Confirmable suite upgrades, factors and extra: Your information to IHG One Rewards’ Milestone Rewards

Earlier this 12 months, IHG launched its new IHG One Rewards program. One compelling side of this program is the power to earn Milestone Rewards for each 10 nights you keep, beginning at simply 20 nights in a calendar 12 months.

You can earn bonus factors, meals and beverage rewards, confirmable suite upgrades and even an annual lounge membership as Milestone Rewards. Here’s what you want to learn about IHG One Rewards Milestone Rewards.

IHG One Rewards Milestone Rewards are perks you earn every calendar 12 months primarily based on the nights you stick with IHG. Specifically, you will earn Milestone Rewards each 10 nights, beginning at simply 20 nights and going by way of 100 nights. Any nights which might be elite qualifying, together with award nights, will depend.

Here are the Milestone Rewards you possibly can earn as you hit the next milestones every calendar 12 months (you possibly can select one at every degree besides at 40 and 70 nights, which get two):

• 20 nights: 5,000 bonus factors, two $20 meals and beverage rewards or one confirmable suite improve.
• 30 nights: 5,000 bonus factors or two $20 meals and beverage rewards.
• 40 nights (select two): 10,000 bonus factors, 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards, one confirmable suite improve (restrict one) or one annual lounge membership (restrict one).
• 50 nights: 10,000 bonus factors or 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards.
• 60 nights: 10,000 bonus factors or 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards.
• 70 nights: (select two): 10,000 bonus factors, 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards, two confirmable suite upgrades (restrict one) or one annual lounge membership (restrict one).
• 80 nights: 10,000 bonus factors or 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards.
• 90 nights:10,000 bonus factors or 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards.
• 100 nights: 10,000 bonus factors or 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards.

You may be questioning what a few of these Milestone Rewards entail. So, this is a take a look at the main points of every of the 4 Milestone Rewards primarily based on the IHG member phrases and situations.

Related: Last-minute methods for incomes IHG One Rewards elite standing

Bonus factors

Bonus factors are an easy reward possibility which you can choose at every degree. If you select bonus factors, IHG will deposit the factors into your account.

Based on TPG’s valuations, 5,000 IHG factors are value $25 and 10,000 IHG factors are value $50.

Related: 7 methods to earn extra IHG One Rewards factors to your subsequent redemption

Food and beverage rewards

Similar to bonus factors, you possibly can select meals and beverage rewards at every milestone. Each meals and beverage award voucher is value $20.

Once you choose meals and beverage rewards at a milestone, you possibly can redeem these rewards in opposition to meals and beverage expenses throughout a keep. However, you possibly can’t use meals and beverage rewards on:

• Vending machines.
• Third-party exterior meals deliveries like Uber Eats.
• Restaurants that don’t enable expenses to a visitor room invoice.
• Gift retailers.
• Taxes related to minibar expenses.
• Marketplaces.
• Stays as a part of a bunch, package deal tour or conference the place a 3rd social gathering is paying expenses.

You can redeem meals and beverage rewards in any respect IHG manufacturers besides Holiday Inn Club Vacations. You can also’t use meals and beverage rewards throughout stays at Mr & Mrs Smith properties or InterContinental Alliance Resorts in Las Vegas and Macau.

You can solely use every voucher as soon as, so be certain your meals and beverage expenses are higher than the worth of the meals and beverage vouchers. Most properties help you redeem vouchers to cowl gratuities on meals and beverage transactions — however make clear with the particular property earlier than redeeming. You’ll earn IHG factors in your meals and beverage steadiness after vouchers are utilized.

Your meals and beverage vouchers will expire 12 months after you choose them as a Milestone Reward. Finally, be aware that meals and beverage rewards aren’t transferable, so you possibly can solely apply them to your room invoice.

Confirmable suite improve

You can select one confirmable suite improve after 20 and 40 nights in a calendar 12 months. And you possibly can select two confirmable suite upgrades after 70 nights in a calendar 12 months. However, though you possibly can select two rewards after 40 and 70 nights in a calendar 12 months, you possibly can solely choose confirmable suite upgrades as soon as at every milestone.

You can apply a confirmable suite improve to most straight booked charges, together with choose company and package deal charges. However, you possibly can’t use a confirmable suite improve should you booked one of many following:

• Group charges, package deal excursions or conventions the place a 3rd social gathering is paying expenses.
• Reward evening or free evening (IHG plans to make these charges eligible at a future date).
• Non-qualifying charges, together with wholesale charges, bookings by way of a web-based journey company and worker charges.
• Prepaid charges if a deposit is already utilized.
• Some hotel-defined packages.

You can use a confirmable suite improve to improve one room to an entry-level suite (or a premium room if a set is not accessible) on a keep of as much as 5 nights. You should contact IHG buyer care to use a set improve to a reservation; you need to achieve this between 14 days and 24 hours earlier than check-in.

If you cancel your keep after making use of a confirmable suite improve to your reservation, IHG will redeposit your improve into your rewards pockets should you cancel prematurely of the resort’s cancellation coverage time-frame.

Confirmable suite upgrades expire 12 months after being chosen as a Milestone Reward. These upgrades are nontransferable and might solely be utilized to the member’s room. You can use confirmable suite upgrades at most IHG properties besides:

• Avid lodges.
• Atwell Suites.
• IHG Army Hotels.
• Holiday Inn Club Vacations.
• IHG Residences, together with however not restricted to InterContinental Residences, Voco Residences, Crowne Plaza Residences and Six Senses Residences.
• Mr & Mrs Smith.
• InterContinental Alliance Resorts in Las Vegas and Macau.

Finally, should you use a confirmable suite improve to safe a membership room, you will not get club-level perks as a part of your improve. And you possibly can’t stack a confirmable suite improve with a assured improve (such as you’d get with InterContinental Ambassador). Any improve above the room secured with a confirmable suite improve is on the resort’s discretion.

Related: What bank card must you use for IHG stays?

Annual lounge membership

You can choose an annual lounge membership on the 40-night or 70-night milestone. If you achieve this, you will get a lounge membership by way of the top of the present calendar 12 months, plus an extra 12 months. So, if you choose a lounge membership as a Milestone Reward in January, you will preserve it by way of the top of the next 12 months.

If you will have a lounge membership, you and a visitor will get entry to the resort’s membership lounge and facilities throughout the lounge when staying at IHG properties with a membership lounge. You have to be on a qualifying keep; IHG’s member phrases and situations state that reward nights, free nights and stays booked by way of a web-based journey company are eligible. Stays at Mr & Mrs Smith properties and InterContinental Alliance Resorts in Las Vegas and Macau aren’t eligible, although.

You’ll get entry throughout your keep or till checkout, though a property can limit your entry on account of “renovations, closures, or different facility limitations.” Additionally, lounge membership doesn’t get you membership lounge facilities or providers past the bodily lounge.

Related: What is IHG One Rewards elite standing value?

Redeeming IHG One Rewards Milestone Rewards

Once you attain a milestone, IHG will ship you an electronic mail with “It’s time to decide on your Milestone Reward” within the title. This electronic mail will be aware that you’ve got 90 days to pick out a Milestone Reward after you earn it.

But, in follow, IHG is usually permitting longer for choices. The greatest method to decide the deadline for choosing your reward is to log in to your IHG account and click on on “Choose reward” from the banner on the high of the web page. You’ll see the deadline on the web page that masses.

You can even verify your progress towards incomes one other Milestone Reward when logged in to your IHG account. For instance, my dashboard exhibits I want to remain eight extra nights to earn a 30-night Milestone Reward.

I’d advocate ready till the final minute to decide on Milestone Rewards except you need to apply a confirmable suite improve to an upcoming keep or plan to decide on bonus factors. After all, meals and beverage rewards and confirmable suite upgrades expire primarily based on when you choose them.

Related: Choose the way you earn bonus factors with IHG One Rewards’ new promotion

Which Milestone Reward is greatest?

There’s no proper reply to which IHG One Rewards Milestone Rewards are greatest. That’s a part of the worth: You can select what’s most respected to you.

It’s troublesome to place a worth on a confirmable suite improve or an annual lounge membership, as these advantages rely upon how you will use them and the way a lot worth they’re going to add to your keep.

Even the selection of bonus factors or meals and beverage rewards is not clear-cut. Although TPG solely values IHG factors at 0.5 cents every, I can normally get nearer to 1 cent of worth from my factors.

I can not let you know which Milestone Rewards can be greatest for you. But this is how I’d rank the alternatives at every milestone:

• 20 nights: My first alternative can be a confirmable suite improve since it could be good to ensure a set for one keep within the subsequent 12 months. My second alternative can be 5,000 bonus factors since I worth these factors at about $50, and my third alternative can be two $20 meals and beverage rewards since these have a hard and fast $40 worth.
• 30 nights: My first alternative can be factors and my second alternative can be meals and beverage rewards for a similar cause as above.
• 40 nights: My first alternative can be an annual lounge membership since I’ve numerous InterContinental stays booked subsequent 12 months at properties with membership lounges. My second alternative can be a confirmable suite improve since if I’m staying 40 nights annually, I can doubtless get good worth from one other confirmed suite. My third alternative can be 10,000 bonus factors since I worth these factors at about $100, however I can get extra worth on some redemptions. My fourth alternative can be 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards since this reward has a hard and fast $100 worth.
• 50 nights: My first alternative can be factors and my second alternative can be meals and beverage rewards for a similar cause as above.
• 60 nights: My first alternative can be factors and my second alternative can be meals and beverage rewards for a similar cause as above.
• 70 nights: My first alternative can be two confirmable suite upgrades because it’s essentially the most precious possibility at this milestone. My second alternative can be an annual lounge membership if I did not choose one as a 40-night Milestone Reward. My third alternative can be 10,000 bonus factors since I worth these factors at about $100, however I can get extra worth on some redemptions. And my fourth alternative can be 5 $20 meals and beverage rewards since this reward has a hard and fast $100 worth.
• 80 nights: My first alternative can be factors and my second alternative can be meals and beverage rewards for a similar cause as above.
• 90 nights: My first alternative can be factors and my second alternative can be meals and beverage rewards for a similar cause as above.
• 100 nights: My first alternative can be factors and my second alternative can be meals and beverage rewards for a similar cause as above.

Related: Use IHG Rewards Dine and Earn to earn further factors to your subsequent trip

Previously, I’d relied on the Platinum Elite standing supplied as a perk of the IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card for so long as you are a cardholder and did not fear about accruing a particular variety of nights with IHG annually. But with the addition of breakfast as a welcome amenity alternative for Diamond Elite members, now that is a compelling argument for accruing nights with IHG to earn Diamond Elite standing and Milestone Rewards.

Even should you aren’t going for Diamond Elite standing with IHG, you should still need to purpose for at the least 20 nights annually to earn a Milestone Reward. After all, you possibly can choose 5,000 bonus factors, two $20 meals and beverage rewards or one confirmable suite improve after simply 20 nights in a calendar 12 months.