InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), which operates the revamped and renamed IHG One Rewards Program, has over 6,000 hotels under 18 brands in more than 100 countries around the world including North America, Europe, China, Japan, Mexico, the Caribbean and other international destinations.
The hotels under the IHG umbrella range from budget-friendly Holiday Inns to upscale InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Regent hotels and resorts. Other brands include the Staybridge and Candlewood all-suite chains for extended stays, and boutique hotels such as Kimpton and Hotel Indigo.
IHG also includes some specialty chains like EVEN Hotels and Six Senses wellness brands, HUALUXE, which caters to Chinese business travelers, and the upscale voco and budget-friendly avid properties.
Regardless of where you stay, you can earn points in the IHG One Rewards program once you are enrolled. Joining allows you to not only earn points that can be redeemed for future stays and other rewards, but you can also gain elite status and get bonus points and extra perks during your stay.
The Complete Guide To Hotel Check In & Check Out
Elite Status Levels
IHG updated its rewards program in 2022. We included the old and new charts for comparison below. The program currently has four elite tiers beyond the basic Club Member, which offers 10 points per dollar spent at hotels, exclusive member rates, free Wi-Fi and a dedicated customer service line. The new program also includes late checkout at 2 p.m. at this member level when available.
There are no blackout dates when redeeming rewards, and reward nights count toward elite status. Anyone can join, and if you aren’t already a member be sure to sign up before you book. New members will receive 500 bonus points upon enrollment.
To advance to Silver Elite status, you need to stay ten nights a year. After staying 20 nights or earning 40,000 points, you earn Gold Elite status. After 40 nights or 60,000 points, you reach Platinum Elite. To achieve the highest level, Diamond Elite, you need to stay 70 nights or earn 120,000 points a year.
Elite Benefits
At the Silver level, you earn a 20% bonus on points earned and your points won’t expire as long as you hold this status. At the Gold level, you also qualify for a 40% point bonus on reservations. You can also roll over nights for status the next year once you have achieved Gold status if you earn more nights than needed.
Your points won’t expire if you hold elite status, but if you lose your status and go back to being a basic Club member your points will expire if there is no activity level within 12 months.
Platinum members get all the benefits of lower tiers, reward night discounts, guaranteed room availability within 72 hours, early check-in, a 60% point bonus, a complimentary room upgrade, and a snack and drink on check-in.
Diamond elites get a 100% point bonus plus all other benefits at lower tier levels, as well as breakfast points and a dedicated customer service line.
Kimpton Inner Circle
There is one level higher than Diamond Elite, but the Kimpton Inner Circle membership is by invitation only and reserved for that chain’s most loyal customers.
Members get perks like a personalized welcome gift at Kimpton properties, a room upgrade and a free night at newly-opened Kimpton hotels. It also comes with Diamond IHG One status. You can find more details on the Kimpton program here.
Ambassador Program
There is also an InterContinental Ambassador reward program, which costs $200 a year or 40,000 points and comes with benefits for stays at over 200 InterContinental and Regent hotels and resorts.
You also get automatic Platinum Elite status in the IHG rewards program when you pay the fee, which is worth the investment if you want to achieve automatic top-tier status with IHG One Rewards club and enjoy the extra perks at the chain’s luxury properties.
Ambassador members receive a one-category room upgrade, 4 p.m. check-out, a complimentary weekend night, a daily $20 food and beverage credit during your stay, and free water, internet and other perks like a dedicated check-in area.
The new rewards chart below went live in March 2022 and included stays that took place last year.
Old reward chart that was phased out in March 2022:
| Benefit | Club | Gold Elite | Platinum Elite | Spire Elite | Kimpton Inner Circle |
| Collect Points or Miles/Credits | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Exclusive Rates (Member Rate) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Dedicated Customer Service Phone Assistance | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| No Blackout Dates for Reward Nights | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Reward Nights Count Towards Elite Status | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Free Internet | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Extended Check-Out | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Elite Members’ Points Don’t Expire | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Priority Check-In | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Welcome Amenity / Raid the Bar at Kimpton hotels / Wellness Platter at Six Senses Hotels | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Bonus Earnings | 10% | 50% | 100% | 100% | |
| Elite Rollover Nights | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Complimentary Room Upgrades | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Guaranteed Room Availability | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Early Check-in (10 am) | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Choice Benefit | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Exclusive Hertz Gold Plus Rewards® Five Star® Upgrade | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| New Hotel Free Night | ✔ | ||||
| Chef’s Taste | ✔ |
Co-branded Credit Cards
You can also achieve automatic Platinum status, earn 140,000 bonus points when you sign up for the IHG Rewards Premier credit card and spend $3,000 on the card in the first three months. You keep your Platinum status as long as you keep the card, which has a $99 annual fee.
Another valuable benefit of this card is that you get a fourth night free on award bookings. You only use points for the first three nights but can stay for four. You’ll also get a free anniversary night when you renew the card, and you can also earn 10,000 bonus points and a $100 statement credit if you spend over $20,000 on the IHG Premier credit card annually. You can also earn Diamond Status if you spend more than $40,000 a year on the card and you’ll get a 20% discount on point purchases.
With this hotel credit card you can earn up to 26x points on spending at IHG hotels and resorts. You get 10 points per dollar as a benefit of the IHG membership program, another 10 points per dollar for using this card to pay for your stay, and 6x points per dollar as a Platinum Elite.
No-annual Fee card
You also earn five points for every dollar spent at gas stations, restaurants and on travel, and three points on all other purchases by you or an authorized user. You also get a $100 credit every four years to cover Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fees, a $50 annual credit for United Airlines TravelBank and trip cancellation/interruption insurance.
Chase also offers a no-annual fee IHG Rewards Traveler card that currently comes with an 80,000-point sign-up bonus after spending $2,000 in the first three months. This card comes with Silver status that you keep as long as you hold the card, and you can earn a total of 17x points on IHG hotel stays including the 10 points earned as an IHG Rewards Club member, 2x bonus points for having Silver status and another 5x for paying your bill with this card. Also, neither of these IHG cards charges foreign transaction fees.
Ways to Earn More Points
In addition to earning points on stays and boosting your balance with a credit card sign-up, there are lots of ways to build your points stash and achieve elite status faster.
IHG partners with several companies to offer earning and redemption opportunities. You can check their member offers for the full list by hotel brand, but as an example, you can join IHG Rewards Dine & Earn program and earn 1,000 points plus 8x points at participating restaurants.
You can also earn points for ordering food online at select restaurants through the site or you can earn 500 points for deliveries through GrubHub. You can also earn 500 points for completed dining reservations through Open Table via the IHG site.
You can also earn 1,000 points by booking an activity with IHG Trip Extras. Check this page for more partner offers.
If you’re a frequent flyer and you are chasing elite status with an airline, it may make sense to earn airlines miles instead of points in the hotel program. IHG partners with over 40 airlines so you can earn miles with for your hotel stay instead of points. For the full list and mileage-earning opportunities, check here. You just need to change your earning preference in your IHG Rewards One account.
Redeeming Reward Points
There are plenty of ways to redeem your IHG Reward Club points, but obviously the most popular among travelers is to use them for free stays. There is no formal award chart by category because IHG has a dynamic award pricing chart that ties award rates more closely to revenue prices.
Rates start at about 10,000 points a night and can go up to 100,000 for high-end properties that are in demand. You can also opt to use a Points & Cash combination if you are short on points for a particular stay or are saving them for another trip. You can save on rates by using as little as 5,000 points with this method.
Another option for redeeming points is to trade them in for digital rewards, gift certificates, brand name merchandise or InterContinental Ambassador Memberships and more. Check their website for current offers.
