Stay 3 Nights, Get 10 Nights Free With IHG

Obtaining frequent flyer miles and hotel points from credit card offers has a tendency to dominate the discussion on our blog, simply because it tends to be the easiest, quickest way to get them, but in today’s post I want to tell you about an opportunity to earn a stack of hotel points that could get you as many as 10 nights in hotels, simply by meeting the terms of a promotion which may only require you to stay 3 nights.

Intercontinental Hotels Group wants your loyalty, as do all hotel loyalty programs – that’s why they’re created.  And if they’re willing to reward your commitment to them, then by all means, take advantage of it. In this case, to launch 2015, they’ve created a promotion that’s targeted specifically at their members.  It varies by if and how much you’ve already participated in their program, but for the sake of ease, I’m going to assume that you’ve not even registered.

The first step is simply to create a membership with the IHG Rewards Club by giving them your name, email, and physical address at this link.  By so doing, you register for this promotion and commit to nothing more than receiving promotional mail from them.

Once you’ve registered, they’ll create a list of offers for you that will probably look something like this:

This, quite simply, is your roadmap to 50k IHG points, and it’s remarkably simple.  In this case, it asks you to do 5 things, each of which has a specific bonus points value. These do not have to be performed in any particular order, but they do need to be completed by April 30th.

1. Download the app. Well that was easy!
2. Stay a total of 3 nights.
3. Book 2 stays directly on IHG (or with the app).
4. Stay over a weekend.
5. Stay at 2 Holiday Inn hotels.

This sounds like a lot, but you could achieve this in 3 paid nights over 2 separate stays by doing it just like this:

1. Download the app and book a weekend stay at a Holiday Inn (2 nights ~$220).
2. Book (directly) another stay at another Holiday Inn.

Those two simple things could get you well on your way to an epic almost-free vacation.

Just to give you some ideas, you could book a short romantic weekend over Valentines Day and book the second near a ski resort for a quick getaway. Or you could take advantage of a business trip you already plan to take and use IHG in lieu of Marriott or Hilton, or wherever else you usually stay. I’m not against manufacturing some short little vacations in order to build up for a big one.  Keep in mind that you’ll also get your standard points for these stays so you’ll probably end up with even more than the 50k points.

But what does 50k points get you?

Ahh yes, this is where it gets exciting.   If you take a look at the category chart, you’ll see that there’s a possibility you could use all 50k points in a single night, and that may be fun, but we’re not going to tell you to do that.

Our niche has always been to help you maximize the points you have – how to get the most bang for your points-buck.  Nowhere in the land of almost-free travel is there more value than in the IHG PointBreaks that are offered every quarter.  This is a special offer that comes out, allowing you to book a specific list of hotels for only 5k points/night. The most recently released list has an abundance of amazing places you could use your 50k points to book as many as 10 nights or break them up and stay 5 nights in 2 different locations.  While you may not have your points in time to take advantage of the opportunities on this quarter’s list, here are just a few sample ideas for you:

• InterContinental The Palace Port Ghalib Resort (Egypt): This resort property in Egypt is a destination unto itself, to say nothing of the beautiful beach, scuba diving, desert safaris, emerald mines, and Egyptian temples.
• Crowne Plaza Liège (Belgium): This is an amazing town that hosts the oldest Christmas Village in Belgium and again, the hotel is an incredible property.
•  Holiday Inn Express Washington DC – BW Parkway: You like this idea because you’re cheap, right? Well nowhere are there more free museums than in DC.  It’s a great place to spend some time.

There are so many more opportunities beyond just these – historical sites, beach destinations, exotic getaways – the sky is the limit.  Take a look at the list and tell us which destinations appeal to you.