IHG Rewards Accelerate Promo Offers Bonus Points and Free Nights

On the heels of both Hilton and Marriott announcing their fall 2015 promos last week, IHG has just released details of its own fall points promotion. IHG's is called Accelerate, and is in effect for stays from September 15-December 31, 2015.

As with many IHG Rewards promos, each member gets a targeted offer based on his or her profile, with a variety of stays and activities earning various bonuses. To see your own offer, you must sign in and register here.

Don't worry if you're new to IHG Rewards, because new members who sign up for an account and register can earn up to two free nights: one after completing two stays, and another after an additional two stays. (In fact, that offer is better than what some existing members have reported, so new members might be in the position to benefit most of all from this promo!)

After polling members of the TPG team, three of us received the following offers:

The first offer is for 58,000 points:

• 5,000 for one September stay
• 5,000 for one stay
• 6,000 for staying three nights
• 3,000 nights for staying six nights
• 3,000 for staying nine nights
• 3,000 for staying 12 nights
• 3,000 for staying 15 nights
• 30,000 for staying 18 nights

In this case, you're basically earning 1,000 bonus points per night for three-night stays until you hit that magic 18-night number.

The second offer comes with a potential haul of 58,800 points:

• 5,000 for one September stay
• 5,000 for one stay
• 6,800 for staying five nights
• 3,000 nights for staying eight nights
• 3,000 for staying 11 nights
• 3,000 for staying 14 nights
• 3,000 for staying 17 nights
• 30,000 for staying 20 nights

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And the third offer is for just 50,000 points:

• 1,000 for one stay
• 6,800 for five nights
• 2,000 for booking a Bonus Points Package
• 5,000 for a two-night minimum stay at The Venetian or The Palazzo
• 1,500 for booking and paying for a stay with your IHG Rewards Club Credit Card
• 33,700 points for completing the Las Vegas and IHG Rewards Club Credit Card steps.

What's a little strange here is that the TPG team member with the most IHG Rewards activity (and bonus offers most closely aligned with his recent stay activity) was actually offered the fewest points with offer #3. So IHG doesn't seem to be rewarding its most loyal customers any better than those who just happen to be members. The contrast is even more stark with that new-member bonus, since the most any of our team was offered is 58,800 points, but two outright free nights can be worth as much as 100,000 points.

There are a few points worth noting in the terms & conditions. First, in order to earn these bonuses, you must be staying on qualifying (i.e., published and paid) rates that would regularly earn IHG Rewards points, so no friends & family, travel club, crew or other discount rates. You must also complete your stays by December 31st, so a that extends into January won't count. Only one room per member is eligible per qualifying stay. No retroactive bonuses will be awarded for stays prior to registration, so be sure to register now and avoid worrying about it later.

As with most IHG Rewards Club promos that are structured like this one, its value depends on the specific offer you receive. Some of the stay requirements on the offers listed above are pretty steep for your average leisure traveler, and keeping track of the specific hoops you have to jump through to earn these bonuses is also more of a pain than a straightforward promo like Hilton's double/triple points.

Still, if you have IHG stays coming up, or are interested in signing up for IHG Rewards and potentially earning those two free nights for just four stays, this could be a lucrative promo for you.

What promotional bonus offers did you get? Share the details of your offers below!
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