500 Virgin miles for joining IHG Rewards Club – no stay required

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I know what you’re thinking ….. a month ago I ran an offer whereby you could get 1,000 Avios points just for joining Marriott Rewards – no stay required. And, a day later, Marriott pulled the offer.

(Don’t ask me if you will eventually get the points for that or not. Marriott has told some people by email that the 1,000 Avios will be sent by the end of July, but that date is getting very close.)

IHG Rewards Club is now running a similar offer, although you only have 2 days left to take part.

IHG Rewards Club

If you join IHG Rewards Club via this special link (click), and do it before 31st July, you will receive 500 Virgin Flying Club miles.

To be honest, I doubt there are many HFP readers who are not already members, but if you’re not this is your chance. Virgin Flying Club does not have household accounts, so there is no benefit is signing up additional family members unless they already have an active Virgin account.

There is also a ‘fast track to Gold’ offer. If you complete three nights at IHG hotels before 30th October, you will be upgraded. Gold would usually require 10 nights.

This isn’t hugely beneficial, since you can get free Gold status by getting the free IHG Rewards Club credit card – no spending required. There are not many benefits to being Gold, although you will get a few hundred bonus points and usually a free drink or snack on every stay.

You can sign up, or discover more details, on this page of the IHG website.

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, one has a bonus of 15,000 points):

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

The UK’s most generous free Visa or Mastercard at 0.75 points / £1 Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 points bonus and the most generous non-Amex for day to day spending Read our full review

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 30,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 30,000 Virgin Points:

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points.

(Want to earn more Virgin Points? Click here to see our recent articles on Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club and click here for our home page with the latest news on earning and spending other airline and hotel points.)

Category

IHG Rewards, Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

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

Mart says:

30 Jul30 July 07:36

Just noticed when logging into Marriott

2017 DOUBLE MILES – 1K BONUS
1,000 miles

……..maybe
Lawrence Millington says:

30 Jul30 July 08:35

Used the link to sign up but can’t see any mention of 500 miles or even where to put a membership number in. Tried on mobile and the full site. Any ideas?
- Rob says:
  
  30 Jul30 July 09:08
  
  Set your earning preferences to miles and not points and you will be asked to add an airline number.
  
  There will be some coding in the link to identify you as someone who qualifies.
  - Francesca says:
    
    30 Jul30 July 09:17
    
    Where do you change your preferences on the IHG rewards page? I cannot see it
    - Floridaglen says:
      
      30 Jul30 July 09:47
      
      I have found the page, it took me ages and I nearly gave up but persistance has eventually paid off. Just follow these instructions:
      Click on your name, top right of page
      Under Quick Links, click Manage Earnings Preference
      Click Airline Miles and then enter your details
      Bingo!
  - Floridaglen says:
    
    30 Jul30 July 09:28
    
    I’ve just joined IHG using the link you provided but cannot find where to change my preference from points to miles. Also, do I need to stay to qualify for the 500 points? Thanks for any help you can give me.
    - Floridaglen says:
      
      30 Jul30 July 09:34
      
      500 Virgin miles not points, sorry!
  - Doug M says:
    
    30 Jul30 July 09:57
    
    I don’t think there is any way to enter your Flying Club details. But under My Offers it does clearly say the Virgin Bonus, and no stay required. So I guess at some point they ask, or they match via email, name or whatever and all the problems that always leads to, think Lloyds and Avios 🙂
    - Floridaglen says:
      
      30 Jul30 July 12:27
      
      You can enter your Virgin Club flying club number, see one of my posts above this one
- Roger says:
  
  30 Jul30 July 09:34
  
  I saw this about 10 days ago on Virgin FC website (under partners); and there is a link for new sign up which says 500 bonus VS miles for joining IHG rewards club.
  
  Anyone who is not sure may want to look at Virgin FC website.
Anna says:

30 Jul30 July 08:39

The most recent email from Marriott blamed BA for having difficulties posting the avios. BA don’t seem to have issues with other partners in my experience, so who knows what’s really going on?!
- JamesB says:
  
  30 Jul30 July 12:26
  
  You are lucky you are even getting a reply. My partner and parents all signed up via the offer. All three of their accounts have mysteriously disappeared, all three srill receive marriott emails despite that, all three have sent emails to customer services several weeks ago and none have got a reply.
  - Paul says:
    
    30 Jul30 July 18:04
    
    I had an issue with Marriott points posting and than disappearing, albeit not related to miles. Sent numerous emails via their Contacts web page but no reply. Then called their UK customer service line directly and it was all sorted in 5 minutes. So it maybe worth a phone call instead of emailing.
    - JamesB says:
      
      30 Jul30 July 21:59
      
      Thanks, will put it on my list for tomorrow, didn’t realise they had a UK based CS,
JB says:

30 Jul30 July 08:52

OT: morning everyone, has anyone got any experience with the Lloyds Amex upgrade voucher? Is the voucher triggered after spending £7K in a calendar year (as per T+Cs) or within year of opening account. Thanks.
- Alan says:
  
  30 Jul30 July 08:55
  
  Poorly worded T&Cs – reference period is definitely 12 months from account opening and from that date going forwards. This is of course the much more logical option, otherwise those opening the card later in, say, December would only have a few weeks to hit the spend. Voucher is issued within a few weeks of hitting spend, shows up in Avios.com account before letter arrives via snail mail.
  - JB says:
    
    30 Jul30 July 08:58
    
    Thanks for quick response Alan.
    - Alan says:
      
      30 Jul30 July 09:29
      
      You’re welcome, have had the card a few years – got my 3rd voucher ready to trigger with a couple hundred pounds of spend 😛
      - Anna says:
        
        30 Jul30 July 22:10
        
        Don’t know if it’s affecting everyone but some people are finding avios and upgrade vouchers currently not posting. I’ve had to chase mine up repeatedly; they finally applied the voucher manually last week but they honestly tried to suggest I just waited the 6 months it’s currently taking to sort out their IT systems!
Dan says:

30 Jul30 July 08:56

OT – I have the white credit card from Virgin and have applied for a supplementary card holder to be added. Will their credit card number be the same as mine or will they be issued a new number altogether? Thanks in advance.
- Genghis says:
  
  30 Jul30 July 09:07
  
  MBNA supps have the same card no as main card holder.
  - Dan says:
    
    30 Jul30 July 09:12
    
    Thanks Genghis
Chris says:

30 Jul30 July 09:08

OT but on the subject of IHG

My Creation free night was loaded to my IHG account overnight
- Genghis says:
  
  30 Jul30 July 09:19
  
  Cheers for heads up. Me too. Just rebooked my stay
- Alan says:
  
  30 Jul30 July 09:31
  
  Lol have been keeping an eye out for it most days but I think you win, Chris, for seeing it has posted! (not sure if you’re the Barclaycard-nemesis Chris from FT or not? :P)
- Alex W says:
  
  30 Jul30 July 09:40
  
  Where is this in your account? I can’t see it. There used to be a “free night status” tab on the left of the manage your account page. This has disappeared. I had the same problem when I last had a free night certificate. Can’t remember if the “free night status” tab ever reappeared but I managed to get the free night booked manually with their online chat facility.
  - Genghis says:
    
    30 Jul30 July 09:47
    
    Check your transactions to see if posted. If it shows there it’s on your main account screen. I used the app.
    - Alex W says:
      
      30 Jul30 July 10:20
      
      Checked in there not showing :-/
      - Alan says:
        
        30 Jul30 July 10:44
        
        Hmm, when did your statement get processed? You’ll see it is called ‘annual statement’ rather than the usual ‘monthly statement’ on the Creation website.
        
        I’ve found the free night part of the IHG website vanished for a few months then came back. I’ve got a clear transaction entry confirming it was added and it is correctly showing in free night section too (now that it has returned!).
      - Alex W says:
        
        30 Jul30 July 12:30
        
        Hmm. Annual statement was apparently in June, and I have just had another monthly statement with the £99 monthly fee. I have just checked again and it’s not in activity.
      - Alan says:
        
        30 Jul30 July 12:39
        
        Weird – my annual statement was July and the 2nd annual fee charge was on it – when you scrolled to the end to the mandatory annual summary that card companies need to provide you with it said “Annual fees £198.00”. Statement date was 26th July and last entry on transactions was “22 Jul +Account Fee £99.00”. My free night then posted overnight last night (it wasn’t there yesterday when I checked)
- Mr Dee says:
  
  30 Jul30 July 11:19
  
  Great me too, glad it can be booked online no messing about phoning up.
- Mr Dee says:
  
  30 Jul30 July 11:22
  
  Now, the question is what is the best value redemption to be had with the voucher in Europe 🙂
  - Rob says:
    
    30 Jul30 July 11:33
    
    Probably the IC Cannes during peak summer (or the film festival) in terms of £ value ….
Roger says:

30 Jul30 July 09:36

On subject of IHG, does anyone have any experience of HIX croydon.
It is out of my way but thinking of using a Saturday night just for a day out in London.
Any reviews or tips appreciated greatly.
- Johnny_c-l says:
  
  30 Jul30 July 10:28
  
  Stayed there about 4 years ago for a week; not very impressed overall with it. Room was tired and cold (it was winter) and staff didn’t seem interested in guests. On the plus side it’s close to East Croydon station and the local high street is a stone’s throw away.
  
  Personally I wouldn’t return, I now use Hilton Croydon which I prefer (always get Diamond upgrade to junior suite), but the location is out of the way – about £6/7 Uber ride from East Croydon.
  
  There’s a Hampton near the HIX which might be worth looking into too, but I haven’t stayed there myself.
  - Rob says:
    
    30 Jul30 July 11:36
    
    Done it as a mattress run, it is perfectly acceptable but one of the older HIX’s. It is exactly in the middle of the town centre, down a side street, so literally only seconds from all the shops. If all you want is somewhere to crash on your way in and out of London each day it’s fine.
    
    Also good for Gatwick Airport, I’d guess it is 20 minutes from East Croydon station by train.
Roger says:

30 Jul30 July 09:37

Also, from London or South-east had anyone flown to Leipzig for another HIX?
- RussellH says:
  
  30 Jul30 July 12:18
  
  Leipzig itself is well worth a visit, but looking at the hotel website there is no mention of a bus connection with the city; it is not even that convenient for the airport and no mention of a hotel shuttle, even paid for. I would be giving this one a miss.
  
  And the only direct flights seem to be Ryanair late at night. I have always travelled in and out by train – inbound all the way.