Wow! IHG to offer real elite benefits. Watch out Marriott.

Confirmed suite upgrades, free lounge access, and free breakfast are all coming soon.

With IHG's new program, top-tier Diamond elites will get daily free hot breakfast for two, compared to Marriott, where you need a cheat sheet to figure out whether you will get breakfast.

I think they copied and pasted from Hyatt's Milestone rewards.

Key dates

• April 13th 2022: New tier and bonus point earnings begin.  This info will be reflected in all member accounts on or before April 17, 2022.
• Early June 2022: All new member benefits and Milestone Rewards will be available.  We will update with more specific dates as we learn them.

New name & logo

The rewards program has changed over the years, from Priority Club to IHG rewards, to IHG rewards, and now to IHG One rewards.

I don't care about program names or logos, but I think the IHG team has done a better job than World of Hyatt and Marriott Bonvoy.

New Elite Benefits

The benefits members get with each elite level are shown in the above chart.

Here is my take on some of the benefits.

• Bonus Points: The ability to earn as much as a 100% bonus on paid stays is pretty good.  Personally, I don’t tend to have many paid stays, though, so I don’t get too excited about this.
• Reward Night Discounts (Platinum and Diamond Benefit): It’s hard to judge how valuable this will be since we don’t know what the discounts will be or how often they’ll be offered.  My guess is that IHG will offer intermittent discounts similar to their recent 20% discount, but only for high level elites.  This has potential to be a very valuable benefit for those who book awards often.  Ironically, for those who own the old IHG Select card which offers Platinum status and inflexible 40K free nights, this benefit may be especially useful since these award discounts will make more hotels available for 40K points or less.
• Complementary Upgrades (Platinum and Diamond Benefit): This isn’t really a new benefit, but IHG has informed us that they have taken pains to better educate member hotels so that this benefit will hopefully be implemented better going forward.  Free upgrades can include suites, but I don’t believe that hotels are required to offer them.
• Free Breakfast Welcome Amenity (Diamond Benefit): For those of us who love breakfast, this is huge.  Of the major chains, only Hyatt also offers free hot breakfast for 2 to their top-tier elites with few exclusions.  Sure, Marriott offers free breakfast at many hotels, but they exclude key brands like Design Hotels, EDITION, and Ritz-Carlton; and with some other brands they only offer $10 per day.  IHG has relatively few exclusions.  IHG does exclude limited-service brands that already offer breakfast, Candlewood Suites, Select Kimpton properties (we hope to update this soon with details), Holiday Inn Club Vacations, InterContinental Alliance Resorts (Las Vegas and Macau)​, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith properties.  I realize that sounds like a long list, but the only exclusion that troubles me is the “select Kimpton properties”.  Hopefully that will be a very small and select list.
• Early Check-In (Platinum and Diamond Benefit): This could be valuable if many hotels would honor it, but since this benefit is “subject to availability” I don’t have high hopes for it at all.
• 2pm Late Check-Out (All Members): This “subject to availability” benefit is disappointing.  Where’s the guaranteed 4pm late check out for high level elites?

Missing perks

The new program from IHG doesn't offer any of the benefits.

• Guaranteed 4pm Late Check-Out (Hyatt and Marriott offer this)
• Free lounge access for high tier elites (Hyatt and Marriott offer this). IHG does offer free lounge access through Milestone Rewards though.
• Waived resort and destination fees on award stays (Hilton, Hyatt, and Wyndham offer this)
• Waived resort and destination fees on paid stays (Hyatt offers this to top tier elites)
• Free parking on award stays (Hyatt offers this to top tier elites)

Milestone Rewards

IHG's Milestone rewards are similar to Hyatt's, with members earning them every 10 nights for up to 100 nights.

What nights are qualified? elite nights are often referred to as qualified nights. You can earn elite status by acquiring a number of qualified elite nights each year. IHG requires 20 elite nights within a year to earn Gold status. There are 20 elite nights when IHG members earn their milestone rewards. Free nights booked with points or certificates as well as paid nights booked directly through IHG are included in qualified nights.

Key details.

• Once a milestone is reached, members have 90 days to select a Milestone Rewards choice on the IHG Hotels & Resorts website or IHG One Rewards app.  If a Milestone Rewards choice is not selected within 90 days, the Milestone Rewards choice for that milestone expires and will no longer be available.
• All Milestone Rewards selections are final.
• Food & Beverage Rewards and Confirmable Suite Upgrades are valid for 1 year from selection.
• Annual Lounge Membership is good for the rest of the calendar year in which it is selected and all of the following year.

Confirmable Suite Upgrades

Suite upgrades can be confirmed up to 14 days in advance of your stay, which means that if you book now for a stay 10 months in the future, you can upgrade to a base level suite.

Additional information:

• Time window: An upgrade to an entry-level suite, if available, can be confirmed from 14 days before the stay, up to 24 hours before check-in.
• Number of nights and rooms: The reward is valid for a stay up to 5 nights and available for 1 room per stay.
• Alternatives: If an entry-level suite is not available, a member has the option to confirm a premium room as an alternative.
• Valid 12 months: Once a member selects the Confirmable Suite Upgrade as their Milestone choice, they have 12 months to redeem their reward.
• Paid stays only (at first): Initially, suite upgrades will only be applicable to paid stays, but IHG tells us that their intent is to allow award stays in the future.

A comparison chart.

Each year Marriott offers 5 1-night Suite Night Awards as a Choice Benefit at 50 elite nights and 75 elite nights.

The lounge membership will be valid for the rest of the year if the member chooses the annual reward option.

Mr and Mrs Smith properties are not included in the Annual Lounge Membership.

Food & Beverage Rewards

If you choose to get 2 food and beverage rewards, that is equivalent to $40 in food and beverage credit.

Benefit Exceptions

There are exceptions to the benefits of breakfast, lounge, and suite upgrade.

Free Breakfast Exceptions

Diamond Elite members will have the option of a free hot breakfast for up to two guests at check-in.

• Limited-service brands that already offer breakfast
• Candlewood Suites
• Select Kimpton properties (we hope to update this soon with details)
• Holiday Inn Club Vacations
• InterContinental Alliance Resorts (Las Vegas and Macau)​
• Mr. and Mrs. Smith properties

Annual Lounge Membership Exceptions

If a member selects the Annual Lounge Membership as their Milestone Reward at 40 or 70 Nights, they will receive Club Lounge access for the registered member plus one additional guest.

• Annual Lounge Membership does not include Club REGENT or Club InterContinental amenities or services beyond the physical Club Lounge.  Note: To be clear, Annual Lounge Membership does include access to Club REGENT and Club InterContinental lounges, but not to additional services (free pressing, farewell amenity, airport transportation, etc.) that may be offered under the same names.
• InterContinental Alliance Resorts (Las Vegas and Macau)
• Mr & Mrs Smith properties
• IHG properties with a restricted Club Lounge due to renovations, closures, or other facility updates.

Confirmable Suite Upgrade Exceptions

The suites can be confirmed at all IHG properties.

• avid hotels
• Atwell Suites
• IHG Army Hotels
• Holiday Inn Club Vacations
• Six Senses Resorts & Spas
• InterContinental Alliance Resorts (Las Vegas and Macau)
• Mr & Mrs Smith properties

Questions and Answers

Do IHG members lose any benefits with these changes?

Some benefits are lost, but a lot is gained.

• Gold elite members no longer receive a Welcome Amenity Choice at check-in
• Diamond elite members will not receive exclusive Choice Benefits that were previously only for those reaching Spire elite status (now renamed Diamond).  For example, those earning Spire Elite status could previously select 25,000 bonus points.

What will happen to IHG’s Ambassador status program?

For now, the Ambassador program is the same.

Kimpton's Inner Circle program will remain the same.

Does IHG offer a benefit guarantee like Marriott does?

No.

What happens if I don’t select my Milestone Reward?

If you don't select your reward in 90 days, it's gone.

Do rollover nights count towards Milestone Rewards?

Rollover nights are only used for elite status levels.

What happens if I apply a confirmable suite upgrade but then cancel my stay?

The original validity dates will apply if the stay is canceled in advance of the hotel's cancellation policy.

Can I stack a confirmable suite upgrade with a guaranteed Ambassador upgrade?

No.

My Take

I think that IHG's elite program has become a legitimate contender, even though it still falls far short of Hyatt's.

Marriott has many brand and individual hotel exceptions where this benefit isn't applicable.

Hyatt offers a number of extremely valuable perks in addition to those shown above for top tier elites, which is why I think Hyatt is still better.

Marriott has a distinct edge in that there are many shortcut to Marriott elite status, most of which will result in the 50.

There is no guaranteed 4pm late checkout, and resort fees are still unavoidable, which is my biggest gripe with the new program.

The proof will be in the pudding, but will we really get it?