IHG Rewards is the hotel loyalty programme of the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts group, which has brands such as InterContinental, Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza under its belt. The loyalty programme has made cosmetic changes during the pandemic, such as dropping the Club at the end of the name to make it IHG Rewards, but a more extensive makeover is coming now. The hotel chain published a Sneak Peek, which gives us some insight into what’s new at IHG Rewards.

There is some insight into the new elite qualification programme, but not much on the official record to go by for now. IHG Rewards hints that there will be more opportunities to customise the programme in the manner you’d like, though.

New Elite Tiers coming to IHG Rewards

IHG Rewards will introduce new elite tiers in March 2022. Here are the four tiers that will now be referenced.

Gold Elite was the first tier, so it is becoming Silver Elite, and a new Gold Elite Tier is being introduced in its place. On top of that, the Spire Elite tier is being rebranded to Diamond Elite.

• Silver Elite will require ten qualifying nights and will offer a 20% points bonus (Earlier Gold Elite offered a 10% bonus)
• Gold Elite will require 20 qualifying nights or 40,000 qualifying points and will offer a 40% points bonus
• Platinum Elite will need 40 qualifying nights or 60,000 qualifying points and will offer a 60% points bonus (Earlier Platinum Elite offered a 10% bonus)
• Diamond Elite will require 70 qualifying nights or 120,000 qualifying points and offer a 100% points bonus.

What Changes?

In simple terms, qualification against qualifying points is going up substantially. So while those in the core market of the US will have to spend more on their credit cards to earn status, others in markets such as ours will have to shell out more money to achieve status. However, the nights required for top-tier Diamond status reduced by 5 compared to the earlier threshold for Spire status.

When does it change?

The transition to the new programme will happen in March 2022. Members will retain their existing status throughout 2022, with Spire members seeing a name change to Diamond. You will need to hit the new status requirements to keep your status for 2023.

However, that will also mean that the reduced requirements for qualification will go away when the new programme comes in.

Since this is not the full suite of changes being rolled out, I am sure there is more to come…

Bottomline

Changes are coming to the IHG Rewards loyalty programme in the coming weeks. We only know about the part where they promise new names and tiers. However, every programme thinks they are the best in class. And IHG is living in a bubble there. Unlike Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors, there are no assured benefits such as upgrades, breakfast, etc. So, there is a long way to go before they start to pat their own back on making a great programme.

What are your thoughts on these IHG Rewards program changes?

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