Be Careful When Registering for IHG Promos
Yesterday I wrote about an IHG promotion where you can receive 5,000 bonus points. It is a targeted offer so is intended only for those who received the email, but one of my readers felt that I should not be writing about offers that have the potential to get members’ accounts closed.
It used to be that IHG was generous with their promotions. There were so many offers, they were stackable, and there were often a plethora of promotional codes that you could apply. Some were only valid to users in a certain country, or had specific requirements. Rather than read all the fine print, some folks just found it easier to register for everything and then if they received the bonus points then they figured it must have been meant for them. If not, then at least they didn’t miss out on earning points by not registering.
Recently though, IHG tightened up on their policies. Instead of simply not awarding bonus points or contacting members who registered for promotions that may not have been meant for them, they just closed their accounts. With no advance warning. Even those members who had demonstrated quite a bit of loyalty by achieving top tier status in IHG Rewards Club.
View from the Wing wrote more about the sudden changes here.
I’ll continue to write about IHG promotions so that readers who deleted or forgot about their email can register if they were targeted, and so that readers can be aware of the different promotions that are out there. I include IHG’s new Terms & Conditions addendum and mention if I believe something to be a targeted offer.
What do you think about IHG closing accounts of those who registered for promos that may not have been intended for them? Is it too harsh?
When you get these promotions do they appear in your “offers” on the web site (and remain there), as well as you getting an email? If so, maybe people could be reminded of the promotion without giving the actual code (if the target audience is really those that forgot).
I worry that codes get passed to others down the line without the real understanding (or notice of) the danger.
I think they should take away relevant points (not all points), and get their IT system fixed to it doesn’t allow it in the first place,
I realize expecting any IT expertise at IHG is probably dreaming.
@nowhere man, I think a good IT overhaul would be great but agree probably not something we can expect soon. Once I register for a promo it appears in my offers but the code is no longer listed. Perhaps the next one I post I could leave out the code and see if it is still helpful to readers.