IHG’s Award Night Redemption Upper Levels Increase

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Yesterday View from the Wing alerted us that once again, IHG was going to be releasing an update to their award night redemption amounts for hotels, set to go into effect February 17, 2016.

The change affects less than 10% of their properties and just adjusts 5,000-10,000 difference, but that’s still about 400 hotels and a lot of extra points if you’ve been saving up to redeem for a special trip.

Here’s a link to the new list of properties and redemption levels.

I was dismayed to look over the list today and find that IHG had not only increased a bunch of properties to require more points for redemption, they also upped the top redemption levels to 55,000 and 60,000. It was done quietly without any fanfare, but the extra points required are kind of a big deal. Of course, the new chart doesn’t start until February 17, 2016 so you still have time to redeem within the 10,000-50,000 levels that the properties are currently at.

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Here is the breakdown per hotel Brand, with those requiring more points starting February 17, 2016 in red, and those requiring less points in green. You can also download the list here.

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Loyalty Traveler also has the list organized by point levels, which is handy.

The big disappointment and bad news is that there aren’t a ton of InterContinental properties around the world, but most of them are increasing in redemption requirement up to that whopping 60,000 level for a single night. That’s a lot of points, and enough to make some people lessen their excitement about redeeming for those properties. Plus, IHG just changed the levels on about 480 hotels back in April of 2015, making this update seem too soon and even less welcome.

How do you feel about IHG’s property redemption changes?

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