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Ultimate Guide to IHG Hotels

January 10, 2025 by Worldly Express

I'm not sure why, but I have an unfounded love towards the Dove bathroom products found in Holiday Inn Express. I am here to walk you through how to get the most out of the IHG program!




Top 5 Takeaways

  1. Purchasing Points: IHG points very often go on sale for 0.5 cents per point throughout the year.
  2. InterContinental Ambassador Status: Buy InterContinental Ambassador status for $225 or 45,000 IHG points. The status comes handy for those that do not want a credit card or those that often stay at InterContinental Hotels.
  3. 4th Night Free: The 4th night is free on all award bookings. Combined with the points sales and IHG awards often costing 0.5 cents per point or more, buying points for a free fifth night is really easy to achieve.
  4. Credit Card Diamond Status: Spending $40k on IHG One Premier or IHG One Premier Business will grant IHG One Diamond Status
  5. Annual Lounge Membership The IHG milestones offer an annual lounge membership at 40 nights and 70 nights.

Earning IHG Points

IHG Stays

The IHG points earning rate is based on the amount of money spent. The budget extended stay brands Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites earning half of what other brands earn. The earning rate below is for standard IHG hotels and resorts, not for the aforementioned budget extended stay brands.

Club (no status): 10 points per dollar
Silver : 12 points per dollar
Gold : 14 points per dollar
Platinum : 16 points per dollar
Diamond : 20 points per dollar

It is possible to substitute earning IHG points on IHG Hotels and Resorts for airline miles and Rakuten. Most airline miles are earned at a rate of 2 miles per dollar for all IHG properties except Candlewood Suites and Staybridge Suites. *Please do note that like most other hotel programs, booking through third party like Expedia or travel portals don't earn points.

Buying Points

My favorite way of earning IHG Points (except credit card welcome offers)! Normally, points are on sale for 1 cent per point but many times throughout the year, points sales come with a 100% bonus , pretty amazing when coupled with 4th night free! Unfortunately, there is maximum of 200,000 points purchased per account per year, a total of 400,000 points with the 100% purchase bonus.

Meetings and Events

Earn 3 point per dollar when hosting a meeting or event at a IHG hotel, up to 60,000 points each year.

Dining Portal

Much like other programs, a credit card can be linked to their dining program to earn IHG points on partnered restaurants. Note that linking a credit card to one dining program will usually unlink it from others. As IHG points are not worth that much, I would advise against this.

Transfer Partners

All of the below transfer partners represent a poor value at the ratio they are transfer. At the transfer ratio listed below, I would highly discourage transferring.

Chase UR: 1 Ultimate Rewards point to 1 IHG points.
Bilt: 1 Bilt point to 1 IHG points.
Diners Club: 1250 Club Rewards to 2000 IHG Points
Virgin Atlantic: 10,000 Virgin Points to 15,000 IHG points
Amtrak: 5000 Amtrak points to 10,000 IHG points

Everyday Partners

OpenTable: Earn 150 points for each reservation made through IHG.

Redeeming IHG Points

IHG Stays

IHG no longer has an award chart, but rather are completely dynamic. Keep in mind that if resort fees are applicable, then the resort fees will be tacked on to the award cost. The next 3 sections offer some quirks of paying for IHG stays.

Pay with Points and Money

IHG allows for the flexibility to pay with a combination of points and cash. The trick here is that you can often "buy" points at half a cent each to cover the cost of the stay. If you cancel, you will receive the full refund in cash.

Fourth Night Free

For IHG One RewardsPremier and IHG One Rewards Premier Business card holders, The maximum number of nights per stay is 20 nights, so a total of 4 free award nights per stay. Note that pay with points and cash will not trigger this benefit.

Points Pooling

Members can transfer or receive up to 100,000 points to another member. Note that to join a pool, the joining member must have held their account for at least 30 days and at least 1,000 points. This is a terrible deal because you have to pay 0.5 cents per point transferred. However, if you have diamond status, it would be free to transfer points.

Donating Points

IHG allows for donation of points.

Transfer Partners

Transfer IHG points to airlines at a rate of 10,000 IHG points to 2,000 airline miles.

IHG Elite Status

Elite Status Requirements and Benefits



IHG has 3 basic tiers of elite status after general members. Each tier could be earned with either enough points accumulated or nights stayed in a year. Just like all major hotel groups, elite nights and points are only earned when booking direct or through portals like Amex FHR and Chase the Edit. It is my opinion that the easiest way to qualify for IHG elite status is to hold the applicable credit card.

Platinum status is the highest status to achieve only by holding a credit card. The status is the first status that allows for complimentary upgrades and early check-in. Other benefits I value are as below:

  • Free Breakfast (Diamond Status only)
  • Free Bottled Water (I know it's odd but I hate paying for water and some hotels don't have water fountains.)
  • Rewards Nights Discount
  • Complimentary Upgrades (subject to availability)
  • Late Check-Out (subject to availability)
  • Early Check-In (subject to availability)

InterContinental Ambassador

InterContinental Ambassador program is a paid program that will offer perks for a fee. For people adverse to credit cards but stay at IHG Hotels, this is an easy way to earn IHG Platinum status and getting a buy one get one free coupon for InterContinental stays with it.

Cost: $225 or 45,000 IHG points per year
Below are the benefits that are only applicable at InterContinental Hotels, in order of ones I prioritize:

  • 1 Free Weekend Night: Buy one get one free on a weekend night at a InterContinental property. Valid on the second night of a minimum two-night paid weekend stay on the Ambassador Complimentary Weekend Night Rate at any InterContinental Hotels & Resorts property worldwide, excluding InterContinental Alliance Resorts.
  • Guaranteed Room Upgrade: Guaranteed 1 category room upgrade on paid stays that includes suites but not one to lounge access.
  • Guaranteed 4 Pm Late Checkout
  • $20 Food and Beverage Credit per Stay: For restaurants, bars, and minibars at InterContinental but not in-room dining.
  • Complimentary mineral water
  • In Greater China:
    • Complimentary breakfast for one (Mainland China only)
    • 15% discount at restaurants and bars
    • Fruit platter for Platinum & Diamond Elite members
    • 120RMB credit at restaurants and bars. Only for Diamond Elite members only

InterContinental Royal Ambassador

Different from the regular Ambassador program, the Royal Ambassador program is invitation only. This is an invitation only status so requirements for invitation are not clear. Below are the benefits that are only applicable at InterContinental Hotels.

  • Guaranteed 2 room category upgrade
  • Club InterContinental lounge access for member and 1 guest
  • Full breakfast for 2
  • 70,000 point free night at any IHG hotels
  • Guaranteed 10 am early check-in
  • Guaranteed 4 pm late check-out
  • 1 Free Weekend Night (same as regular Ambassador)
  • 25 food and beverage credits ($20 each)
  • Welcome amenity (choice of fruit or sweet or savory snack on day of arrival)
  • Complimentary mineral water
  • Waived amenity and destination fees but not resort fees.
  • Single-room rate for double occupancy
  • Guaranteed room availability with 24-hour advance reservation

Kimpton Inner Circle

For the most loyal of Kimpton hotel fans, Kimpton offers a Kimpton Inner Circle status. This is an invitation only status so requirements for invitation are not clear. However, one must at least be a diamond member to qualify. The benefits for staying at a Kimpton Hotel are listed below:

  • Inner Circle Amenity
  • Complimentary Chef’s Taste
  • Complimentary Night at New Hotels
  • Premium internet
  • VIP Dedicated Phone Line
  • Guaranteed 1 category room upgrade
  • Guaranteed 10 am early check-in
  • Guaranteed 4 pm late check-out
  • Waived amenity and destination fees but not resort fees.

Rollover Elite Nights

Any excess elite nights after reaching a certain status threshold will count towards the elite qualification of next year.

Milestone Rewards



After reaching a certain amount of elite nights, IHG throws out rewards correspondingly. Details about each choice:

  • Confirmable Suite Upgrades: Can be used to upgrade to a base suite for up to 5 nights. The suite upgrade can only be used 14 days before the paid or award stay.
  • Annual Lounge Membership Receive Club Lounge access for the receiving member plus one guest for the rest of the calendar year and the following calendar year. InterContinental Alliance Resorts are excluded.
  • Food and Beverage Credit: $20 in food and beverage at IHG hotels
To me, the sweet spot in this milestone chart would be at 40 nights, where you can choose an annual lounge membership.
Regarding the other choices, each IHG point is worth 0.5 cents per point. That means 5,000 IHG points is equivalent to $25 and 10,000 IHG points is equivalent to $50. Since each food and beverage credit is worth $20, 2 food and beverage credit will be equivalent to $40 while 5 would be equivalent to $100. For me, confirmable suite upgrade would be my first pick, especially at 10 nights, where the food and beverage credit and bonus points are not that high. Next, I would pick the food and beverage credit, since mathematically, the dollar amount is greater when picking this choice.

Instant Status

IHG offers instant status . For the rest of the year, earn IHG One Silver status. If you stay at least 5 nights this year, earn Gold status for the rest of this year and the next. If you stay at least 10 nights this year, earn Platinum status for the rest of this year and the next.

IHG Credit Cards

IHG One credit cards offer solid perks low annual fees. Note that there are legacy IHG Rewards Select cards, but because there is no way to apply for them any more, this article will not cover them.

IHG One Traveler

The no annual fee IHG is a great downgrade option, like every no annual fee co-branded credit card. However, the free card punches above its weight class in several ways. The card comes with automatic IHG Silver status. The card also comes with 4th night free perk.

IHG One Rewards Premier and Premier Business

The personal and premier cards essentially come with the same benefits. The only difference between the two cards are the 5x multipliers. The draw of the card would be the annual top off able 40,000 point anniversary free night (essentially worth $200) and IHG Platinum status. Spending $40k on the card can be a fast way to get to IHG Diamond status as well. Considering the base is essentially 1.5% back, it is not the worst deal in the world to get free breakfast.