3. What happens to members’ Qualified Nights stayed from January 1, 2022 until now? Do they count towards Elite status and/or Milestone Rewards?
Yes, all Qualified Nights stayed from January 1, 2022 will count towards Elite status in 2023. They will also count towards Milestone Reward achievement in 2022.
4. What constitutes an Elite Qualifying Night?
This includes nights stayed on loyalty Qualifying Rates, Reward Nights and Free Nights.
5. What constitutes a loyalty Qualifying Rate?
Qualifying Rates include Reward Nights/Free Nights and most business and leisure rates, such as Advance Saver rates, Best Flexible rates, Global Sales negotiated rates (including but not limited to Corporate Gold rates), national/regional/local government rates, and specified leisure rates as confirmed by IHG’s reservation systems. In Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Greater China (Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan), Qualifying Rates include all locally negotiated rates.
Please see the program Terms and Conditions for details.
Note: In Greater China, Qualifying Rates also include all corporate negotiated rates settled with hotels via regular payment. In all other parts of the world, locally negotiated rates are classed as Qualifying Rates if the rate is discounted less than 30%.
6. Will a member’s status change to a lower tier if they haven’t achieved the new nights threshold? For example, will any members who are currently Gold Elite be downgraded to Silver Elite if they do not meet the new Gold Elite criteria?
No, all 2021 Elite statuses were extended through 2022. If you were a Gold Elite, Platinum Elite or Spire (now Diamond) Elite member as of December 31, 2021, your status will not be downgraded in 2022. Additionally, if you have already achieved the 2021 reduced tier criteria for Gold Elite, Platinum Elite, or Spire (now Diamond) Elite before April 13, 2022, you will keep at least that status through December 2023. However, beginning April 13, 2022, to achieve a higher Elite tier, a member must meet the new Qualified Nights or Points threshold for the relevant tier based on activity between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022. Otherwise, their status will be downgraded after December 2023.
7. A member’s status was gifted or earned during a promotion – what will happen to their status in 2022?
All Elite statuses, including those gifted and earned during promotions, have been extended through February 2023.
Elite Tier Bonus Earn
1. How is Elite tier bonus earn calculated?
Elite tier bonus earn is the points Elite members earn, over and above the base points earned for each dollar spent, based on their status. Elite members receive an additional bonus based on their tier status, which is 20% for Silver Elite, 40% for Gold Elite, 60% for Platinum Elite, and 100% for Diamond Elite. These bonus points are calculated against the points earned on Qualifying Stays, and the percentage earned is determined by Elite tier. For example, a Silver Elite member earns 20% bonus points on all Qualified Stays. This means if a Silver Elite member completes a stay that qualifies for 10,000 IHG One Rewards points, they will earn an additional 2,000 Elite Tier Bonus points on the same stay, bringing their total point earn to 12,000 for their stay.
2. Do IHG One Rewards promotions qualify for Elite Tier Bonus Earn and/or Elite status?
Unless otherwise stated in a promotion’s terms and conditions, points earned as part of a promotion do not count towards Elite status.
3. Is IHG’s Points Expiration policy changing?
As a key benefit of our program, points never expire for Elite members (now Silver Elite, Gold Elite, Platinum Elite and Diamond Elite). Points expire for Club members after 12 months of inactivity.
Member Benefits
1. Are there new benefits associated with the new and improved loyalty program?
Yes – in addition to the new tier structure, we are introducing the following additional benefits, available beginning in early June:
- Free Breakfast as a Welcome Amenity choice at Check-In for Diamond Elite members (subject to certain restrictions)
- Dedicated Diamond Support for Diamond Elite members
- Exclusive Access to Reward Night Discount Promotions for Platinum Elite and Diamond Elite members
- Early Check-In now offered to Platinum Elite members (subject to availability), in addition to Diamond Elite members
- Elite Rollover Nights now offered to Gold Elite members, in addition to Platinum Elite and Diamond Elite members
- Expanded Late Check-Out for all tiers (subject to availability)
- Milestone Rewards for Elite members, starting at 20 nights (additional details below)
More information on benefits can be found here.
2. When will the new and improved benefits be available to members?
Members will start receiving the new and improved benefits beginning on June 8, 2022.
3. Diamond Elite members can now choose Free Breakfast as their Welcome Amenity at Check-in. What does this include? How does it work?
As part of the Welcome Amenity choice at Check-In, beginning June 8, Diamond Elite members1 can have the additional choice of a free daily hot breakfast for the member and one registered guest. For example, at a participating property that has a full-service restaurant, a Diamond Elite member and their registered guest would each receive a choice of one main menu item with unlimited non-alcoholic beverages OR full buffet with unlimited non-alcoholic beverages. Hotels reserve the right to exclude certain menu items, such as alcoholic beverages or specialty coffee, from the free breakfast benefit.
This benefit is available at all IHG brands, except limited-service brands that already offer breakfast, and at Candlewood Suites, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, InterContinental Alliance Resorts (Las Vegas and Macau) , Six Senses and Mr. and Mrs. Smith properties. Note there is not a capped dollar value associated with the menu item..
4. What does Dedicated Diamond Support mean?
Beginning June 8, Diamond Elite members will have access to a dedicated support line to connect with agents who can assist with their travel needs. Diamond Elite members can access the dedicated support line by logging into their account management page on the IHG app or website.
5. If a member is a Diamond Ambassador, which dedicated line should they use?
Diamond Elite members, including Diamond Ambassadors, should use the Diamond Elite dedicated line for all IHG One Rewards questions.
6. What are Reward Night Discounts?
Platinum Elite and Diamond Elite members can stretch their points further with exclusive access to discount promotions on Reward Nights, or nights they book with IHG One Rewards points, subject to eligibility.
7. How have the Early Check-In and Late Check-Out benefits changed?
Beginning June 8, if Platinum Elite and Diamond Elite members request an Early Check-In, hotels will do their best to have the rooms ready, subject to availability. And all members will be able to request Late Check-Out up to 2 p.m., also subject to availability.
8. What are Elite Rollover Nights?
Elite Rollover Nights are a way for our Gold Elite, Platinum Elite and Diamond Elite members to earn Elite status faster. Platinum Elite, Diamond Elite and now Gold Elite members can earn status faster by rolling extra Qualifying Nights over to the next year.
For example, if a Silver Elite member stays 25 Qualifying Nights in 2022, they will earn Gold Elite status for the 2023 calendar year. However, Gold Elite status only requires 20 Qualified Nights, so the additional 5 nights that the member stayed over and above the Gold Elite qualification, will be rolled over in their account and count towards their progress to the next Elite tier in 2023.
9. How does a hotel determine if Late Check-Out is available?
Our hotels will do their best to accommodate requests for Late Check-Outs, however Late Check-Out availability does depend on available rooms and housekeeping resources, so extending Check-Out may not always be possible.
10. When will the new and improved Elite tier benefits be available to members?
The new and improved Elite tier benefits will be available starting June 8.
11. Are any current benefits going away as part of the loyalty program changes?
Beginning June 8, Gold Elite members will no longer receive a Welcome Amenity choice at Check-In. The Welcome Amenity choice
for Gold Elite members will be replaced with other benefits such as:
- Enhanced point earn opportunities, e.g. 40% Bonus Point earn on all Qualified Stays, an increase from the previous point earn of 10%
- Access to the Elite Rollover Nights benefit
- Access to Milestone Rewards starting at 20 nights stayed As of April 13, 2022, members no longer receive an Exclusive Spire Choice Benefit upon reaching Spire (now Diamond) Elite status. However, all members can now choose rewards that matter most to them via our new Milestone Rewards benefit choices.
12. Can members gift their IHG One Rewards benefits to someone else?
No, all benefits are non-transferrable.
13. Has IHG seen any changes for members as a result of Dynamic Reward Night pricing?
Since the launch of Dynamic Reward Night pricing, on average the points required to book IHG hotels has decreased by 15%.
14. How do InterContinental Ambassador, Royal Ambassador, Kimpton Inner Circle and Business Rewards fit in?
While we aren’t currently announcing any changes to Business Rewards, InterContinental Ambassador, Royal Ambassador or Kimpton Inner Circle, we made sure to incorporate benefits that appeal to our Luxury hotel guests and business travelers into the IHG One Rewards program and will continue to build upon this with future enhancements.
Milestone Rewards
1. What are Milestone Rewards?
Starting June 8, Milestone Rewards will offer a new way for members to choose rewards that matter most to them. Members will be able to make a Milestone Reward benefit choice every 10 Qualifying Nights, starting at 20 Qualifying Nights, according to the following chart:
