Ranked as one of the best hotel loyalty programs in the industry, the IHG® Rewards Club features four membership tiers and allows participants to earn points on all hotel bookings. These earnings can be redeemed for a number of options including Reward Nights, merchandise and gift cards, exclusive experiences, airline miles, and more.
Membership within the program turns each hotel booking into a rewarding experience. As host to a number of well-known names in the hotel industry that range from affordable to extravagant, the IHG® Rewards Club is an accessible loyalty program that can appeal to travelers of all types and budgets.
In addition to earning points towards complimentary hotel stay (available for as little as 5,000 points), IHG Rewards Club members can earn their way to advancing to higher membership ranks and unlocking additional luxurious hotel amenities with every status level.
InterContinental Hotels & Resorts Portfolio
IHG® Hotels & Resorts has 14 brands, which feature over 5,600 IHG® properties located worldwide that range from budget-friendly to upscale luxury.
- Regent® Hotels and Resorts
- Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts
- Kimpton® Hotels & Restaurants
- Hotel Indigo®
- Even® Hotels
- Hualuxe® Hotels and Resorts
- Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts
- voco®
- Holiday Inn®
- Holiday Inn Express®
- Holiday Inn Resort®
- Holiday Inn Club Vacations®
- avid® Hotels
- Staybridge Suites®
- Candlewood Suites®
How to Earn IHG Rewards Points:
Booking Hotel Reservations
Hotel bookings with all but two IHG® properties will yield a base of 10 points per dollar – amounts may increase depending on membership levels. Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites® are the exceptions and will instead earn 5 points per dollar. Increased earnings are possible depending on the level of membership within the IHG® Rewards Club.
IHG® Credit Cards
Cardholders can use the IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card or the IHG® Rewards Club Traveler Credit Card to expedite point earning opportunities. In addition to providing up to 40X points per dollar spent on hotel stay, cardholders can earn IHG points through everyday purchases with 2X points on gas, groceries, and restaurants, and 1X point for everything else.
Dining at Participating Restaurants
Earn up to 8X points per dollar spent on dining at eligible restaurants, including tax and tip.
A free program that’s open to all, the IHG® dining program awards points to those who dine at any of their 10,000 participating restaurants, cafes, bars, and clubs.
Joining the IHG® Rewards Club Dining program is simple and straightforward. You will be required to link at least one credit or debit card to your account, which you must use to pay for dining out in order to receive bonus points when dining at a participating establishment.
New members can earn up to 1,000 Rewards Club bonus points by spending $30 or more at any participating restaurant within 30 days of signing up and completing an online review on their dining experience.
Purchases at Apple.Com
Earn 4X points per dollar spent on a purchase of a Mac or iPad by shopping through IHG® Rewards Club. To take advantage of this partner offer, visit the signup page and register using the same email address associated with your IHG® Rewards Club account. Earnings from qualified purchases will be added to accounts within 30 days.
Surveys
Earn 1,000 IHG® Rewards Club points after registering and completing your first online consumer survey with Opinion Check-In. Afterwards, receive points for every completed survey (individual survey rewards amounts may vary).
Car Rentals
Earn 1,500 or more IHG® Rewards Club points when booking a rental car through the IHG portal. IHG Rewards Club members can enjoy up to 35% in savings on base rental rates in addition to bonus points per day.
Club members renting a Hertz vehicle will receive 125 points per day while Elite members will receive 500 points per day. Dollar and Thrifty car rentals will earn members a flat rate of 125 points per day, regardless of membership level.
Opt-Out of Housekeeping Services
Earn 500 points (maximum) by declining housekeeping at select hotels. Requires a minimum of 2 consecutive nights stays, look for hotels with “A Greener Stay” option.
Redeeming IHG® Rewards Club Points:
Complimentary Hotel Stay
Redeeming points for Reward Nights are easily the most worthwhile method of point redemption within the IHG® Rewards Club. Points can be used for complimentary hotel stay for as little as 10,000 points and used for booking reservations at any of IHG’s thousands of properties. IHG also features PointBreaks at select locations that can be reserved for as little 5,000 points.
Specific point redemption amounts will vary by hotel property (you can look up the specific rates here) and require advanced reservations. All reservations are subject to room availability, but points can be redeemed with no restrictions of blackout dates.
Points & Cash
An alternative point redemption method for hotel stay, IHG Rewards members can use points for partial payment of a hotel booking. This is useful for those who don’t have enough points to cover an entire booking, or for those who want to stretch their points as much as possible. Requires a minimum of 5,000 points to redeem.
Member Exclusive Experiences
Known as IHG® Rewards Club Access, members can bid on unique, members-only experiences that range from vacations, lifestyle, and entertainment. Opening bid amounts may vary, but typically require bid increments of 1,000. Not for the easily discouraged, bidding wars can cause costs to go into the hundreds of thousands (in points).
Online Catalog
IHG offers an online portal where rewards club members can redeem their points for numerous items and ranges in cost from 5,000 points to over 1 million points:
- Merchandise
- Gift Cards
- Magazine Subscriptions
While there is an impressively wide range of merchandise available for redemption, points have half the value compared to when they are redeemed for hotel stay – making this a less than lucrative redemption method for IHG Reward Club members.
Gift or Transfer Points
Points can be given to other rewards members starting at a 1,000-point minimum. Useful for helping loved ones achieve redemption minimums or to pay for lodging of those accompanying your travels.
Donate to Charity
Use points to donate between 2,500 – 10,000 points to five charitable establishments: Goodwill, the American Red Cross, The Prince’s Trust Donation, Youth Career Initiative, and CARE International UK Donation. Unfortunately, such generosity is not tax-deductible. These options can also be found via the IHG online catalog.
Exchange for Airline Miles
IHG® has 39 airline partners and includes all major U.S. airlines. Redemption rates will vary, but the majority of IHG airline partners require a minimum of 10,000 points for 2,000 miles. Redemption cannot be done online and requires contacting IHG® Rewards Club Customer Care. After crunching the numbers, this method of redemption seems to be extremely costly compared to purchasing miles directly with the respective airline.
| Airline Partner |
IHG Rewards Points Minimum |
Airline Miles/Points |
| Aeromexico |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Aeroplan |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Air China |
10,000 points |
2,000 kilometers |
| Air France |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| AIR MILES® reward miles |
10,000 points |
250 miles |
| Air New Zealand Airpoints |
10,000 points |
25 Airpoints |
| Alaska Airlines |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Alitalia MilleMiglia |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| All Nippon Airways |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| American Airlines AAdvantage® |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Asia Miles |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Asiana Airlines |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| British Airways |
10,000 points |
2,000 Avios |
| China Eastern |
10,000 points |
2,000 kilometers |
| China Southern Airlines |
10,000 points |
2,000 kilometers |
| Delta SkyMiles |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| El Al Israel Airlines |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Emirates |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Etihad Airways |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Gulf Air |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Hainan Airlines |
10,000 points |
2,000 kilometers |
| Hawaiian Airlines |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Iberia Airlines |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Japan Airlines |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Jet Airways |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| JetBlue TrueBlue |
10,000 points |
2,000 points |
| KLM |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Lanchile |
10,000 points |
2,000 kilometers |
| LifeMiles |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Malaysia Airlines |
10,000 points |
1,500 miles |
| Qantas Airlines |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Saudi Arabian Airlines |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Singapore Airlines |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| South African Airways |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| TAP Air Portugal |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| United Airlines |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Virgin Atlantic |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
| Velocity Frequent Flyer |
10,000 points |
2,000 miles |
IHG® Rewards Club Membership Tiers
There are four levels of membership with the IHG Rewards Club program, in addition to an ‘Ambassador’ status that can be purchased for a flat-rate fee. Moving into the higher tiers of membership will require meeting either a certain level of Qualified Nights or Elite Qualifying Points. Each advancement within the IHG Rewards Club results in an increase of hotel perks, bonus earning rates, and special hotel privileges.
Club Member
The starting level for new IHG Rewards Club members offers new members the most basic of privileges:
- Welcome Amenity
- Raid the Bar (credit to use towards the restaurant bar or in-room mini-bar, only available at Kimpton Hotels)
- Points no longer expire (must maintain Elite status)
- 1 Free Amazon Kindle eBook per Quarter
Platinum Elite Member
Qualifying requires 40 Qualified Nights or 40,000 Elite Qualifying Points and offers all the amenities of Gold Elite status in addition to:
- 50% Bonus Earnings on Top of Base Points (earn 15 points per dollar instead of 10)
- Complimentary Room Upgrades
- Guaranteed Room Availability (requires 72 hours advance notice, not valid for Reward Nights)
- Elite Rollover Nights
- 2 Free Amazon Kindle eBooks per Quarter
Spire Elite Member
The highest tier of IHG Rewards Club membership requires 75 Qualified Nights or 75,000 Qualifying Points. This membership includes the amenities of the previous tier in addition to:
- 100% Bonus Earnings on Top of Base Points (earn 20 points per dollar instead of 10)
- Choice of benefits (Receive 25,000 IHG points or gif IHG Platinum status to a friend/family member)
- Complimentary Night Stay at New Kimpton Hotels (view list here)
- Exclusive access to Kimpton’s CEO (only available at Kimpton properties)
- Hertz Gold Plus Rewards® Five Star® Status
- Early Check-In (10 am)
- Inner Circle Amenity (personalized welcome of favorite drink and snack delivered to your room each day – only available at Kimpton properties)
- Complimentary Chef’s Taste (during Dinner hours only)
- 3 Free Amazon Kindle eBooks per Quarter
InterContinental® Ambassador
A loyalty status that does not follow the track of the other IHG membership levels. Instead, it can be purchased for a flat rate of $200 USD and provides extra perks specifically for stay at InterContinental hotels and resorts.
- Guaranteed room upgrade
- Extended 4 PM check-out
- Complimentary weekend night
- $20 credit for restaurants and bars per stay
- Complimentary mineral water
- Complimentary internet
- Platinum Elite Status in IHG Rewards Club
Those who frequently travel to China, in particular, will find this status even more rewarding as InterContinental Ambassador status includes perks only applicable to stays in Greater China.
- Complimentary breakfast for one, for every night of your stay (Mainland China, only)
- 15% discount at restaurants and bars (excludes minibar)
- RMB120 credit for restaurants and bars (Spire Elite members only)
- Welcome fruit platter
How to Become an Elite IHG Rewards Club Member
Members can advance to the higher rankings within the IHG Rewards Club by either meeting specific tier requirements of a hotel stay or through certain IHG products offers which provide automatic Elite status (Ambassador of by owning an IHG credit card).
When it comes to earning Elite status through account activity, IHG Rewards Club Members have two options: accumulating the necessary Elite Qualifying Points or Elite Qualifying Nights –which varies depending on the specific membership level. Once earned, Elite Status lasts until the end of the following calendar year.
What Are Elite Qualifying Points?
Elite Qualifying Points and are used to qualify IHG Rewards Club members for higher membership tiers and can be earned through various types of IHG account activity. Unlike Elite Qualifying Nights, points that exceed the needed amount to upgrade to the next higher tier do not roll over and will not count towards maintaining Elite status the following year.
How to Earn Elite Qualifying Points
The most common way to earn Elite qualifying points will be from booking hotel stay directly through IHG – any hotel reservations made through a third-party site will not earn points towards Elite status. Elite Qualifying Points are earned at the base rate of 10X points per dollar spent, regardless of the multiplier that your current membership level denotes.
What Are Elite Qualifying Nights?
Elite Qualifying Nights are hotel bookings made directly through IHG that contribute towards meeting the necessary requirement to be upgraded to a higher membership tier or towards maintaining one’s current elite status.
Earning Elite Qualifying Nights
Elite Qualifying Nights can only be earned with bookings made directly through IHG. Additionally: Reward Nights, complimentary reservations, and Chase Free Nights are ineligible.
Elite Rollover Nights
While there are more opportunities to earn Elite Qualifying Points, Elite Qualifying Nights have the advantage where they can be rolled over to the next year in order to maintain current membership status. Elite Rollover Nights are only available those of Platinum of Spire Elite status.
If within the calendar year you earn more than the minimum number of nights for your membership tier, but fewer than the number of nights needed to advance to the next tier, any leftover amounts will automatically be applied to maintaining your current membership status.
For example: Say you are a Platinum Elite member which requires 40 Elite Qualifying Nights of eligible hotel stay. Moving to the next tier, Spire Elite requires 75 Elite Qualifying Nights. If you were to only earn 60 Elite Qualifying Nights before the end of the year, 20 of those Nights would instead, be applied towards maintaining your Platinum Elite status for the following year and you would need to book an additional 20 nights to maintain your Platinum Elite status.
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