Accelerate Is Back! Sign Up For The Next IHG Promotion Now

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IHG promotions have gone from being one of the most interesting offers out there to just plain disappointing. After flipping the script and encouraging people to find ways to maximize promotions, they went away from that formula last summer and came out with some yawners like Double Points Plus More or Easy Like Summer which provided a discount over normal rates and a gas discount (for which I never received my code).

In January 2019, IHG came back with an Accelerate promotion, but they didn’t call it Accelerate. Instead, they called it Free Nights, Faster. Our offers for that deal weren’t anything worthwhile so I was hoping the next promo would bring something good.

Offers for the current Accelerate promotion must be completed between May 1, 2019, and August 31, 2019 (both dates inclusive). You need to register for the promotion by June 18, 2019.

To register, click on THIS LINK

Here are the offers we received:

I checked my offer first. I’ve usually received the better IHG offers because until recently I was the only one in the family with the IHG credit card so we credited most of our stays to my account.

Sadly, that didn’t help this time around.

• 8,000 points for staying four or more nights
• 4,500 points for booking a Points & Cash reservation
• 2,800 points for staying at two IHG hotels
• 6,600 points for booking two Bonus Points Packages

The maximum number of points I could earn with these offers is 21,900. Giving a value of 0.5 cents per point, which is what I can buy IHG points for, the offer is worth $109.50. But to earn those points, I’d have to book two bonus points packages (which I’d normally never do) and make a Points & Cash reservation, which is also usually not a good deal. Sure, I could just stay at two IHG brands and have one four night stay, but that only earns 10,800 points, a value of $54. Not worth moving stays for.

What about Sharon’s offer?

• 14,400 points for staying at three IHG brands
• 5,600 points for staying two weekends including a Saturday night
• 2,800 points for staying at two IHG hotels
• 6,600 points for booking three Bonus Points Packages
• 4,000 points for booking one stay of 4 or more consecutive nights
• 1,500 points for paying with one stay with the IHG Rewards Select Credit card

OK IHG, that’s a little more like it. Now, this is missing a kicker bonus but I think this is something we can work with.

We already have a 4-night stay at an IHG hotel booked using our Citi Prestige, taking advantage of the fourth-night free benefit. Since bookings through the concierge still count for loyalty stays, that will get us 4,000 points.

We need to book another weekend stay so that’s another 5,600 points. I can pay for that stay with the IHG card to earn an extra 1,500 points but I’ll have to see if it’s worth it instead of using a different card.

But wait, I’m forgetting about playing in two-player mode. We will earn 4,000 points for the stay already booked under Sharon’s account. We could earn 5,600 points by booking the second, four-night weekend stay (at the same hotel) and 1,500 extra points using the IHG card OR I could book the same stay on my account, pay however I want, and earn 8,000 points. If it’s not too expensive, I could even book a points & cash stay for 4,500 more points.

I’ve brought up the possibility of staying at a different IHG hotel or splitting our stay to earn more points but that idea got shot down like a lead balloon. There’s only so much we’re willing to do to earn extra points. Your Mileage May Vary.

I’ve still got to think this over but that’s what is great about Accelerate. You can decide which is the best way to maximize your offers. I have an ultra-cheap hotel night booked for myself at a different chain but it might make sense to move that to IHG if I can get some bonus points.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary