IHG Rewards Club adds an extra Accelerate promotion target

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• Andy S says:

  14 Jun14 June 07:52

  No June bonus for me. Stuck with : stay 5 nights (10k), stay at 5 brands (19k), stay at 3 hotels (3k), 2 stays of 4+ nights (12k). Not even a bonus for completing the above.

• John says:

  14 Jun14 June 08:12

  Confused about the new Curve thing.

  I’m Blue pre-Feb18 and have the 1.5% at the 20 or so shops indefinitely. Why would I want to give this up for 3 shops for 90 days?

  My wife is legacy Black and had the 3% at 6 shops for 90 days which has now expired. What are her options with the new scheme?

  • Rob says:

    14 Jun14 June 08:23

    You should definitely not switch. You need to see what your wife has in the app.

  • jane says:

    14 Jun14 June 08:25

    I wish I knew. also had legacy black but now can’t log into the app without being asked to confirm whether I want to revert to blue or pay 9.99 for “new” black. anyone got any ideas as to what is going on ?

    • John says:

      14 Jun14 June 09:12

      Hmm, are you sure it says revert to blue? Legacy black were supposed to get a free 3 or 4 month (or was it 6 months) trial of new black, then choose to revert to legacy black or start paying for new black. My wife hasn’t been asked to choose yet, and her app says she is getting the insurances which don’t come with legacy black.

      • jane says:

        14 Jun14 June 09:44

        it doesn’t say revert, it just won’t log in till I choose blue (free), black (9,.99) or metal (14.99) and no mention of legacy black. I’m wondering if I chose black whether I’ll actually get charged or not – but have messaged them to ask. not hopeful of a speedy or sensible response though !

• fivebobbill says:

  14 Jun14 June 08:15

  O/T. some advice please folks.
  I’ve just yesterday returned home from a 4 night stay at DoubleTree Hilton Minsk, and I think I have been overcharged. I paid via Hilton.com using an Advanced Purchase rate of $152.88 per night ($611.52), but on checkout yesterday morning my bill was presented in Belarusian Rubles (BYN).
  It was 6.20am, my airport transfer was waiting for me and I hadn’t time to do the conversion, but I did query the guy at the desk and he confirmed I had paid $152.88 per night, so I left.
  On checking this morning however it appears that, even allowing for a minor fluctuation in the exchange rate at time of booking to that at checkout, I have been charged at least $10 a night more than agreed.
  Question is, should I have been charged the $611.52 Advance Purchase rate I agreed back in March (or equivalent in BYR), or does that adjust to the prevailing exchange rate on the day.
  Even then, 611.52 in Rubles back when I made the booking came to 1302 BYR, they have billed me 1345 BYR, which today comes in at $650.
  I know in the grand scheme of things $40 may not be a great deal of money, but it does seem a bit underhand to me, and leaves a bad taste in the mouth from what was otherwise a lovely stay.
  Surely if you agree a rate you should be charged that rate?

  • fivebobbill says:

    14 Jun14 June 08:18

    * sorry that’s BYN. not BYR, the current Belarusian Ruble

  • Splashback says:

    14 Jun14 June 08:30

    Email executive customer services a description of what happened, and point out that because it was the advanced purchase rate your room cost should have been charged at the time of booking. The hotel’s failure to process it in a timely manner means you have suffered a consequential loss of X between date of booking and date of checkout, which they are liable for and must reimburse to you.

  • metac says:

    14 Jun14 June 08:34

    My experience is that hotels have their own exchange rate and sometimes it’s not minor at all.

  • sunguy says:

    14 Jun14 June 08:41

    Check your reciept from the hotel and make sure that there are no “extras” added (if the reciept is in Cyrillic use something like google translate on your phone to do “live” translation.

    You may well find that there is something on there you werent expecting….(a nightly tax for example that is locally payable and not included in the rate).

    If it just details room rate and that room rate is wrong, send an email to the hotel – give them 24hrs to respond and then call them – when emailing include their front office so when you call, they can see the email.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    14 Jun14 June 08:44

    In this case wasn’t the hotel rate actually in rubles and the IHG website was converting to USD to make it easier for internationals (it’s like Prague I’m seeing most hotels in CZK but one or two are being converted to EUR for some reason)

    Check your booking to see if it says what the hotels actual currency you will be charged in is.

  • John says:

    14 Jun14 June 08:58

    All these hotels which have rates in a currency that is not their local currency use dodgy exchange rates to local currency. The exception is where there is a fixed peg and the local currency is convertible or the quoted currency is also used, such as Bulgaria, Belize, Macau but not Barbados, Hungary, or as it seems, Belarus.

    The rate would be converted to BYN at the time you paid. If you really wanted to be charged in advance you should have contacted the hotel when they didn’t charge you, I guess. Hilton.com only charges you directly for prepaid bookings in the USA.

    Hilton website says all taxes are included at this hotel, so it seems to only be a hotel markup. This kind of nonsense puts me off staying at any hotels which don’t quote in their local currency, unless it is so cheap that it doesn’t matter. I’m not sure that over £100 for a hotel in Minsk is good value?

    • fivebobbill says:

      14 Jun14 June 09:08

      I just assumed John (naively it seems) that when you agree an Advanced Rate then that’s what you pay, I would think most reasonable people looking at $611 on Hilton.com would then expect to be charged $611.
      As to justifying over £100 per night, I was splitting the cost with a pal so the numbers added up. The hotel itself is exceptional, without doubt the best in Minsk, excellent service and accommodation and right on the waterfront. As a Gold member upgraded to the HH floor, excellent breakfast, free drink voucher (cocktails etc), just a very very nice place to stay. (Checkout excepted)

      • fivebobbill says:

        14 Jun14 June 09:14

        * It wasn’t a personal choice destination by the way John, I was at a Euro 2020 Qualifier, Belarus v Northern Ireland, so 4 days on Lake Garda wasn’t really an option 🙂

  • fivebobbill says:

    14 Jun14 June 08:58

    Thanks for the replies guys.
    @sunguy, bill is presented in English, cost of stay is itemised in BYN per day, and no taxes or charges added.
    @TGLoyalty, At no time on Hilton.com were Rubles (BYN) ever referred to, not during the Quote, booking process, and not in the confirmation email, all in USD. Just did a dummy booking for same hotel again and quote still in USD.

    • Andrew says:

      14 Jun14 June 12:15

      Just done a quick search myself on the Hilton.com site.

      This is what shows:-

      “The currency conversion is for comparison only; your reservations will be booked in the local hotel currency displayed. Currency rates utilized in each conversion rely upon several different public sources from other parties without independent investigation or verification and should be used only as examples. Hilton does not, and cannot, verify the accuracy of any rate conversion examples.”

      • fivebobbill says:

        14 Jun14 June 13:44

        Hadn’t seen that Andrew, in other words booking an “Advanced Purchase Rate” in my case means practically nothing at all! That statement is no more than a cop out.
        Hilton should be supplying customers with the quoted LOCAL currency charge when the conversion/quote is given online, together with their USD “estimate”, at least then the local currency quote should match what’s on the final bill at checkout.
        Hilton didn’t/don’t, I have no idea what price Hilton were quoted in Belarusian Rubles, ergo nothing to insist the hotel shoud have adhered to. Consequently I am then left open to what the hotel considers a “reasonable” USD exchange rate.
        Being ripped off for $40 is one thing, but it’s not just the money, it’s the convoluted way it is done that just leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.
        At $10 a night mark up, I’m just glad I wasn’t there for a fortnight…

        • John says:

          14 Jun14 June 14:46

          No you are missing the point, the hotel quotes its rates in USD but you can’t pay in USD. I bet they wouldn’t accept $611 in US cash either (unlike the Maldives where the hotels operate completely in USD and don’t use MVR at all). The “local currency” is USD for this hotel but their billing system does a dodgy conversion when you pay. If you asked the hotel directly you could possibly get a rate quoted in BYN

          Hilton Budapest quotes in euros but they display their EUR/HUF rate at the front desk every day, it is not the interbank rate. Hilton Sofia quotes in euros but because the Bulgarian Lev was equal to the German Mark, there is a fixed rate and they can’t scam you (and in fact they also accept payment in Euro cash)

        • fivebobbill says:

          14 Jun14 June 17:06

          I get all that, but it still doesn’t explain why, in my case, if the hotel quoted £611, I was then charged closer to $660. This wasn’t a flexible rate, it was an advance purchase, if the hotel used a certain rate back in March to issue my quote, I would expect that price to be locked in if I am paying an Advance Purchase Rate.

        • John says:

          14 Jun14 June 19:46

          They quoted $611 but what they didn’t say is that the $611 will be converted to BYN at an exchange rate of their choosing at the time they charge you.

          Advance or not doesn’t make a difference, the same thing would have happened if it was a flexible rate, or if they charged you in advance of your arrival.

          It is effectively extortion as you have no control over the exchange rate they choose, at least the first time you stay there.

          Btw, just to make sure, did you pay on a CC with no forex fees or factor the forex fees into your calculation? And was your card charged in BYN or GBP? They might have DCCed you in addition to screwing with the USD/BYN rate.

          By all means contact the hotel and ask them to justify the exchange rate they used. The problem with Hilton is that if you do a chargeback with your credit card, the hotel will inform Hilton and Hilton will close your Honors account, unless Amex decides to refund you off its own back (effectively saying that the hotel can continue this dodgy practice).

        • fivebobbill says:

          14 Jun14 June 20:33

          Paid with my LLoyds Avios Amex John, so straight rates, charge still showing as pending though, so no finer details available on the transaction yet. However I still have the old Lloyds versions and have never paid any transaction or FX fees.
          Regardless, the numbers still don’t add up, the price of 337 BYN per night doesn’t come anywhere near the $152 I was quoted, even when converted to what is pending in £ on my statement.
          The USD/BYN rate on Weds/Thurs was 1 USD – 2.07 BYN, if that had been applied the room should have cost 315 BYN per night, not 337!
          Anyway, usually takes a few days to go from “pending” to “charged” on the Lloyds account, so should maybe know better tomorrow.
          Appreciate the input.

      • fivebobbill says:

        14 Jun14 June 20:46

        Or to put it another way… They’ve effectively paid themselves a 7% mark up!

• Anna says:

  14 Jun14 June 08:24

  Bonvoy points – I have transferred 100k to my OH this year, can he still transfer some to me though? I haven’t had any points via transfer to my account yet. I am having to drain every source to cover my Langley stay in January which wasn’t in the plans but really can’t be missed at 35k per night!

  • TGLoyalty says:

    14 Jun14 June 08:45

    Yes If you haven’t received any points from anyone you can still have the full 100k sent to you.

  • Matthew says:

    14 Jun14 June 08:46

    The limit is 100,000 transferring out per account. So even if you’ve maxed that he can still transfer back up to his 100,000 transfer out allowance. I also think there is a limit of 500,000 per annum you can receive but most won’t hit that I guess.

    • Anna says:

      14 Jun14 June 09:00

      Thanks – that’ll get me a bit closer anyway. Today the Bonvoy website is saying that the hotel isn’t taking redemption bookings at the moment – don’t know if this is a technical glitch like yesterday or HFP readers have booked all the rooms!

      • meta says:

        14 Jun14 June 10:25

        For future reference, you should book on points advance and sort out points later. You have 14 days before stay to do it.

        • Matthew says:

          14 Jun14 June 10:32

          Only works now if you don’t have enough points in your account at time of booking. It used to not matter if you actually had the points but didn’t want to redeem them at the time of booking (because you are using them for something else perhaps).

        • Anna says:

          14 Jun14 June 10:40

          I have booked points advance (that’s the only way to do it AFAIK), as I only have 12k points and need 70k. OH and I have bought the maximum for this year for a high end redemption next Easter. I will do a couple of referrals from my SPG but am going to struggle to put enough spend through to cover the rest.

      • Matthew says:

        14 Jun14 June 10:31

        It often does that when your date is not available and then you select view available or flexible. The site is buggy. It’s letting me book 3 Jan for example (at The Langley) for one night….

        • meta says:

          14 Jun14 June 10:37

          @ Matthew In Anna’s case it doesn’t matter as she doesn’t have enough points. However, there is a workaround. Book something else first which you don’t want in order not to have enough points. Then book what you want and then cancel the other booking.

        • Matthew says:

          14 Jun14 June 12:43

          @meta – Yes you are quite right. A bit of a pain doing that but it works!

          @ Anna – phone amex for a retention offer on your SPG. I was given 4 points per £ for 3 months which helped boost my balance. Otherwise it might have to be a one night stay!

  • Lady London says:

    14 Jun14 June 12:46

    I like your approach of continuously finding goals to accumulate for and spending the points as soon as you have them, Anna! So much better than accumulating points then getting hit by a rules change or a dévaluation…!

    A case of this being this week’s unannounced ‘stealth devaluation’ by Hilton who have increased hotels that were 30,000, to 40,000 overnight. Some of those were worth only about 20,000 in the first place.

    In this case you’ve done well to use the ‘book before you’ve got all the points’ opportunité un thé Marriott program, as well. I am sure things like Amex SS in November will help you catch up.

    Let’s hope Langley Park has got their brekkie sorted out by then! Based on Rob’s description i’d be straught over to the Visitor Centre for that. Come to that, I’m near Langley Park soon so I might nip over for lunch sometime And check out the café.

    • Anna says:

      14 Jun14 June 14:38

      I think I’m pathologically unable to resist a travel bargain 😂. I mean 70,000 points for an £800 hotel stay where the hotel has the same name as my OH – who could resist that!

      Lady London, even if they’ve sorted the breakfast out I think the tea rooms sound like a much better option. HFP Sunday brunch in the park maybe?!

      • Matthew says:

        14 Jun14 June 14:53

        I’m the same, earn and burn. My best upcoming redemption to date is 100,000 Marriott points for 5 nights when cash rates are £1k per night due a special event! Can’t wait…..!! 😁

• Craig says:

  14 Jun14 June 08:41

  OT: Amex Plat Priority Pass, how soon do these arrive after receiving the card? Thanks.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    14 Jun14 June 08:46

    Mine has usually hit the doormat before my card if not very soon after ie 1-2 days. If you haven’t had it and really need it give them a ring and they should be able to share your app/website login details.

  • Kelvin Gray says:

    14 Jun14 June 09:46

    My PP card arrived before the Amex card.

  • Leigh says:

    14 Jun14 June 09:53

    The PP card came in quickly for main Platinum card. But the PP card for supplementary card (added later) took a lot longer – 2 weeks in my case.

  • Craig says:

    14 Jun14 June 10:18

    Thanks all, I’ve had the card a few weeks now but still no PP. I’m wondering if it’s because I already have one as a Supplementary?

    • Shoestring says:

      14 Jun14 June 10:28

      they’re very quick to send out PP cards so there’s been some glitch, just contact PP to get the cards re-sent

      (no problem previously holding a PP card)

    • Roy says:

      14 Jun14 June 19:15

      I thought PP was only for main cardholder and first supplementary cardholder?

      • Roy says:

        14 Jun14 June 19:20

        Oh, scratch that, according to Rob’s most recent article on the Platinum Card it looks like I’m completely mistaken there.

• Alex says:

  14 Jun14 June 09:09

  I had hoped that this new accelerate target would also fix the glitch many of us face this time around, preventing successful registering for the promotion. Alas, no – I’m still unable to register, although my “loyalty is appreciated”…

  • Ant says:

    14 Jun14 June 13:04

    same here

    • Oh! Matron! says:

      14 Jun14 June 16:37

      and here. Really not happy with IHG currently. Their “instant” upgrade to Plat Spire takes up to two weeks. They don’t seem to understand my unhappiness.

• SimonW says:

  14 Jun14 June 09:21

  The new metal Platinum Amex is the coolest credit card ever.

  • BlueHorizonuk says:

    14 Jun14 June 10:09

    Agreed

  • Grant says:

    14 Jun14 June 11:54

    Really? I was a bit disappointed when mine arrived yesterday. Feels more like a laminate construction than a truly metal card – the thicker layer at the back with the numbers printed on has a plasticy feel to me with only the thinner front layer appearing to be metal.

    • SimonW says:

      14 Jun14 June 12:11

      Interesting. I wouldn’t describe my one like that at all. Its thickish metal with very thin plastic, almost just a sticker, across the back. the number on the back is etched in to the metal, not printed. Is there a chance they are using different processes or machines ?

  • RakishDriver says:

    14 Jun14 June 15:56

    Is it worth the extra £125 a year and the hit on the referral points?
    Gotta give it to Amex, timed the intro of ‘metal’ card right, coinciding with an uppercut to customers.

    • SimonW says:

      14 Jun14 June 16:22

      net off the £120 Addison Lee credit, and it is £5 extra for this beautiful thing. Totally too cheap. Amex have been generous

      • Susan says:

        14 Jun14 June 19:13

        A credit which is sod all use to those outside the M25 (not that we seem to exist per most Amex offers anyway).

        • Shoestring says:

          14 Jun14 June 19:28

          Savage! I get to use quite a few & I’m down in Cornwall lol

          I was a bit fed up with £140 a year on my Gold card currently – after all, what benefits does the card itself get you??? – but the offers and referrals and 2 free lounge passes have covered the fee already – not forgetting this is the card that got me 8x £25 off £40 @Amazon a couple of months ago 🙂

          Damn black cat says: I’m all for half price As Good as It Gets/ Whiskas.

          Shoestring says: the half price single malts ain’t too bad, either, Moggs.

        • Shoestring says:

          14 Jun14 June 19:40

          Don’t forget – if you’re a car owner – the current Morrisons Amex offer could save you a decent wedge of the old greenies. Buy Morrisons vouchers at the kiosk, use them to buy fuel, save 5% on your petrol/ diesel. (Others got 7%/ 10%). I’m counting on buying up to £1000 of vouchers for this purpose, so £50 saving.

        • Graham Walsh says:

          14 Jun14 June 22:23

          Not for the Morrisson offer on any cards 🙁

        • Lady London says:

          14 Jun14 June 23:15

          Is your black cat’s name “Damn” , Shoestring?

  • Sandrounder says:

    14 Jun14 June 16:03

    But it isn’t actually a credit card….

    • Sandgrounder says:

      14 Jun14 June 16:49

      Pedantry aside, just got home and the supp for Mrs S has arrived. I have to say it is a really nice piece of kit. Very impressed. It is a great interpretation of the classic design. I am glad they dropped the ‘platinum’ on the front, it felt a bit flash.

• Shoestring says:

  14 Jun14 June 10:02

  O/T if anybody is going for the Nectar points promotion at Ebay that I mentioned yesterday, here are a couple of tips. From noon today until midnight tomorrow you can get 10% off *everything* with code PRICEWIN (min £50 purchase, though). Plus on a site beginning with Q you can get a personalised offer for an extra bonus on any Ebay purchase, my wife has got 10%. So a handy 20% off.

  • Lady London says:

    14 Jun14 June 13:02

    Ta Shoestring.

  • the_real_a says:

    14 Jun14 June 13:50

    Thanks. Saved me loads!! (but now i have to do the DIY)

  • Michael says:

    14 Jun14 June 14:51

    25 nectar for filling out a 30 second travel plans survey today on my card.

    • John says:

      14 Jun14 June 19:47

      Found 20p on the pavement when I got out of my car.

      • Shoestring says:

        14 Jun14 June 19:48

        That’s what I call a good day

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