In response to my post about IHG adding significant elite perks to their program, a reader asked if it was possible to time your Milestone Rewards so that you can get two full years of Club Lounge membership. The answer: Yes!
IHG’s new program will offer Milestone Rewards starting at 20 elite nights and then every 10 elite nights thereafter, up to 100 nights per year. The most valuable Milestone Reward selection is probably the Annual Lounge Membership which is a selection option when you reach 40 nights and again at 70 nights within a calendar year.
Once you select the Annual Lounge Membership reward, it is good for the rest of the calendar year in which it is selected and all of the following year. That’s where things get interesting…
Once you qualify for a Milestone Reward, you’ll have 90 days to select it. So, the key is to try to qualify in October or later. That way, you can wait until January 1st of the next year to select this reward. Then, you’ll have the membership for 2 years: the rest of that year and all of the next!
I reached out to our IHG contacts to make sure that this would really work. The answer was straightforward: “Yes, a member could get a lounge voucher for 2 years.”
So… when planning your IHG stays, try to complete either 40 or 70 nights no earlier than October 3rd and no later than December 31st. Then, set a reminder to yourself to select the benefit January 1st of the next year. Boom.
See also: Wow! IHG to offer real elite benefits. Watch out Marriott.
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What is this lounge you speak of. I vaguely remember hearing about it in legends before Covid BC
Lol!
Hello Greg,
May I know is that possible when I reach 40 nights and then I choice lounge access like in June 2022, and then when I reach 70 nights in October, then I choice the second lounge access pass again in January 2023?
Yes I expect that would work but if you’re pretty sure that you’ll get 40 nights next year I think you’d be better off choosing it then
Actual useful travel tip, thank you.
Amazing news! Thanks for reaching out to IHG about this!
I can’t remember seeing many IHG hotels that has a club. Or is it because I stay at holiday inn express type too many time?
I think that most Intercontinental Hotels have them. I’m not sure about how common they are at the other brands.
Hard to see how most USA customers would get much value out of the lounge benefit, at least with USA travel. I think I spend 40 nights at IHG properties in the past year, and haven’t seen a lounge.
I had around 200 nights last year and already 60 this year. I have never seen a lounge
IC and Crown Plaza. Some are fantastic. Best are Asia and Europe
Is there any tool that enables one to see which IHG properties have lounges (and one that confirms they’re actually open these days)? I’m also a Hyatt Globalist so the high-end hotels I stay in tend to be Hyatts. Most of my IHG stays during the pandemic have been at HIX, so obviously no lounges. In the next year it looks likely my travels may shift to international again, and the new IHG Rewards benefits would make their higher-end properties more attractive to me.
I found this… https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/travel/how-to-access-ihg-executive-club-lounges
Thanks. That article looks helpful. But I’m thinking that if IHG is now giving me a real breakfast for 2 for free as a Diamond, how useful would a lounge membership be for the rare time most customers would run into one? Probably not super useful, but I guess you’re not really giving up much choosing that as your “milestone reward.”
My experience with them only extends to Budapest, Athens, Paris, Madrid and Belgrade…but depending what type of trip and how hedonistic you are, the experience is amazing and well worth it. In Paris the Champagne would have been $25/glass…we easily drank $400 worth a day between brunch, tea time , and pre- dinner. They had XO Cognac out for self pour. Most club lounges and corresponding rooms have not just nice, but Iconic views. Food is a representation of the best local stuff. I’d say the difference is like sitting in an Airport Terminal compared to a Centurion Lounge.
That obviously seems like a good deal. If I get to the necessary nights and the world decides it wants to be normal (so I can visit), it seems like it could make sense to get the lounge pass.
Same here… lounge?
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/travel/how-to-access-ihg-executive-club-lounges
Some Crown Plaza units also
Must be a European thing because I’ve never seen it in the States even in Crown Plaza
I don’t think they advertise it much, I haven’t looked for Crown Plaza sites but I know here in Anchorage they have one.