[Anonymous]

[VintageKrug]

I have endured 15 nights in Intercontinental Hotels properties so far this year.

But this has been worth it, with an accrued balance of just under 180,000 points for those stays.

A tad over 12,000 points per stay, or half a free night at most mid-range properties.

That’s between $60-$100 value back for every stay, depending on how the points are redeemed. Not bad!

I am increasingly finding that the hotel points game is considerably more lucrative than airline points gathering.

What’s your ICHG average for the year so far?

[IanFromHKG]

I agree with you conceptually, VK, although our loyalties lie elsewhere. We focus on Accor (mostly my wife, who gets vouchers for free stays), Hyatt (because we love the Grand Hyatt in Bali, but they have tripled the points requirement for free nights), and most of all Marriott because we are in their vacation ownership scheme. We get several free nights a year. That’s a considerable saving, but not as much as we save by upgrading from economy to business using air miles, which is spectacular value for money!

Best of all, I hear, is Hilton, which give you both air miles and Hilton HHonors points, so you can double-dip!

[canucklad]

My top tip is to make sure you sign up for their e-mails. Every now and again you will be asked to enrol in their bonus promotions

And book breakfast seperately. Points make prizes, or in this case pennies spent make more points !

I’ve currently enough for a 2+ week stay at a crowne plaza…. Extra week down to the bonus points. Happy days and no hidden admin charges or taxes!

A real reward scheme!

[IanFromHKG]

Hah! Good point, canucklad, at least you don’t have to pay surcharges and taxes to hotels to enjoy the redemption benefits of their loyalty programmes! It hasn’t been an issue for us because we only use our airline miles for upgrades, and perhaps because of the airlines we use or perhaps because of where we live we don’t seem to get charged additional fees; but I do constantly read (on these pages) of those based in the UK having to pay significant amounts to get their “free” flights

[BABenji]

149278 from 16 nights for me. When I consider that 2 stays were at an Intercontinental property where you get shafted on points and a considerable number have been late arrival/early check out at the Holiday Inn Express at Zurich Airport with complimentary WiFi and a welcome drink as a Platinum Member, with breakfast thrown in, makes ancillary revenue points very hard to come by…especially as their food is hideous (the golden arches are a 5min walk away!)…..that’s not a bad haul.

Mrs BABenji and I blew 200000 at the Intercontinental in Sydney earlier this year and although the room we were in was classified as “City View,” (the only option on a redemption at the time) we had a corner room with an unobstructed view of the Harbour Bridge. Made all the nights in crappy Holiday Inn’s worthwhile….especially as it was her first visit to Oz.

[Binman62]

100k points on 14 nights is common place, especially in the USA and you do not need to stay in Intercontinental hotels. Indeed Intercontinental usually only provide 2000 a night so considerable spend is required to do well.

There are countless codes both here on this forum and flyertalk for ICHG which double triple and quadruple points. Some rates also provide thousands of points in their own right and it is not unusual to pick up 10-15 k for a night in a HI express in the USA.

We had 7 nights in the IC Bali this year plus 5 other nights split between SIN and HKG holiday Inns and Crown Plazas. All the points used were acquired in around 4 weeks of stays in the USA in the last 2 years and no where did I spend more than 90 GBP for night, all with free wifi, all with breakfast and there we 4 of us!

I paid to upgrade at IC Bali and also used points to get ambassador status so for 35k points plus $180 a night, a family of 4 got a $500 a night suite with breakfast and all club benefits. An absolute steal!

[VintageKrug]

How can they make money with deals like this available, and seemingly so many people using the codes etc. to get very high point/stay ratios?

[IanFromHKG]

The same way that Ryanair do – by making you pay exorbitant charges for everything extra – phone calls, laundry, minibar, airport transfers, and most of all food and drink.

When I get a free flight or upgrade on CX I pay nothing more. When I get a free night in a hotel, I still end up paying. Exceptions to this rule are very few and far between.

[MartynSinclair]

My loyalty remains with SPG, where for me the room comes as a package including wifi, breakfast and other perks, even when redeeming points.

My average bill for redemption nights is ZERO. The hotel is as it should be, arrive, sleep, eat (in the lounge), wifi, breakfast – checkout, no bill.

[VintageKrug]

….and that’s also the case for Platinum members of Priority Club.

For those who do make uses of http://www.quidco.co.uk they ICHG group is back up to 12% cashback for the next six days.

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