Was your IHG milestone bonus just a big mistake?

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In March, we reported on how IHG Rewards had quietly rolled out its new ‘milestone bonuses’.

It appeared to be based on Hilton’s milestone bonuses scheme:

Earn 10,000 bonus points for every 10 nights in 2021, with no cap

Earn an additional 20,000 bonus points for achieving 40 nights in 2021

Whilst IHG had only emailed a handful of people about their milestone bonus, it seemed that it had been rolled out to almost everyone.

If you went to your IHG Rewards account home page there was a button called ‘Messages’. When you clicked on it, you saw this:

…. and when you click through:

…. you see full details of the milestone bonus. No registration is required.

I thought the IHG milestone bonus was a decent deal. It was incremental to other promotions. For completing 40 nights, you would receive 60,000 bonus points which I value at (0.4p each) £240. This is an additional £6 rebate per night. It is obviously less valuable if you don’t manage 40 nights.

But this appears to be a big mistake ….

It seems that IHG Rewards has messed up badly.

If I look under ‘Messages’ now in my IHG Rewards account, I see this:

There is no mention of the milestone bonus.

According to the Loyalty Lobby blog, IHG said:

“We are aware of an issue some IHG Rewards members may have encountered regarding our Milestone Bonus offer. A message was made available in error to select IHG Rewards members who are not eligible to receive this offer.

We apologize for this error and are working quickly to resolve the issue with any members who mistakenly received this communication.”

Note that it is a few days since IHG made this statement, but of course nothing has been heard.

It is also isn’t clear how IHG will ‘resolve’ this. The majority of members will never know they had this offer under their ‘Messages’ tab, and as no registration was required IHG has no way of knowing who saw it and who didn’t.

The only upside, assuming that IHG does not restore eligibility for milestone bonuses, is that the current lockdown means that few people will have booked rooms on the basis of earning one.

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.

Tom says:

4 Apr4 April 06:07

I still have it.

Mind you I didn’t click the link before.
- ThinkSquare says:
  
  4 Apr4 April 08:42
  
  Same here. I’m pretty sure they didn’t email about it so I wasn’t obviously targeted.
- TJ says:
  
  4 Apr4 April 08:49
  
  +1 The milestone bonuses appear under my offers.
Vin says:

4 Apr4 April 06:35

On another note – IHG are now offering Custom Upgrades for cash (subject to availability on check-in) on points bookings, like Hilton has for a few years. Been given the chance to upgrade to a ‘Panorama Suite’ at the IC Frankfurt (21k points redemption!) for 48 euros or an Exec room for 27 euros and/or a steak dinner for 13 euros.
- Anna says:
  
  4 Apr4 April 07:30
  
  I’ve noticed this for a while, it seems to be a bit hit and miss – I’ve seen the offer showing straight after I’ve made a booking and then it hasn’t been there when I look again! I put it down to IHG IT, which can be unpredictable.
- Jimbob says:
  
  4 Apr4 April 09:12
  
  Where do these offers show? Do they show up in the app? Thanks
  - Vin says:
    
    4 Apr4 April 09:19
    
    Agree they are hit and miss and I suspect they’re hotel specific. They show up on the main website when you view your reservation.
    - Sandra says:
      
      4 Apr4 April 11:31
      
      Had these before and generally ignore them and at some IC’s been offered an upgrade for cash (in addition to the usual one grade up for Ambassador members). Never usually bother but we did take the suite for $100/night extra that IC Boston offered us at check in a few years ago as we were there for 7 nights and had a teenager with us. It gave us 1 bed apartment like space rather than the king twin room we’d booked, club room access and daily breakfast credit in the dining room of $40 – which I remember didn’t cover it for 3 of us even if we took the buffet option.
      - Sandra says:
        
        4 Apr4 April 11:33
        
        *upgrade for cash at check in desk at some IC’s
Ryan Gill says:

4 Apr4 April 08:50

OT. I assume IHG haven’t relented on their hard April end expiry of the free night certificate? I think mine was given after joining Ambassador and staying a night, probably at an IC.
- Dubious says:
  
  4 Apr4 April 08:54
  
  Nothing seen yet. I am in the same boat hoping for an extension. It hadn’t helped that some of dates for the only property available in my area of travel has shot up in price over the 40,000 points mark on some dates.
  - Sarah says:
    
    4 Apr4 April 10:27
    
    Totally agree. I have 4 days to use mine in Scotland as hotels open on 26 April but can’t go then as daughter (hopefully) will be at school. Was really hoping for an extension.
    - Anna says:
      
      4 Apr4 April 11:00
      
      You can’t even use it on Friday April 30th as it won’t let you book a stay which finishes on May 1st, which would have been an option for Scotland.
Olly says:

4 Apr4 April 09:59

I didn’t have the Milestone offer in my messages the first time it was mentioned on HfP and still don’t have it but yes, their IT is dreadful. Into fourth month of waiting for free night certificate from last year which their IT system hasn’t put into my account from Creation.
Gareth says:

4 Apr4 April 11:44

I’m on 14 nights for the year so far with IHG and should have received the 10k first bonus. I am getting plenty of the 2k bonus for 2 night stays but yesterday’s check out doesn’t show points for the 2k yet which it normally does
- James says:
  
  4 Apr4 April 12:17
  
  Thought the 2k points bonus offer per 2 nights ended March 31st? If they go on checkout date, your latest stay won’t be eligible?
  - gareth says:
    
    4 Apr4 April 17:59
    
    Ahh that makes sense then! Must be on checkout
    
    Thanks
Lynn says:

4 Apr4 April 17:36

I have a current offer of 5,000 points for 2 nights in April
- James says:
  
  4 Apr4 April 22:58
  
  Yes, this is new for April. Requires opt in.
  - Rob says:
    
    5 Apr5 April 09:55
    
    This is targetted.
Scott says:

4 Apr4 April 20:09

Maybe this isn’t relevant to what’s being discussed, but my Ambassador membership ( and weekend certificate ) were due to expire 31/12/20, but like other members, they both got extended to 31/07/21. I contacted IHG ( Ambassador email ) yesterday and they just extended both again for me until 31/12/21 – new dates all shown on App. They made it clear this would be the last extension, but to be fair, it was as easy as 2 quick emails and all sorted without any drama…. hope that helps someone in similar situation to me.