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…

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…

Zurich, Berlin, Oslo, Helsinki, London in 12 days out of San Francisco Airport. I was surprised at how much of Europe I could visit on one trip using 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles for three one-way economy class award tickets and no other transportation except to and from airports on city trains, trams and busses.

No car travel.

Miles and miles of walking.

Lesson #1  Travel with two small bags and a small backpack if you plan to walk with your luggage.

In Oslo, London and Chicago overnight layovers I  traveled without my one checked bag. Read More…

Alexanderplatz is a central location in Berlin for easy access to many sights.

This section of the city is called Berlin Mitte and is the center of Berlin and some might say the heart of Berlin.

Berlin was heavily bombed during World War II and most of the development around Alexanderplatz is post-war reconstruction. Even the historic buildings were heavily damaged and mostly rebuilt following World War II. Read More…

I loved the location of Alexanderplatz as central for many tourist sites, but the hotel was not close to Berlin Messe on the western side of the city for the ITB Berlin 2013 conference. The three days of the conference required about one hour each way to ride the U-bahn 45 minutes on the U2 line and then walk to the convention center.

Holiday Inn Alexanderplatz and Hotel Indigo Alexanderplatz are located in same building.

The Holiday Inn location was fine for me. I did not mind the commute since I was in the activity zone for the evenings.

And at 10,000 Priority Club points per night for Holiday Inn Alexanderplatz, the price ($70) was a great deal too considering the room rate during ITB 2013 was 130 Euros ($170 USD) per night..

Hotel Indigo Berlin is 20,000 points per night.

Rates are about 50% this week of what they were last week during the ITB Berlin travel conference. These hotels look like they are frequently under 100 Euros per night.

View of TV Tower and Park Inn from Holiday Inn Alexanderplatz.

Alexanderplatz is a central location in Berlin for easy access to many sights. There are several chain hotels in the immediate vicinity of Alexanderplatz including the massive Park Inn by Radisson, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Radisson Blu Berlin and Ibis Styles.

Holiday Inn Alexanderplatz

Holiday Inn/Hotel Indigo are about 150 meters from Alexanderplatz one block away. 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…