the purchase of up to 75,000 Priority Club points for $575.

Purchased points are non-elite qualifying points.

In years past the purchase of points with these offers counted as elite qualifying points. I earned Priority Club top tier Platinum status in 2011 buying points.

While I thought this current sale was a good opportunity to get a fast-track to Platinum elite in 2013 buying 60,000 points for $460, the purchase of points no longer qualifies as elite qualifying points.

Now you may be thinking, “That change happened way back in January, so why is Loyalty Traveler just figuring this out now?”

John at LoyaltyLobby reported in January that his points purchase posted as elite qualifying points. Two weeks ago he posted again that the points purchase he made in January did not post as elite qualifying points.

Points & Cash Awards allow the purchase of 10,000 points for $70.

The workaround for buying Priority Club points is to book Points & Cash awards and then cancel them. Read More…

Priority Club Last Minute Reward Nights are 50% discount rewards available at 64 USA hotels and 21 other IHG international hotels for this weekend only Friday, March 1; Saturday, March 2; and Sunday, March 3.

Two InterContinental Hotels are on this month’s list:

• IC Santiago, Chile = 12,500 points
• IC Athens, Greece = 15,000 points

Since Priority Club does not include geographic descriptors on the listings the best way to check your state or country is use the filter on the Priority Club page to sort hotels by location. Read More…

I am traveling 16 of the next 17 days and staying in ten or so different hotels in seven or more different cities. This week I will be in Chicago for the Carlson Global Conference and next week Berlin for ITB 2013 travel trade show. The trip home from Berlin includes overnight stops in Oslo, Helsinki, London and Chicago.

Yesterday I had Best Price Guarantee claims approved for two nights in Chicago and one night in San Francisco. These approved claims mean the first night of the hotel stay is free and all three hotel stays are one night stays.

Last Wednesday I stayed at the Crowne Plaza Denver on a free night using IHG’s Best Price Guarantee reducing the $199 room rate to free.

IHG denied my claims twice over the weekend for a free night at the Crowne Plaza – St. James, London. Read More…

Crowne Plaza Denver lowest published rate was $199 per night for a Standard Room Wednesday, Feb 20. The lowest rate found on Kayak.com for a Standard Room was $107.65 at getaroom.com. Rates on both sites were refundable rates with getaroom.com allowing cancellation until Monday, 10pm 2/18 with no charge and IHG site allowing cancellation to Tuesday, 6pm 2/19 with no penalty.

I booked the $199 room on the IHG site and immediately filed a Best Price Guarantee claim with InterContinental Hotels Group on Saturday, February 16. Within 12 hours my claim was approved and I was notified the room night at Crowne Plaza Denver would be free. Read More…