IHG Rewards Club has a London hotels promotion for Double Points.

Book by April 30 for hotel stays in London completed by June 30 to earn double points.

IHG in London for Double Points to June 30, 2013.

Holiday Inn^®

London

• Holiday Inn London – Brent Cross
• Holiday Inn London – Bexley
• Holiday Inn London – Brentford Lock
• Holiday Inn London – Bloomsbury
• Holiday Inn London – Camden Lock
• Holiday Inn London – Elstree
• Holiday Inn London – Kensington Forum
• Holiday Inn London – Heathrow Ariel
• Holiday Inn London – Heathrow
• Holiday Inn London – Mayfair
• Holiday Inn London – Oxford Circus
• Holiday Inn London – Heathrow M4, Jct.4
• Holiday Inn London – Regent’s Park
• Holiday Inn London – Shepperton
• Holiday Inn London – Commercial Road

Slough

• Holiday Inn Slough – Windsor

Holiday Inn Express^®

London

• Holiday Inn Express – Earls Court
• Holiday Inn Express – Limehouse
• Holiday Inn Express – Park Royal
• Holiday Inn Express – Royal Docks, Docklands
• Holiday Inn Express – Southwark
• Holiday Inn Express – Stanstead Airport
• Holiday Inn Express London – Chingford – North Circular
• Holiday Inn Express London – Dartford
  Holiday Inn Express London – Greenwich A102 (M)
• Holiday Inn Express London – Hammersmith
• Holiday Inn Express London – Heathrow Terminal 5
• Holiday Inn Express London – Wandsworth

Stevenage

• Holiday Inn Express Stevenage

Windsor

• Holiday Inn Express Windsor

Crowne Plaza^®

London

• Crowne Plaza London – Docklands
• Crowne Plaza London – Heathrow
• Crowne Plaza London – Kensington
• Crowne Plaza London – The City

Marlow

• Crowne Plaza Marlow

Hotel Indigo^®

London

• Hotel Indigo London Kensington – Earl’s Ct

IHG Rewards Club London promotion for Double Points does not match up to T&C.

The T&C for the IHG promotion page states the IHG London promotion offers 1,000 bonus points per night at all brands in London, except Staybridge Suites.

Must be a Priority Club Rewards member or enroll prior to stay. Only available at participating InterContinental Hotels Group (InterContinental®, Crowne Plaza®, Hotel Indigo®, Holiday Inn®, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®) hotels in London, England. 1,000 bonus points will be awarded for each night, with the exception of Staybridge Suites where 1,000 bonus points will be awarded for each stay. A Stay is defined as one night or consecutive nights at the same hotel, regardless of frequency of check-in/check-out. Offer valid until the 30th April 2013 for stays from the 22nd of March 2013 until the 30th of June 2013.

IHG Rewards Club London Double Points Promotion T&C

I’d like to point out that there is a Staybridge Suites in London, but it is not listed as participating in this promotion.

Double Points Analysis

Double IHG points means 10 bonus points/$1.

Spend $500 in London and that is 5,000 bonus Priority Club points.

Or do you have to spend 5 nights in London to earn 5,000 bonus points?

Double points means any hotel night costing over $200 USD (130 GBP) will earn more points with Double Points than 1,000 Bonus Points per Night.

The price of London hotels means the rate will likely be over $200 per night.

IHG 2-for-1 London

Of course you can always book lower rates using the IHG 2-for-1 link which generally has several London hotels participating and offers one of the best rate discounts available for London and other locations in Europe.

Holiday Inn Express-London Chingford 43GBP = $63 USD per night including tax for May 17-19 weekend stay using IHG 2-for-1 rates.

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 Rewards has amended its program terms to define “Elite Qualifying Points” and “Non-Elite Qualifying Points”.  This is a significant change that will make reaching elite tiers more difficult for Priority Club members who earn elite status with IHG hotel stays.

Beginning January 1, 2013, for purposes of determining Elite Status, Priority Club points are classified as either Elite Qualifying Points or Non-Elite Qualifying Points.

PriorityClub.com

Priority Club Rewards is the loyalty program for InterContinental Hotels Group including the hotel brands Holiday Inn, Holiday Day Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites and InterContinental Hotels. InterContinental Hotels also has a separate paid membership for Ambassador elite membership and an invitation only Royal Ambassador elite program for privileged top-tier Ambassador members.

Priority Club offers two levels of elite status with Gold at 15 nights or 20,000 Priority Club points and Platinum at 50 nights or 60,000 Priority Club points in a calendar year.

The unique aspect of Priority Club Rewards has been that virtually all points posted to your account were eligible for elite status. This meant a Priority Club credit card enrollment with 60,000 bonus points or the purchase of 60,000 points instantly conferred Platinum elite status with its 50% bonus points and occasional upgrade on hotel stays. The only points that did not count for elite status were points purchased when making a Points & Cash reservation.

Priority Club Elite Qualifying Points

• Base points earned from Qualifying Rates paid for hotel stays
• points collected from partner transactions [Update Jan 18: according to LoyaltyLobby, Priority Club points purchase appears to be a Points.com partner transaction and count as elite points. You can buy 50,000 Priority Club points per calendar year as low as $11.50 per 1,000 points.]
• PCR Bonus Points Packages
• Meeting Rewards

All other point earning transactions, including promotional points, points vouchers, points purchase, points transfers, and points deposits, will be considered Non-Elite Qualifying Points and will not be counted towards elite status.

Elite bonus points accrued on Base points from qualifying stays are Non-Elite Qualifying points and do not count towards elite qualification.

Priority Club Non-Elite Qualifying Points

• Promotional points
• Points Vouchers
• Points Purchases (Loyalty Traveler update 1/18/13: LoyaltyLobby reports a points purchase posted as elite points so this may apply to Points & Cash Reward stay points purchases, but it is reported that Priority Club points purchases, up to 50,000 points per year, are considered a Points.com partner transaction and elite qualifying points. ) Update March 21, 2013 – Apparently the crediting of purchased points counting as elite qualifying was an anomaly. Purchased points do not count as elite qualifying points.
• Points Transfers
• Points Deposits

PRIORITY CLUB^® REWARDS GOLD, PLATINUM (“ELITE”) MEMBERSHIPS

1. Points for Elite Status – For purposes of determining Elite Status, Priority Club points are classified as either Elite Qualifying Points or Non-Elite Qualifying Points. Base points earned from Qualifying Rates paid for hotel stays, points collected from partner transactions, PCR Bonus Points Packages and Meeting Rewards are considered Elite Qualifying Points and counted towards membership elite status. A Qualifying Rate includes the following: non-discounted rate, standard corporate rate, worldwide sales negotiated rate, national/regional/local government rate and specified leisure rates as confirmed by the IHG HOLIDEX^®Plus reservation system. All other point earning transactions, including promotional points, points vouchers, points purchase, points transfers, and points deposits, will be considered Non-Elite Qualifying Points and will not be counted towards elite status.
2. Priority Club Rewards Gold membership will be awarded to you if you have a minimum of 15 nights at Qualifying Rates or if you earn at least 20,000 Elite Qualifying points during a calendar year. Priority Club Rewards Platinum membership will be awarded to you if you have a minimum of 50 nights at Qualifying Rates or if you earn at least 60,000 Elite Qualifying points during a calendar year. Once you have earned elite membership status in any calendar year, you will maintain such status through the end of the following calendar year. Members may also purchase a Gold membership for a fee of $50 USD which can only be paid for by an accepted credit card. Gold memberships that are purchased are only valid for the duration of the calendar year in which they are purchased. Follow the instructions at www.priorityclub.com/purchasegoldor contact your nearest Priority Club Service Center for assistance. No cancellations or refunds are permitted.
3. Priority Club Rewards Gold members will receive a 10% elite bonus on all base points earned during the period in which they are Priority Club Rewards Gold members. Priority Club Rewards Platinum members will receive a 50% elite bonus on all base points earned during the period in which they are Priority Club Rewards Platinum members. Elite bonus points accrued on Base points from qualifying stays are Non-Elite Qualifying points and do not count towards elite qualification.Future bonus/benefits for Gold and Platinum members may vary. Gold and Platinum level bonus points are credited only to members who choose to collect Priority Club points. Bonus points for Gold and Platinum members apply only on the base points collected by a member and not on any additional points received due to a special offer or promotion.
4. Hotel Room Upgrades for Platinum Members:Platinum level members will be offered a complimentary upgrade, as determined by the hotel, which might include rooms on higher floors, corner rooms, newly renovated rooms, or rooms with preferred views. The upgrade will be offered at time of check-in, based on availability, and will only apply to the member’s personal guest room. The hotel is not required to upgrade members to suites or specialty rooms. Upgrade benefit will not apply to rooms booked as a Reward Night reservation.
5. Guaranteed Room Availability for Platinum Members: When contacting the Priority Club Service Center directly and guaranteeing the reservation with a valid credit card, each Platinum level member will be guaranteed one room for personal use, for reservations made at least 72 hours prior to the date of arrival, except during special events that result in extraordinary room demand, as determined solely by the hotel. The member will not be charged more than the prevailing rate for the accommodation requested, and the member is not entitled to a rate less than the prevailing rate. Once made, Platinum Guarantees may not be dishonored for any reason. If the member does not arrive and has not obtained a cancellation number prior to 6 p.m. (4 p.m. in Europe), the credit card may be billed for one night’s room and tax. Platinum Guarantees do not apply to Reward Nights. A minimum stay duration requirement may apply at select Holiday Inn Club Vacations locations.

Priority Club Rewards Program Terms & Conditions

Analysis

Looks like the banks win again with their credit card enrollment bonus offers and complimentary Platinum elite status for certain co-branded Priority Club credit cards. And other partner transactions will offer elite qualifying bonus points incentives.

It seems that buying shit is more important in the new loyalty world order than staying at hotels.

Even more disconcerting is the change that bonus points like the 50% bonus Platinum members earn as an elite member staying at IHG hotels and bonus points from hotel stay promotions are not elite qualifying points.

These changes eliminate earning Priority Club Platinum elite status quickly on far fewer than 50 nights from stackable promotions.

The 60,000 bonus points earned from Priority Club credit card enrollment will still confer Platinum elite, but buying 60,000 points during a Priority Club 50% bonus points on a points purchase will no longer count as qualifying points.

Basically Priority Club is steering hotel guests to purchase Bonus Points Packages at higher hotel rates for your stay. Priority Club commonly has higher rates that include bonus points of 1,000 to 10,000 points. These packages will be the quickest way to Platinum elite on far fewer than 50 nights for members who earn elite status by staying at IHG hotels.

PCR Bonus Points Package at Holiday Inn Express Las Vegas South offers 1,000 bonus points per night at rate $10 higher than $99 Best Flexible rate Jan 3, 2013.

All in all though, aside from the 50% bonus points and the occasional one category upgrade to high floor, preferred view and maybe even a larger room, the benefits of Priority Club Platinum are weak compared to other loyalty programs.

Hopefully the change to elite status qualification will also be accompanied by improved hotel stay benefits.

There are apparently improved benefits for elite members in the greater China region hotels for 2013. We will need to see if these changes will be rolled out globally?

Brian Cohen of The Gate, a FlyerTalk blog states changes will happen for elite benefits at hotels in Greater China including Macau and Hong Kong.

•Club Member
◦Welcome drink

•Gold Member
◦Welcome drink
◦15 percent off difference in room rates to upgrade to Club Floor or suites, or Club Lounge access when upgrading to Club Floor
◦Free in-room Internet access

•Platinum Member
◦Welcome drink
◦Free upgrade to next room category
◦30 percent off difference in room rates to upgrade to Club Floor or suites, or Club Lounge access when upgrading to Club Floor
◦In-room amenity
◦Free in-room Internet access

The Gate Dec 3, 2012

Follow this FlyerTalk thread for updates on how these Priority Club elite points changes are implemented.

Ric Garrido, writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. You can follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.

The new list of Priority Club PointBreaks Hotels for 5,000 points per award night was posted today for stays through January 31, 2013. These are capacity controlled awards so it is best to book a stay early since hotels can drop off the PointBreaks Award list at anytime.

United States

ALABAMA

CANDLEWOOD SUITES ENTERPRISE

ARKANSAS

CANDLEWOOD SUITES JONESBORO

ARIZONA

HOLIDAY INN PHOENIX-WEST

CALIFORNIA

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS BRENTWOOD

STAYBRIDGE SUITES ROCKLIN – ROSEVILLE AREA

COLORADO

CANDLEWOOD SUITES PARACHUTE

FLORIDA

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES ARCADIA

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES SEBRING

GEORGIA

HOLIDAY INN BRUNSWICK I-95 (EXIT 38)

CANDLEWOOD SUITES ATLANTA

ILLINOIS

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL CHICAGO-NORTHBROOK

INDIANA

CANDLEWOOD SUITES CRAWFORDSVILLE

KANSAS

STAYBRIDGE SUITES WICHITA

KENTUCKY

CANDLEWOOD SUITES RADCLIFF – FORT KNOX

MARYLAND

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS PRINCE FREDERICK

NEW JERSEY

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES CARNEYS POINT NJ TRNPK EXIT 1

NEW MEXICO

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES PORTALES

NEW YORK

HOLIDAY INN GRAND ISLAND (BUFFALO/NIAGARA)

CANDLEWOOD SUITES SYRACUSE-AIRPORT

OHIO

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES CINCINNATI NORTHEAST-MILFORD

OKLAHOMA

CANDLEWOOD SUITES OWASSO

PENNSYLVANIA

HOLIDAY INN WARREN (KINZUA DAM-ALLEGHENY)

SOUTH CAROLINA

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS ANDERSON-I-85 (EXIT 27-HWY 81)

TENNESSEE

STAYBRIDGE SUITES KNOXVILLE OAK RIDGE

TEXAS

CANDLEWOOD SUITES BEAUMONT

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES MEXIA

VIRGINIA

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS RICHMOND AIRPORT

WISCONSIN

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL MILWAUKEE AIRPORT

Canada

QUEBEC

HOLIDAY INN LAVAL – MONTREAL

ONTARIO

HOTEL INDIGO TORONTO AIRPORT

Mexico

HOLIDAY INN SALAMANCA

STAYBRIDGE SUITES QUERETARO

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL NUEVO LAREDO

Central & South America

BRAZIL

HOLIDAY INN PORTO ALEGRE

COSTA RICA

HOTEL INDIGO SAN JOSE FORUM COSTA RICA

Europe

BELGIUM

HOLIDAY INN GENT – EXPO

CZECH REPUBLIC

HOLIDAY INN PRAGUE AIRPORT

FINLAND

HOLIDAY INN TAMPERE

FRANCE

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS MARSEILLE – PROVENCE AIRPORT

GERMANY

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS COLOGNE – MUELHEIM

PORTUGAL

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS LISBON – OEIRAS

SPAIN

HOLIDAY INN ELCHE

UNITED KINGDOM

HOLIDAY INN GARDEN COURT A1 SANDY – BEDFORD

HOLIDAY INN CORBY – KETTERING A43

Africa

There are currently no properties available for this region.

Middle East

SAUDI ARABIA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL AL KHOBAR

JORDAN

HOLIDAY INN RESORT DEAD SEA

Asia

CHINA-PEOPLES REPUBLIC

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL TIANJIN BINHAI

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL XIANGYANG

HOLIDAY INN SHENYANG ZHONGSHAN

HOLIDAY INN HANGZHOU THOUSAND ISLAND LAKE

TAIWAN

HOLIDAY INN EAST TAIPEI

PHILIPPINES

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL MANILA GALLERIA

INDONESIA

INTERCONTINENTAL JAKARTA MIDPLAZA

Oceania

FIJI ISLANDS

HOLIDAY INN SUVA

Ric Garrido, writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. You can follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.

Crowne Plaza as a hotel brand has a guest image problem.

IHG executives cited 9,000 deficiencies in the Crowne Plaza brand in their plan to reimage the brand within the upscale market segment. Crowne Plaza has about 390 hotels. In the first half of 2012 Crowne Plaza shed 16 hotels and plans to remove another 25 hotels from the brand in the next 24 to 36 months. Another 50 Crowne Plaza hotels are in the pipeline to open in the next couple of years.

I have stayed in a few Crowne Plaza hotels in the past two years in cities like Chicago, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco (airport) and a couple of others. The rooms were all nicely furnished with all the amenities I needed. The one attribute I would characterize as common to all these Crowne Plaza hotels where I stayed is the lack of character. They all had nice upscale lobbies, but there was no real common identity to these hotels aside from them seeming very business oriented facilities.

Crowne Plaza brand with a plan

So what kind of deficiencies are there at Crowne Plaza hotels and what are the reimaging solutions?

Guest check-in:

• Add self check-in kiosks in lobby.
• Provide a lobby host position as key contact for guests.

This kind of sounds like the airport model to me. Let guests fend for themselves until an issue arises where the guest needs help. Kiosks are nice for the frequent traveler who does not need to wait for the receptionist. I kind of prefer the human contact of the desk. Seems to me this is another way to reduce staffing for the hotel owners.

Food and Beverage: provide a 15-minute guarantee for food orders and provide fresh food for guests. Unclear if this is really a planned improvement or primarily a deficiency statement in the context of the article.

Guestroom amenities:

• WiFi
• One click printing
• international plugs for U.S. travelers at international hotels

The lack of plug adapters and currency converters at a hotel when staying out of the U.S. is an issue I used to find a decade ago when I forgot to pack my own. Often the hotel had adapters left behind by other guests and other times this was something that took hours of searching electronics stores in London and Melbourne to solve. Airport stores carry all this stuff these days, but generally I realize I forgot a plug adapter only after I reach the hotel.

Fitness Centers: Use the lobby for fresh fruit, towels and water to avoid the need of locating a larger fitness center space. Keep some portable exercise equipment on site for guest room rental use.

STR Global and STR US chain scale segmenting places Crown Plaza in the upscale market segment. Brands like Hilton Garden Inn, Hyatt Place, Four Points and Courtyard are in this market segment. Personally I have always thought of Crowne Plaza as more of an upper upscale hotel brand, but apparently I have not been staying in the typical Crowne Plaza.

Source: IHG means business with Crowne Plaza refresh – hotelnewsnow.com Oct 29, 2012

The Hamilton Crowne Plaza, Washington D.C. – I recall the wifi here was unbearably slow and I had a difficult time blogging from the room.

Rooftop pool at Avenue Crowne Plaza Chicago has great views.

Ric Garrido, writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. You can follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.

InterContinental Hotels Group offers 2-for-1 rates in China for stays through March 31, 2013 on bookings made from Tuesday, October 16 to Monday, October 22. This offer targets 38 new hotels in China.

• Booking period: 16 to 22 October 2012
• Stay period: 16 October 2012 to 31 March 2013
• IHG China 2-for-1 promotion link.

North China

• Holiday Inn Express Beijing Airport Zone
• Hotel Indigo Tianjin Haihe
• Crowne Plaza Tianjin Jinnan
• Holiday Inn Binhai Tianjin
• Crowne Plaza Tianjin Binhai
• Holiday Inn Shijiazhuang Central
• InterContinental Tangshan

Northeast China

• Holiday Inn Changbaishan Suites
• Holiday Inn Resort Changbaishan

Eastern China

• Crowne Plaza Shanghai Anting Golf
• Crowne Plaza Shanghai Harbour City
• Crowne Plaza Hefei
• Crowne Plaza Zhenjiang
• Crowne Plaza Hangzhou Xanadu Resort
• InterContinental One Thousand Island Lake Resort
• Holiday Inn Express Shanghai Jinsha
• Crowne Plaza Shanghai Xiayang Lake
• Holiday Inn Resort Chaohu Hot Spring
• Crowne Plaza Xuzhou Dalong Lake
• Holiday Inn Shaoxing
• Holiday Inn Shanghai Songjiang
• Crowne Plaza Huangshan Yucheng
• Holiday Inn Taicang City Centre
• InterContinental Wuxi
• Holiday Inn Nantong Oasis International

Southern China

• Crowne Plaza Zhongshan Wing On City
• Holiday Inn Resort Sanya Bay
• InterContinental Huizhou Resort
• Crowne Plaza Huizhou

Southwest China

• Holiday Inn Chengdu Oriental Plaza
• Holiday Inn Chengdu Xindu
• Crowne Plaza Chengdu Panda Garden
• InterContinental Heilong Lake
• InterContinental Sancha Lake
• Crowne Plaza Resort Xishuangbanna

Northwest China

• Crowne Plaza Xian
• Crowne Plaza Lanzhou
• Holiday Inn Yinchuan Int’l Trade Centre

Terms and Conditions

1. Must book and stay with “Buy One Get One Free” rate. Every booking can only apply to a 2-night stay that is priced at half of the best flexible rate. The second night room charge is not refundable in case of early departure.
2. Rates are available for booking from 0000hrs on 16 October to 2359hrs on 22 October 2012 (GMT+8) for qualified stay at participating InterContinental^®, Hotel Indigo^®, Crowne Plaza^®, Holiday Inn^® and Holiday Inn Express^® hotels from 16 October 2012 to 31 March 2013.
3. Reservations are subject to rate changes and room availability.
4. Rooms are not transferable.
5. Black-out dates may apply.
6. Other terms and conditions may apply.
7. Rates qualify for earning Priority Club^® Rewards points or airline miles. Subject to standard Priority Club Rewards Membership Terms and Conditions. For complete details, visit www.priorityclub.com. To join Priority Club Rewards today for free, click here.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

IHG 2-for-1 rates are generally based on the Best Flexible Rate (BAR) and not some inflated higher rate just for the promotion. I booked a 2-for-1 rate in Barcelona last month to reduce the room rate from 132EUR per night to 66 EUR per night. This is 50% off BAR when most discounts like prepaid, nonrefundable Advance Purchase or AAA rates discount up to 20% off BAR rate.

I assume the China 2-for-1 will offer the same kind of rate savings.

IHG 2-for-1 rate limited time offer October 16-22, 2012 for stays through March 31, 2013.

Ric Garrido, writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. You can follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.

Priority Club still continues to roll out a monthly list of 50% points discount for stays at Last Minute Reward Night hotels only for three nights on the first full weekend of each month.

October’s list is the fewest hotels yet with only 45 hotels globally and 23 in the USA.

You must book by Thursday October 4 to get the 50% points reward rate for any of three nights Friday-October 5, Saturday-October 6 or Sunday-October 7.

You need to use the geographic filters on the left side of the page to sensibly locate hotels. The website only orders the hotel choices by points or name without any geographic reference besides the city. Do you know where Holiday Inn Express Bedford is located? Read More…

[Update Aug 31: Raffles of HeadforPoints.com blog provided an updated IHG 2-for-1 link in the comments of this post. Long live the 2-for-1!

The analysis in this post  shows a 3-for-2 rate might not be that great a deal for your travels. My subsequent post of August 31 offers a new IHG 2-for-1 rate analysis for London and Barcelona.

Original post content continues below.]

Five years now I have been writing about a special IHG 2-for-1 rate for UK and other IHG hotels in Europe. A couple times a year I’d show how to stay in London for 2 to 8 nights on average rates around USD$100 per night for Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn hotels. Back in 2007 this rate offered the InterContinental Carlton Cannes for about $150 per night. The past few years this 2-for-1 offer was primarily Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn and HI Express.

In my last post on the IHG 2-for-1 rate about seven weeks ago I showed the London Holiday Inn Kensington Forum hotel had standard rooms available for the Olympics August 10-12 for USD$250 per night or an Executive room with lounge access for USD$295 per night (after 2-for-1 rate applied).

A Tower Suite at the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen was $340 per night using the 2-for-1 rate discount.

The T&C for this promotion stated it was available through August 31, 2012.

Yesterday, when I updated my Loyalty Traveler Hotel Promotions Guide, I noticed the IHG discount link has been updated and changed. The 2-for-1 option is no longer shown on the page. There is now only the 3-for-2 rate option. Read More…

IHG Priority Club offers members around the globe various targeted promotions. The primary global Priority Club promotion currently is double points or double miles from May 16-August 15, 2011.

The unique aspect of Priority Club is a member like me can register for many other targeted promotions and receive bonus points. The promotion code is all that is needed.

Where do I find these promotion codes?

Two places are great resources for finding Priority Club promotion codes easily.

PriorityClubInsider.com lists the major promotion offers for Priority Club and also includes links to discount hotel rates.

The FlyerTalk IC Master Promo Thread 2011 is an even more comprehensive resource for locating dozens of promotion codes that may or may not apply for your stays. This is a thread with 119 posts in 2011 where people list email offers and registration codes and the FlyerTalk moderator updates a master list every couple of weeks in the first post of the thread.

There are promotions for:

• the number of hotel stays you have in three months,
• free InterContinental Ambassador status with 3 InterContinental Hotel stays,
• 300 bonus points for completing a survey,
• Asia-Pacific region member sweepstakes for 480,000 Priority Club points,
• next stay bonuses,
• online booking bonuses.

My personal experience is most stays with Priority Club hotels earn 5,000 or more points when I would expect to earn only 1,000 to 2,000 points based on hotel rate and a primary global promotion like Double Points. These points add up big time for me, often approaching or even exceeding 50 points/$1, for several of my Priority Club stays each year.

Europe, Middle East and Africa hotel specific bonus points.

Asia Pacific Residents (excluding Japan) 480,000 Points Sweepstakes.

• Enter sweepstakes by registering for double points promotion before August 15, 2011 at this link. One entry into sweepstakes just for registration.
• Code 8560 – Grand prize of 480,000 points.
• Sweepstakes Terms.

Stay X Nights, Earn Y Bonus Points

Priority Club offers targeted quarterly bonuses for hotel nights. These codes are offers members received as an email promotion. While I personally do not recall ever receiving one of these targeted offers, my experience and anecdotal evidence from many other members indicate Priority Club members can sign up for one of these offers and receive the bonus points.

These stay X nights, Get Y Bonus Points offers only apply to the first offer the member registers among these and other codes.

Valid July 1 to September 30, 2011

Stay 3, Get 5,000 – Code 3567
Stay 4, Get 5,000 – Code 1555
Stay 7, Get 10,000 – Code 8564
Stay 8, Get 10,000 – Code 6565
Stay 10, Get 10,000 – Code 3568
Stay 12, Get 10,000 – Code 1563
Stay 15, Get 15,000 – Code 8565
Stay 18, Get 15,000 – Code 9549

Go for the best offer you think you can reach. I picked a 7 nights offer this past quarter and I am one night short for 10,000 points. I don’t need a hotel night by June 30 and the cost of a hotel night is not worth 10,000 bonus points to me. I should have signed up for Stay 3 nights, get 5,000 points which I completed in May.

Tutorial on Registering for Multiple Priority Club Promotions

Here is a concise description of the registration process in this FlyerTalk post:

Points FAQ
Q: “How do I register for a promo?”
A: All promotions with a promo code can be reached through this link followed by typing in the promo code manually (or cut and pasting in your browser):
priorityclub.com/register

Q: “Can I register for all these promos?”
A: It’s up to each person to see if they are eligible for the various promotions and you should only register if you’re happy that it will not have any effect on your account. Basically if you have any doubts then either ask or don’t register.

Q: “Can I register more than one code?”
A: Yes – except for Stay “X” nights Get “X” Points/Miles

Q: “I’ve successfully registered but nothing is appearing in my offers?”
A-1) It sometimes takes a day or two for the offers to show up under your offers
A-2) Some of them will show up, but others will never show up
A-3) Some will post
A-4) Others will not post

Pool room at InterContinental Chicago

DiscoverAmerica.com Daily Getaways offer at 12 noon ET today April 27, 2011 is for sets of Priority Club points. A member may purchase up to 5 sets in each of the four offers for up to 20 total sets. It is possible to buy 500,000 points in this sale.

• 10,000 points for $67 ($60.30 if payment is American Express), 650 sets for sale. Maximum purchase is 5 sets per member.
• 25,000 points for $167 ($150.30 if payment is American Express), 120 sets for sale. Maximum purchase is 5 sets per member.
• 25,000 points for $167 ($150.30 if payment is American Express), 420 sets for sale. Maximum purchase is 5 sets per member. (There are two separate sales for sets of 25,000 points).
• 40,000 points = $267 ($240.30 if payment is American Express), 300 sets for sale. Maximum purchase is 5 sets per member.

There are two good reasons for making a Priority Club points purchase today.

1. Purchased points from this sale count for elite status. Priority Club requires 20,000 points earned in a calendar year for Gold elite or 60,000 points for Platinum elite. These points purchases from DiscoverAmerica count for elite qualification, whereas points purchased through Points & Cash rewards do not count for elite qualification. You can buy your way to Platinum elite for $361 with the purchase of 60,000 points today.
2. If you do not have any Priority Club points, then a purchase today puts you in play for taking advantage of Points & Cash reward nights where the price of a reward is discounted by 10,000 points for $60. All hotels are available for Points & Cash rewards. Crowne Plaza hotels cost 25,000 points per night. Points & Cash takes 15,000 points + $60. Purchasing points for $60 per 10,000 points through this DiscoverAmerica sale drops the price of a Crowne Plaza hotel to $150 to pay with points. Any Crowne Plaza hotel night more than $150 will be cheaper to pay with points.

InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club Rewards hotel brand reward nights:

InterContinental Hotels = 40,000 points (high tier) or 30,000 points per night (low tier). There are slightly more hotels at the 30,000 points level.

Crowne Plaza and Hotel Indigo= 25,000 points per night.

Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express = 10,000 points or 15,000 points or 25,000 points. Most hotels are in the 15,000 points tier. About 200 of 3,000 hotels globally are in the 10,000 points tier.

Staybridge Suites = 20,000 points per night.

Candlewood Suites = 15,000 points per night.

Holiday Inn Club Vacations = 27,500 per night.

Another way to buy Priority Club points at a discount

Buying Priority Club points at $60 is a fair market value, but not necessarily a deep discount. Priority Club members can actually buy 10,000 points for $60 through Points & Cash reward nights by making a booking for a hotel, buying 10,000 points and later canceling the booking before the stay.

The way Points & Cash rewards are structured requires the member to buy either 5,000 or 10,000 points prior to booking the reward night. 5,000 points cost $40 or 10,000 points cost $60. The points purchased are added to your Priority Club account instantly. The points purchase is nonrefundable so if you end up canceling the reward night the points remain in your account.

There really seems to be no limit to making points purchases through this method. The primary reason the DiscoverAmerica.com sale is better is points purchased through the sale count for elite qualification. But that is irrelevant if you already have Priority Club Platinum elite status and plan to requalify in 2011 anyway.

DiscoverAmerica.com Daily Getaways has travel sales every weekday through May 13. Here is the calendar for upcoming sales.