IHG brings back its generous ‘Accelerate’ promotion for the Summer

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UPDATE – DECEMBER 2021: This article is now out of date, but don’t worry. We produce a monthly summary of the top hotel bonus point offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ menu above.

You can earn up to triple IHG Rewards base points with IHG’s new Autumn promotion. It runs from 1st October to 31st December 2021. You can register here and our full article on the offer is here.

You will get a 100% bonus when you buy IHG Rewards points by 4th January 2022. Click here to buy or learn more.

IHG Rewards Club, the Holiday Inn, HI Express, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental etc loyalty scheme, has announced its Summer 2016 promotion – IHG Accelerate. Yes, it is repeating the Autumn and Spring offer!

To be honest, IHG is the only major hotel chain offering a global promotion this Summer which offer genuine value. Everyone has their own personal target but, for most of us, the challenge is pretty straightforward.

Here are the headline details:

IHG Accelerate (Version 3) covers stays from 1st June to 31st August

All hotels are participating

Your bonus is personalised – you need to log in here to discover yours

This was my target for 55,000 points maximum, comprising:

6,000 points on my next stay
5,000 points for a stay in June
10,000 points for staying five nights
3,500 points for booking three stays via the IHG app
6,400 points for booking 2 x 2-night weekend stays
2,000 points for booking a Bonus Points Package
1,000 points for purchasing IHG Rewards Club points
21,100 points for completing five of the six targets above, excluding the June bonus

This isn’t bad. Let’s ignore the ‘two weekend stays of two nights’ one as I doubt I will do that.

I will receive 48,600 bonus points – plus the base points – for completing five nights, as long as those nights involve at least three stays (booked on the app) and one is for a Bonus Points Package. This is worth – assuming 0.4p per point of value – £200 of free future stays.

I could earn 13,000 bonus points from just one stay, as long as it is in June and is a Bonus Points Package. I will do my best to hit that if nothing else.

My wife got an even easier one for 55,000 points:

5,000 points on her next stay
5,000 points for a stay in June
10,000 points for staying five nights
4,800 points for booking two stays via the IHG app
3,000 points for booking a Bonus Points Package
27,200 points for completing three of the four targets above excluding the June bonus

All she needs to do is book two one-night stays via the app as she can skip the ‘five nights’ one. Job done, 45,000 points banked! That is £180 of bonus points, plus base points, which should be possible fairly cheaply.

Note: if you have a target saying that you must spend $x on food and drink, be aware that this is EXCLUDING VAT. Ensure you spend ‘x + 20%’ and then add on a bit more because IHG will probably use a duff exchange rate!

Conclusion

As long as your target is sensible, this is highly likely to be the most generous hotel promotion you are likely to see this Summer.

IHG Rewards update – December 2021:

Get bonus points: You can earn up to triple IHG Rewards base points with IHG’s new Autumn promotion. It runs from 1st October to 31st December. You can register here and our full article on the offer is here.

New to IHG Rewards? Read our overview of IHG Rewards here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our article on ‘What are IHG Rewards points worth?’ is here.

Buy points: If you need additional IHG Rewards points, you can buy them here.

You will get a 100% bonus when you buy IHG Rewards points by 4th January 2022. Click here to buy or learn more.

Want to earn more hotel points? Click here to see our complete list of promotions from IHG and the other major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.

Category

IHG Rewards

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Melvin says:

18 May18 May 20:49

Please can someone help me understand what I need to do with my current reservations to maximise my offer below?

I already have 4 nights (2 rooms) booked in July but as this was at the points break price of 5000 each, I now cannot amend without losing the points break offer. I also have another 2 reward nights booked in July too at 20k points each which, in theory, I could rebook individually via the app. Am I correct in assuming that would cover me for three out of the four offers listed? It may be four out of four but I don’t understand whether the ‘points and cash’ offer is covered too?

6,000 Stay Once Get 6,000
Thank you for being a loyal IHG® Rewards Club member. Stay once and earn 6,000 bonus points.

10,000 Stay More, Earn More
Get closer to the rewards you want when you stay 5 night(s) and earn 10,000 bonus points.

3,200 Travel with the IHG® App
Book 2 stay(s) with the IHG® App and earn 3,200 bonus points.

1,000 Stay for Less and Earn
Earn 1,000 bonus points when you book 1 stay(s) using Points and Cash. We’ll reward you with more bonus points when you use a combination of points and cash.

29,800 Your Achievement Bonus
Complete 3 of the 4 offers above and earn (an additional) 29,800 bonus points.

5,000 June Bonus Offer
Stay once in June and get 5,000 bonus points.
- Melvin says:
  
  18 May18 May 20:51
  
  Just to clarify, when I say “4 nights (2 rooms)” I mean that I’ve reserved two rooms for four consecutive nights.
  - Leo says:
    
    18 May18 May 21:02
    
    I didn’t think reward bookings count.
- TimS says:
  
  18 May18 May 21:04
  
  Reward bookings don’t count for any of the Accelerate targets I’m afraid.
  
  Only cash bookings count (except where the target explicitly refers to needing a cash & Points booking).
giggle says:

19 May19 May 00:32

I think will be giving this one a miss, only stayed 2 nights in the last promo for 10K points and now these targets are impossible, so unfair 40,800 targets are:
5,000 June Bonus Offer
Stay once in June and get 5,000 bonus points
1,000 Stay Once Get 1,000
10,800 Stay 7 nights
3,000 Stay 3 More Nights
3,000 Stay 3 More Nights
3,000 Stay 3 More Nights
15,000 Stay 3 More Nights
- ap says:
  
  23 May23 May 08:26
  
  Why are they impossible? Very harsh to say these are unfair especially as you only need to stay once in June and get 11,000 points, very easy! Your targets are very similar to mine and to my mind they reflect the stays based on previous history as did the earlier Accelerate programme. Easily achievable if you travel for business and I suspect many would be more than happy with this as their targets. A target which needs a stay in a different country would be a bit stretching.
Wayne says:

19 May19 May 16:07

Great stuff. I just got mine.

One question I have:

If I book a stay through the app, will this contribute to multiple targets (ie. Stay Once, Travel with the App, Stay More) or just one of the targets?
- TimS says:
  
  20 May20 May 10:46
  
  Multiple targets
Nick says:

26 May26 May 14:19

I love mine. In short, if I renew my Ambassador and stay one night at any non-UK IHG hotel, I pick up 45,000 points. That is on the back of a very easy target for the last promo, where I had to clock up 3 nights at different brands to get me something like 48,000 points; and the previous promo where I got 2 free nights for 2 different stays.

These promos are great: I would have to have a very good reason to stay anywhere other than an IHG hotel now.
Brian says:

29 May29 May 19:50

If I booked before 1st June but stay after 1st June (and during promotional) period will this stay qualify? Thanks
- Rob says:
  
  29 May29 May 20:42
  
  Yes, no problem
Matt says:

1 Jun1 June 13:28

5,000 June Bonus Offer
5,000 Stay Once Get 5,000
30,000 Double Points – Earn double points starting with your second stay

Ugh – I thought I’d hit the jackpot til I looked at the “double points” more closely. So 10k if I stay once in June which is alright but then the rest of the offering is just standard points doubled up to a max of 30k if I have read right? Boo!
Shelly says:

1 Jun1 June 13:32

I’m new to IHG points, please can you tell me if the accelerate bonus points count towards platinum status? Thanks
- Rob says:
  
  1 Jun1 June 15:39
  
  No. Following changes last year, the only key things that count towards status are:
  
  a) base points from stays (not elite status bonuses, not Accelerate bonuses)
  b) points earned from the IHG credit card (but NOT the sign-up bonus)
  c) points you transfer in from Virgin Atlantic