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IHG has just sent an email to members indicating good news: free night certificates issued in 2021 will be valid until 12/31/2022. To be clear, this only applies to certificates issued during 2021, but that is nonetheless welcome news for those of us sitting on certificates set to expire in early 2021 as we now get until the end of 2022 to use those certificates. Elite status is also being extended until February 2023.
2021-issued free night certificates to be extended soon…but those expiring 12/31/21 still expire
The email from IHG indicates that the system may not yet be updated to reflect the changes being made but that we should see these updates in the coming weeks.
Unfortunately, those certificates from 2020 that have already been extended through the end of 2021 do not appear to be getting another extension, so you’ll have to use them or lose them on certificates currently scheduled to expire on 12/31/21.
I’ll take what amounts to a more than 8 month extension on my 2021-issued free night certificate and the ability to stack it with next year’s certificate for a full weekend stay, but those who had certificates issued during the peak of the pandemic are kind of getting a poor deal here with no extension. That’s unfortunate.
Elite status also extended
Current elite status will also automatically be extended until February 2023. That will be good news for those earning elite status the old-fashioned way, though for those of us who automatically get elite status through one of the IHG credit cards that won’t matter.
Who is next?
Radisson? Hyatt? Anybody care to extend these expiring free night certificates I have so that I can hope to use them with my family next year? We hope you’re listening.
Bottom line
This is obviously good news for members. I’d have preferred to have seen all existing certificates extended since I imagine there are people still sitting on last year’s certificates without plans to use them by 12/31, but I guess IHG is figuring that those members in that situation have had more than a year to use the certificates and they likely aren’t going to continue to extend them in perpetuity. Still, a couple more months for those certs would have been nice. Let’s just hope this trend continues to spread.
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Got the 25000 bonus miles – thanks for posting!
I think they have extended certificate issued in 2020 until 5/21/22 if I am seeing it correctly.
Still waiting on Hilton’s certs that expire on 1/3/22 — the same date that Marriott had used until they extended them again to 6/3022. Hopefully, Hilton will do likewise.
That’s right, still waiting and the clock is ticking. And for some reason bloggers say Hilton has done their part. If they don’t extend the certs, it would be a major blow. Hope they extend till the end of 2022.
I expect them to match Marriott’s extension as I believe Marriott matched Hilton’s 1/3/22 extension last year.
Meanwhile, IHG’s latest extension of its 2021 certs matches Hilton’s decision on its 2021 certs!
While I welcome any flexibility, I’ve had a hard time getting decent value from these certs ever since the devaluation earlier this year. It would be great to see an updated “best use of IHG certs” post as many on the list from May are no longer bookable with the certs.
It seems like last year they said they were just extending certain ones, but then did all. Or was that another program?
Not impressed. I have 3 expiring that were earned in 2020.
but that is nonetheless welcome news for those of us sitting on certificates set to expire in early 2021 as we now get until the end of 2022 to use those certificates.
I think you mean early 2022?
What about certificates issued to NEW IHG Rewards member (after completing 2 stays) that is supposed to expire later this year? Are they not getting extended?
Well that would be issued during 2021 so it sounds like that would be extended since certificates issued during 2021 are the ones being extended.
IHG also extending points expiration until Dec 31, 2022.
Yeah but that never was a concern as points don’t expire for elites (aka cardholders) and in general are easy to extend.
It was a concern to me as I have several non-elite accounts from a promotion some years ago.
Thanks for pointing this out, Nick! When I heard the IHG news first, I assumed all certs will be pushed up to 12/2022 and I don’t have to deal with them. Looks like that’s not true although I hope it could be bad wording on IHG side. Definitely something to watch for.
I’m not too concerned about Hyatt as I’m sure they’ll extend. They’re Hyatt, right?
But what about Hilton? While they announced extension on status, points expiration, etc. there was no word there about certificate extensions.