In 2022, IHG launched its new IHG One Rewards program. One compelling facet 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 may earn bonus factors, meals and beverage rewards, confirmable suite upgrades and even an annual lounge membership as Milestone Rewards. Here is what it is advisable learn 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 100 nights. Any nights which are elite qualifying, together with award nights, will rely. Nevertheless, rollover nights from the earlier calendar 12 months do not rely towards incomes IHG Milestone Rewards.
Listed here are the IHG Milestone Rewards you may earn as you hit the next milestones every calendar 12 months (you may 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 is perhaps questioning what a few of these Milestone Rewards entail. In that case, this is a take a look at the small print of every IHG Milestone Rewards possibility based mostly on the IHG member terms and conditions.
Associated: The award traveler’s guide to IHG One Rewards
Bonus factors
Bonus factors are a simple reward possibility that you would be able to choose at every stage. When you select bonus factors, IHG will deposit the factors into your account. Based mostly on TPG’s valuations, 5,000 IHG One Rewards factors are price $25, and 10,000 IHG One Rewards factors are price $50.
Associated: 7 ways to earn more IHG One Rewards points for your next redemption
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Meals and beverage rewards
Just like bonus factors, you may select meals and beverage rewards at every milestone. Every meals and beverage award voucher is price as much as $20.
As soon as you choose meals and beverage rewards at a milestone, you may redeem these rewards towards meals and beverage expenses throughout a keep. Nevertheless, you may’t use meals and beverage rewards for:
- Merchandising machines
- Third-party meals deliveries (similar to Uber Eats)
- Eating places that don’t permit expenses to a visitor room invoice
- Present outlets
- Taxes on minibar expenses
- Stays as a part of a gaggle, package deal tour or conference the place a 3rd occasion is paying
You may redeem meals and beverage rewards in any respect IHG manufacturers besides Vacation Inn Membership Holidays and IHG Army Hotels. 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 permit you to 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 certain 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 stability 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 may solely apply them to your room invoice.
Associated: How to earn and redeem IHG food and beverage rewards
Confirmable suite improve
You may select one confirmable suite improve after staying 20 and 40 nights in a calendar 12 months. Moreover, you may select two confirmable suite upgrades after staying 70 nights in a calendar 12 months. Though you may select two rewards after staying 40 and 70 nights in a calendar 12 months, you may solely choose confirmable suite upgrades as soon as at every milestone.
You may apply a confirmable suite improve to most immediately booked charges, together with reward nights and choose company and package deal charges. Nevertheless, you may’t use a confirmable suite improve should you booked one of many following:
- Group charges, package deal excursions or conference stays the place a 3rd occasion is paying
- Stays utilizing an IHG free night certificate or InterContinental Ambassador complimentary weekend night (IHG plans to ultimately make these stays eligible)
- Non-qualified charges (similar to wholesale charges and people booked by on-line journey businesses)
- Worker charges
- Pay as you go charges for which a deposit is already utilized
- Some hotel-defined packages
- Stays by https://www.anaihghotels.co.jp/ or Japan accommodations’ unbiased websites
You should utilize 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 should contact IHG buyer care between 14 days and 24 hours earlier than check-in to use a set improve to a reservation. Nevertheless, 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 should you cancel earlier than the time-frame outlined by the resort’s cancellation coverage.
Confirmable suite upgrades expire 12 months after being chosen by the IHG Milestone Rewards program. These upgrades are nontransferable and might solely be utilized to the member’s room. You should utilize confirmable suite upgrades at most IHG properties besides:
- Avid Inns
- Atwell Suites
- IHG Military Inns
- Vacation Inn Membership Holidays
- IHG Residences
- Mr & Mrs Smith properties
- InterContinental Alliance Resorts (Las Vegas and Macao)
- Iberostar Beachfront Resorts
Lastly, should you use a confirmable suite improve to safe a membership room, you won’t get club-level perks as part of your upgrade. 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 credit card should you use for IHG stays?
Annual lounge membership
You may choose an annual lounge membership on the 40-night or 70-night milestone. When you accomplish that, you will get a lounge membership by 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 hold it by the top of the next 12 months.
When 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 should be on a qualifying keep, though IHG’s member terms and conditions state that reward nights, free nights and stays booked by a web-based journey company are eligible. Nevertheless, 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 resulting from “renovations, closures, or different facility limitations.” Moreover, lounge membership doesn’t get you membership lounge facilities or companies past the bodily lounge.
Associated: Everything you need to know 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 it’s essential to choose your Milestone Reward and supply a hyperlink you may click on to pick your reward.
You can too verify 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 might advocate ready till the final minute to decide on IHG Milestone Rewards except 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 spite of everything, meals and beverage rewards, confirmable suite upgrades and annual lounge memberships expire based mostly on when you choose them.
Associated: How to maximize redemptions with the IHG One Rewards program
Which IHG Milestone Rewards are greatest?
There is no proper reply to which IHG Milestone Rewards are greatest. That is a part of the worth: You may select what’s most respected to you.
It is troublesome to place a price on a confirmable suite improve or an annual lounge membership, as these advantages rely on 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 occasions 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 normally get nearer to 1 cent of worth when redeeming IHG points.
I can not inform you which IHG Milestone Rewards can be greatest for you, however this is how I rank the alternatives at every milestone:
- 20 nights: My first selection can be a confirmable suite improve since it could be good to ensure a set for one keep within the subsequent 12 months. My second selection can be 5,000 bonus factors since I worth these factors at about $50, and my third selection can be two $20 meals and beverage rewards since these are price as much as $40.
- 30 nights: My first selection can be factors, and my second selection can be meals and beverage rewards for a similar cause as above.
- 40 nights: My first selection in some years can be an annual lounge membership. Nevertheless, I presently have an annual lounge membership legitimate by the top of the subsequent calendar 12 months, so selecting one other one this 12 months would not present extra worth. My second selection can be a confirmable suite improve since if I keep 40 nights annually, I can seemingly get good worth from one other confirmed improve. My third selection 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 selection can be 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards since this reward is price as much as $100.
- 50 nights: My first selection can be factors, and my second selection can be meals and beverage rewards for a similar cause as above.
- 60 nights: My first selection can be factors, and my second selection can be meals and beverage rewards for a similar cause as above.
- 70 nights: My first selection can be two confirmable suite upgrades because it’s probably the most invaluable possibility at this milestone. My second selection 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 the top of the subsequent calendar 12 months. My third selection 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 selection can be 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards since this reward is price as much as $100.
- 80 nights: My first selection can be factors, and my second selection can be meals and beverage rewards for a similar cause as above.
- 90 nights: My first selection can be factors, and my second selection can be meals and beverage rewards for a similar cause as above.
- 100 nights: My first selection can be factors, and my second selection can be meals and beverage rewards for a similar cause as above.
Associated: How much value does IHG One Rewards status provide when you book directly?
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 certainly one of us to attempt for Diamond Elite standing yearly.
Beforehand, we would each relied on the Platinum Elite standing supplied as an computerized cardholder perk of the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card and did not fear about accruing a particular variety of nights with IHG annually. However with the addition of breakfast as a welcome amenity selection for Diamond Elite members and Milestone Rewards, there’s now a compelling argument for us to focus our IHG stays on certainly one of our accounts.
Even should you do not plan to earn IHG elite status, you should still need to intention to remain a minimum of 20 nights annually to earn a Milestone Reward. In spite of everything, you may 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.
