Earn IHG Diamond status with only 8 nights (targeted status challenge)

At the end of 2025, IHG targeted some members of its loyalty program with an opportunity to buy enough elite qualifying points to get Diamond status for another year.

For those who bought it at just the right time of the evening, they found their status was extended through the end of 2027 rather than the end of 2026, although that extra year has sadly since been clawed back.

Well, IHG is now giving another opportunity to earn Diamond status for select members, although this is a status challenge requiring some paid stays rather than it being a ‘buy elite qualifying (and redeemable) points’ deal.

The Deal

• Stay 8 paid nights at IHG properties by March 8, 2026 & earn Diamond status if targeted.
• Direct link to registration.

Key Terms

• To participate in the “Stay 8 Ni‌ghts, Get Diamond Status Through 20‌2‌6” promotional offer (the “Offer”), an individual must be an IHG One Rewards member and must be invited to participate in the Offer.
• After receiving an invitation, the member must register their member number in advance in order to be eligible for the Offer. The promotion period begins on Janua‌ry 2‌2, 202‌6, and ends on March 8, 20‌2‌6 (the “Promotion Period”).
• Once a member registers for the Offer, the member will be able to earn IHG One Rewards Diamond Elite status, and start enjoying the associated benefits, by staying eight (8‌) qualifying nights at participating IHG Hotels & Resorts during the Promotion Period.
• To be a qualifying night under this Offer, the room night must be part of a Promotion Eligible Qualifying Stay and must fall within the Promotion Period.
• Completed stays prior to registration or outside of the Promotion Period are not included. By way of example, a member who registers for the Offer on Jan‌ua‌ry 2‌3‌, 20‌2‌6‌, and has a Promotion Eligible Qualifying Stay at a participating hotel with a check-in date of J‌anu‌ary 2‌0‌, 20‌2‌6‌, and check-out date of Ja‌nu‌ary ‌2‌5‌, 20‌2‌6‌, will be credited with three (3) qualifying nights, for Ja‌n‌uary 2‌2n‌d‌, 2‌3‌rd‌, and 2‌4‌th. The member will not receive credit for January 2‌0‌th or January 2‌1‌st because those nights were prior to the Promotion Period.
• For purposes of this Offer, a “Promotion Eligible Qualifying Stay” is defined as a minimum one (1) night stay at a participating hotel booked under a Qualifying Rate, with a total spend exceeding $‌30 US‌D (or local equivalent) per night.
• Participating hotels include all IHG Hotels & Resorts, with the exception of those Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas and Iberostar Beachfront Resorts that do not participate in the IHG One Rewards program.
• Stays booked using Reward Nights or Points & Cash are not Promotion Eligible Qualifying Stays for purposes of this Offer.

Quick Thoughts

You normally need to stay 70 nights at IHG properties in a calendar year in order to earn Diamond status, so only needing 8 nights is a potentially great opportunity.

There are a few things to be aware of though. First, you need to have actually been targeted for this offer. The email I received about it had the subject line “Diamond Elite status can be yours again for 2026, Stephen.” You’ll then need to register before booking any stays.

Only stays costing $30+ are eligible which, for the majority of people, won’t be an issue. Award stays and stays booked with Points & Cash aren’t eligible – only regular paid nights.

When you earn IHG status organically, you get the status for the rest of that calendar year and all of the next calendar year. With this Diamond status challenge though, the boosted status you get after staying eight nights is only valid through the end of 2026 rather than 2027, so it’s important to be aware of that factor in case you were assuming you’d get nearly two full years of Diamond status.

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