Holiday Inn Express & Suites Hinton
Photograph ©2017 by Brian Cohen.
Brian Cohen·
2019 Novel Coronavirus
··13 min read

IHG Rewards Club Extends Status and Points For Everyone; Flexible Reservation Policy Updates: 2019 Novel Coronavirus Pandemic

Although IHG Rewards Club was one of the first frequent guest loyalty programs to start changing its policies to become more flexible to its members during the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic, it finally somewhat caught up to its competitors in terms of the scope of that flexibility.

IHG Rewards Club Extends Status and Points For Everyone; Flexible Reservation Policy Updates: 2019 Novel Coronavirus Pandemic

Holiday Inn Andorra
Please click on the photograph above for a trip report of the Holiday Inn Andorra hotel property. Photograph ©2018 by Brian Cohen.

The latest information from IHG Rewards Club pertains to updates with regards to the extensions of the expiration of points and elite level status — as well as improving the flexibility of the booking and cancellation policies of reservations in general.

Status of Benefits of IHG Rewards Club Points and Elite Level Status

Holiday Inn Lisbon – Continental
Please click on the photograph above for a trip report of the Holiday Inn Lisbon-Continental hotel property. Photograph ©2018 by Brian Cohen.

Your benefits are automatically being extended with no effort or input required on your part as a IHG Rewards Club member — including:

  • Elite Level Status Extension: The elite level status which you earned in 2019 will be extended through January 2022.
    • For Spire Elite members, this includes the Choice benefit of
      • 25,000 bonus IHG Rewards Club points; or
      • Gifting of Platinum Elite status to someone each year
    • This change will be automatically reflected in membership accounts in the coming weeks.
  • IHG Rewards Club Points Expiration: To provide you ample time to redeem points, the expiration of IHG Rewards Club points will be paused until Thursday, December 31, 2020. At that time, your IHG Rewards Club points will only expire if your account has been inactive for at least 12 months if you are a Club level member, as points never expire for all members with elite level status — including Gold, Platinum and Spire.
  • With more constrained travel plans and a shorter time period during which members can earn Elite tier status, the criteria required of nights or points this year has been reduced by a minimum of 25 percent — meaning members can still qualify for a higher tier during 2020:
a graph of a number of points
Click on the chart for an enlarged view. Source: IHG Rewards Club.

Flexibility With Reservations Policies

Holiday Inn Vilnius
Please click on the photograph above for a trip report of the Holiday Inn Vilnius hotel property. Photograph ©2017 by Brian Cohen.

Given the unique circumstances of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic, IHG Rewards Club remains committed to offering you flexible options when booking your reservations by further adjusting its individual policies pertaining to booking reservations — even including reservations with pre-paid rates that are typically more restrictive — which can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival day, as cancellation fee waivers have been extended through Tuesday, June 30, 2020 for guests:

  • With existing reservations for any future arrival date booked by Monday, April 6, 2020, full changes or cancellation will be allowed without a charge up to 24 hours prior to arrival, as long as the change or cancellation is implemented by Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Please note that any changes to existing reservations will be subject to availability and any rate differences. Cancellation fees for existing and new domestic bookings at all InterContinental Group hotel and resort properties in Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and the Taiwan region will be waived for stays up to Thursday, April 30, 2020.
  • Booking new reservations for any future arrival date using the new Book Now, Pay Later rate offers flexibility and savings. With no deposit required and cancellations possible up to 24 hours before your stay for direct bookings, travel planning is commitment free. Guests benefit from a minimum of five percent off of the Best Flexible Rate for reservations which are booked up to Thursday, September 3, 2020 for stays until Wednesday, December 30, 2020 — excluding Greater China.
  • Other Rates:
    • Best Flexible Rate: This rate offers maximum flexibility to change or cancel your reservation. For reservations which are booked directly, this rate can be fully changeable or refundable up to 6:00 in the evening local hotel time on the day of arrival — dependent on the individual house policy of the hotel or resort property.
    • IHG Rewards Club Members Rates: Additional savings are available for IHG Rewards Club members on these Book Now, Pay Later and Best Flexible rates.
    • IHG Rewards Club nights: You can change or cancel these bookings with no penalty prior to the time period set by the hotel.
    • The more restrictive pre-paid and non-refundable Advance Purchase rate has been removed from sale until later in the year — excluding Greater China
    • These rates, and others, have their own terms and conditions. Please refer to specific rate information when booking for further details — including cancellation terms. Changing the date on any reservations may result in different pricing.
    • Exceptions apply at some Six Senses hotel properties.

Other Extensions

InterContinental Warsaw
Photograph ©2017 by Brian Cohen.

InterContinental Ambassador: A complimentary three-month membership extension to has been provided to members of the InterContinental Ambassador program on Sunday, March 15, 2020 — and these members will also receive a three-month extension on unredeemed Weekend Night Certificates. The new date these certificates are valid until will be automatically reflected in members accounts in the coming weeks.

IHG Rewards Club credit cards anniversary night certificates — United States and United Kingdom:

  • The expiration date of anniversary certificates which are set to expire in 2020 will be extended, as certificates expiring from Sunday, March 1, 2020 can now be used through Thursday, December 31, 2020.
  • Certificates issued in 2020 will have an 18-month redemption time period.
  • Cardmembers will be contacted directly with additional information.

Summary

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Hinton
Please click on the photograph above for a trip report of the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Hinton hotel property. Photograph ©2017 by Brian Cohen.

These policies apply to reservations which were booked through IHG Rewards Club directly. Guests who booked via online travel agents or other third parties are advised to contact their booking provider for information on their policies and for assistance.

As with recent announcements from such frequent travel loyalty programs as Hilton Honors, World of Hyatt, Delta Air Lines SkyMiles, United Airlines MileagePlus, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Marriott Bonvoy, and American Airlines AAdvantage, the team members of InterContinental Hotels Group seem to be doing whatever they can to provide maximum flexibility to you and other customers — as well as members of the IHG Rewards Club frequent guest loyalty program…

…but is all of this enough to retain your loyalty to the aforementioned membership programs?

See also

This article is the latest in a series pertaining to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus — which is also known as COVID-19 or 2019-nCoV or SARS-CoV-2 or HCoV-19 or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 — pandemic in an effort to get the facts out with information derived from reliable sources…

…as well as attempt to maintain a reasoned and sensible ongoing discussion towards how to resolve this pandemic.

Other articles at The Gate which pertain to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus include:

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