In 2022, IHG launched its new IHG One Rewards program. One compelling side of this program is the flexibility to earn IHG Milestone Rewards for each 10 nights you keep, beginning at simply 20 nights in a calendar 12 months.
You’ll be able to earn bonus factors, meals and beverage rewards, confirmable suite upgrades and even an annual lounge membership as Milestone Rewards. Here is what it’s worthwhile to find out about IHG Milestone Rewards.
What are IHG Milestone Rewards?
IHG Milestone Rewards are perks you earn every calendar 12 months based mostly on the nights you stick with IHG. Particularly, you will earn Milestone Rewards each 10 nights, beginning at simply 20 nights and going by means of 100 nights. Any nights which are elite qualifying, together with award nights, will depend. Nonetheless, rollover nights from the earlier calendar 12 months do not depend towards incomes IHG Milestone Rewards.
Listed below are the IHG Milestone Rewards you possibly can earn as you hit the next milestones every calendar 12 months (you possibly can select one at every stage besides at 40 and 70 nights, which get two):
- 20 nights: 5,000 bonus factors, two $20 meals and beverage rewards or one confirmable suite improve
- 30 nights: 5,000 bonus factors or two $20 meals and beverage rewards
- 40 nights (select two): 10,000 bonus factors, 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards, one confirmable suite improve (restrict one) or one annual lounge membership (restrict one)
- 50 nights: 10,000 bonus factors or 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards
- 60 nights: 10,000 bonus factors or 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards
- 70 nights (select two): 10,000 bonus factors, 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards, two confirmable suite upgrades (restrict one) or one annual lounge membership (restrict one)
- 80 nights: 10,000 bonus factors or 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards
- 90 nights: 10,000 bonus factors or 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards
- 100 nights: 10,000 bonus factors or 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards
You may be questioning what a few of these Milestone Rewards entail. If that’s the case, this is a have a look at the main points of every IHG Milestone Rewards choice based mostly on the IHG member phrases and situations.
Associated: The award traveler’s information to IHG One Rewards
Bonus factors
Bonus factors are a simple reward choice that you would be able to choose at every stage. If you happen to select bonus factors, IHG will deposit the factors into your account. Primarily based on TPG’s valuations, 5,000 IHG One Rewards factors are value $25, and 10,000 IHG One Rewards factors are value $50.
Associated: 7 methods to earn extra IHG One Rewards factors in your subsequent redemption
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Meals and beverage rewards
Much like bonus factors, you possibly can select meals and beverage rewards at every milestone. Every meals and beverage award voucher is value as much as $20.
As soon as you choose meals and beverage rewards at a milestone, you possibly can redeem these rewards in opposition to meals and beverage expenses throughout a keep. Nonetheless, you possibly can’t use meals and beverage rewards for:
- Merchandising machines
- Third-party meals deliveries (corresponding to Uber Eats)
- Eating places that don’t permit expenses to a visitor room invoice
- Reward retailers
- Taxes on minibar expenses
- Stays as a part of a bunch, bundle tour or conference the place a 3rd occasion is paying
You’ll be able to redeem meals and beverage rewards in any respect IHG manufacturers besides Vacation Inn Membership Holidays and IHG Military Lodges. You can also’t use meals and beverage rewards throughout stays at Iberostar Beachfront Resorts, Mr & Mrs Smith properties and InterContinental Alliance Resorts in Las Vegas and Macao.
Most properties can help you redeem vouchers to cowl gratuities on meals and beverage transactions. Know, although, that you would be able to solely use every voucher as soon as, so make sure your meals and beverage expenses are larger than the worth of the meals and beverage vouchers. You may earn IHG factors in your meals and beverage steadiness after vouchers are utilized.
Your meals and beverage vouchers will expire 12 months after you choose them as a Milestone Reward. Lastly, observe that meals and beverage rewards aren’t transferable, so you possibly can solely apply them to your room invoice.
Associated: How you can earn and redeem IHG meals and beverage rewards
Confirmable suite improve
You’ll be able to select one confirmable suite improve after staying 20 and 40 nights in a calendar 12 months. Moreover, you possibly can select two confirmable suite upgrades after staying 70 nights in a calendar 12 months. Though you possibly can select two rewards after staying 40 and 70 nights in a calendar 12 months, you possibly can solely choose confirmable suite upgrades as soon as at every milestone.
You’ll be able to apply a confirmable suite improve to most immediately booked charges, together with reward nights and choose company and bundle charges. Nonetheless, you possibly can’t use a confirmable suite improve for those who booked one of many following:
- Group charges, bundle excursions or conference stays the place a 3rd occasion is paying
- Stays utilizing an IHG free evening certificates or InterContinental Ambassador complimentary weekend evening (IHG plans to ultimately make these stays eligible)
- Non-qualified charges (corresponding to wholesale charges and people booked by means of on-line journey companies)
- Worker charges
- Pay as you go charges for which a deposit is already utilized
- Some hotel-defined packages
- Stays by means of https://www.anaihghotels.co.jp/ or Japan resorts’ impartial websites
You should use a confirmable suite improve to improve one room to an entry-level suite (or a premium room if a set is not out there) on a keep of as much as 5 nights. You will need to contact IHG buyer care between 14 days and 24 hours earlier than check-in to use a set improve to a reservation. Nonetheless, observe that suite stock is unavailable at some properties and restricted at others.
Suppose you cancel your keep after making use of a confirmable suite improve to your reservation. In that case, IHG will redeposit your improve into your rewards pockets for those who cancel earlier than the time-frame outlined by the resort’s cancellation coverage.
Confirmable suite upgrades expire 12 months after being chosen by means of the IHG Milestone Rewards program. These upgrades are nontransferable and might solely be utilized to the member’s room. You should use confirmable suite upgrades at most IHG properties besides:
- Avid Lodges
- Atwell Suites
- IHG Military Lodges
- Vacation Inn Membership Holidays
- IHG Residences
- Mr & Mrs Smith properties
- InterContinental Alliance Resorts (Las Vegas and Macao)
- Iberostar Beachfront Resorts
Lastly, for those who use a confirmable suite improve to safe a membership room, you will not get club-level perks as a part of your improve. You can also’t stack a confirmable suite improve with a assured improve (such as you’d get with InterContinental Ambassador). Any improve above the room secured with a confirmable suite improve is on the resort’s discretion.
Associated: What bank card must you use for IHG stays?
Annual lounge membership
You’ll be able to choose an annual lounge membership on the 40-night or 70-night milestone. If you happen to accomplish that, you will get a lounge membership by means of the top of the present calendar 12 months, plus an extra 12 months. So, if you choose a lounge membership as a Milestone Reward in January, you will preserve it by means of the top of the next 12 months.
If in case you have a lounge membership, you and a visitor will get entry to the resort’s membership lounge and facilities inside the lounge when staying at IHG properties with a membership lounge. You have to be on a qualifying keep, though IHG’s member phrases and situations state that reward nights, free nights and stays booked by means of a web based journey company are eligible. Nonetheless, stays at Mr & Mrs Smith properties and InterContinental Alliance Resorts in Las Vegas and Macao aren’t eligible.
You may get entry throughout your keep or till checkout, although properties can prohibit your entry on account of “renovations, closures, or different facility limitations.” Moreover, lounge membership doesn’t get you membership lounge facilities or companies past the bodily lounge.
Associated: Every part it’s worthwhile to find out about IHG One Rewards’ annual lounge membership
Redeeming IHG Milestone Rewards
When you attain a milestone, IHG will ship you an e-mail. This e-mail will state the date by which you should choose your Milestone Reward and supply a hyperlink you possibly can click on to pick your reward.
You may as well examine your progress towards incomes one other Milestone Reward when logged in to your IHG account. For instance, my IHG Milestone Rewards abstract reveals that I want to remain 13 extra nights this calendar 12 months to earn a 20-night Milestone Reward.
I would advocate ready till the final minute to decide on IHG Milestone Rewards until you need to select bonus factors, a confirmable suite improve to use to a keep within the subsequent 14 days or a lounge membership you propose to make use of earlier than the top of the 12 months. In any case, meals and beverage rewards, confirmable suite upgrades and annual lounge memberships expire based mostly on when you choose them.
Associated: How you can maximize redemptions with the IHG One Rewards program
Which IHG Milestone Rewards are finest?
There isn’t any proper reply to which IHG Milestone Rewards are finest. That is a part of the worth: You’ll be able to select what’s most precious to you.
It is troublesome to place a worth on a confirmable suite improve or an annual lounge membership, as these advantages depend upon how you will use them and the way a lot worth they’re going to add to your keep. The worth of an annual lounge membership additionally depends upon what number of instances you will get IHG membership lounge entry as a good thing about your membership.
Even the selection of bonus factors or meals and beverage rewards is not clear-cut. Though TPG solely values IHG One Rewards factors at 0.5 cents every, I can often get nearer to 1 cent of worth when redeeming IHG factors.
I am unable to inform you which IHG Milestone Rewards shall be finest for you, however this is how I rank the alternatives at every milestone:
- 20 nights: My first alternative can be a confirmable suite improve since it might be good to ensure a set for one keep within the subsequent 12 months. My second alternative can be 5,000 bonus factors since I worth these factors at about $50, and my third alternative can be two $20 meals and beverage rewards since these are value as much as $40.
- 30 nights: My first alternative can be factors, and my second alternative can be meals and beverage rewards for a similar purpose as above.
- 40 nights: My first alternative in some years can be an annual lounge membership. Nonetheless, I at present have an annual lounge membership legitimate by means of the top of the following calendar 12 months, so selecting one other one this 12 months would not present extra worth. My second alternative can be a confirmable suite improve since if I keep 40 nights every year, I can doubtless get good worth from one other confirmed improve. My third alternative can be 10,000 bonus factors since I worth these factors at about $100, however I can get extra worth on some redemptions. My fourth alternative can be 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards since this reward is value as much as $100.
- 50 nights: My first alternative can be factors, and my second alternative can be meals and beverage rewards for a similar purpose as above.
- 60 nights: My first alternative can be factors, and my second alternative can be meals and beverage rewards for a similar purpose as above.
- 70 nights: My first alternative can be two confirmable suite upgrades because it’s probably the most useful choice at this milestone. My second alternative can be an annual lounge membership if I did not choose one as a 40-night Milestone Reward and did not have already got one legitimate by means of the top of the following calendar 12 months. My third alternative can be 10,000 bonus factors since I worth these factors at about $100, however I can get extra worth on some redemptions. And my fourth alternative can be 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards since this reward is value as much as $100.
- 80 nights: My first alternative can be factors, and my second alternative can be meals and beverage rewards for a similar purpose as above.
- 90 nights: My first alternative can be factors, and my second alternative can be meals and beverage rewards for a similar purpose as above.
- 100 nights: My first alternative can be factors, and my second alternative can be meals and beverage rewards for a similar purpose as above.
Associated: How a lot worth does IHG One Rewards standing present if you ebook immediately?
Backside line
The launch of the IHG One Rewards program and its Milestone Rewards in 2022 have inspired me and my husband to stick with IHG extra. The improved perks have additionally inspired one in every of us to attempt for Diamond Elite standing yearly.
Beforehand, we might each relied on the Platinum Elite standing offered as an computerized cardholder perk of the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit score Card and did not fear about accruing a particular variety of nights with IHG every year. However with the addition of breakfast as a welcome amenity alternative for Diamond Elite members and Milestone Rewards, there’s now a compelling argument for us to focus our IHG stays on one in every of our accounts.
Even for those who do not plan to earn IHG elite standing, you should still need to purpose to remain not less than 20 nights every year to earn a Milestone Reward. In any case, you possibly can choose 5,000 bonus factors, two $20 meals and beverage rewards or one confirmable suite improve after staying simply 20 nights in a calendar 12 months.
