IHG bits: earn and redeem at Kimpton, new InterCon in Singapore, hitting Spire Elite

IHG news in brief:

Get special benefits, earn points and spend points at Kimpton

IHG, owner of the Holiday Inn, HI Express, Crowne Plaza etc brands, bought the US chain Kimpton Hotels almost three years ago.

Integration has been slow on the rewards front.  The first European Kimpton, Amsterdam (which I reviewed here) opened last year as a member of IHG Rewards Club and not the Kimpton Karma loyalty scheme, causing much confusion.

IHG has now announced that the two schemes will be merged from early next year.  As an IHG Rewards Club member, you will now get extra benefits at Kimpton Hotels, which are mainly in the United States.

You will also be able to earn and redeem IHG Rewards Club points at Kimpton Hotels from ‘early 2018’ which will add a number of interesting – and generally good quality – redemption options in the US.  This is a good result for IHG Rewards Club members and, to be honest, probably a bad result for Kimpton Karma members.

New InterContinental Singapore Robertson Quay now open

The second InterContinental hotel in Singapore, at Robertson Quay, opened this week.  This was a little surprising as there had been reports of it slipping into 2018.  I am not sure if it is fully open or not.

It is too early for feedback on how it is, and I don’t know anything about the location.  Basic rooms look very small at just 23 square metres.

If you were hoping for an IHG Rewards Club special opening offer, as often happens, you will be disappointed.  The hotel is selling for the usual 60,000 IHG Rewards Club points per night.

The hotel website is here if you want to find out more.

A reminder about hitting Spire Elite status ….

With just 10 weeks left in the year, you may be looking at your IHG Rewards Club status points and wondering if you will be able to hit or retain Spire Elite for 2018.  It requires 75,000 status points in a calendar year.

One key benefit of Spire Elite is that you receive 25,000 bonus IHG Rewards Club points for achieving it.  There is an alternative option, of giving a friend free Platinum Elite status, but taking the 25,000 points is a better deal.

This means that, if you are fairly close to hitting or renewing Spire Elite status, it is worth the extra push in order to get this bonus.

The easiest route is to transfer some miles from Virgin Flying Club to IHG Rewards Club.  These count for status as I explain here.  The Virgin / IHG page on the Virgin website is here.

This article (click) looks at what other ways of earning IHG points count for status.  With only 10 weeks left, the Virgin option is probably your best shot.

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.