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- IHG has said that the devaluation was a technical glitch
Wow…what a middle finger to IHG cardholders. If you’re unfamiliar with what I’m referring to…if you hold an IHG Premier or an old IHG Rewards Select you receive an annual night certificate worth up to 40k per night. Hotels are now pricing at the magic level of 41k. Gimme a break.
When IHG introduced dynamic pricing, many hotels would dip below the threshold when demand wasn’t high, and it took a bit of the sting out of their move from a fixed award chart to demand based. That sting just became a welt.
It was one thing to read about the 30%+ overnight, without warning, devaluation to the IHG program. That, in and of itself, is terrible communication and lacks respect of those who have been loyal to the brand over the years. We’re sensible people, but give us warning and ability to navigate. Programs devalue all the time, but to do it in the dead of night, amidst a pandemic, is pretty terrible. But…introducing a new level of pricing that just barely moves a property out of qualifying for an IHG free night is pretty awful. The rate for the IHG was a little over $260.
As an FYI…here are the cash prices for Sept 3rd to 4th.
- IHG is $.0064 per point
- Kimpton is $0.0034
Here you can see the terms and conditions for the free night certificate – 40k or less
I searched with Free Night stipulated to see if it would indeed work ( maybe they folded in properties that were within 1k points – giving IHG the benefit of the doubt ). Nope. Didn’t work.
However…when I changed the dates into December, the 19th and 20th to be exact when rates are around $220.
the property prices at 35k and it works. Roughly $0.0062 per point.
You can also see the Kimpton plummet in points. No surprise here – Chicago in December is brutal. But a 40k point swing at Kimpton Hotel Monaco.
Overall
Was it purposeful? They certainly could have programmed their code to bump anything around 40k down to 40k. Dynamic pricing means rates will fluctuate and could land on 41k, but as you can see from examples the algo doesn’t assign a fixed value to the points in any predictive manner. Is it offer season? Amount of rooms booked? Who knows. But negating award certificates by pricing a mere 1000 points ( which could be bought for roughly $6 using Cash and Points ) seems pretty petty.
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It’s a real shame what IHG has done over the years to their loyal customers. I used to be Platinum, but ever since they started experimenting and aggressively devaluing their program, I hardly stay at their properties. Bonvoy, Hilton, Hyatt.
Normally I’d jump on this issue as well except I just did a search for a few properties and found a couple at 39,000 points that normally run 40 to 60k. I think the hotels will be to blame for this as well as demand. For example I’ve been trying to book the Crowne Plaza Tel Aviv for later this year and some nights it’s 39k and others it’s 60k. That is a big swing in price. To me that’s like saying the cash rate is $150 or $300 depending on the night.
Not surprised one bit.
This is coming from the same geniuses that promised a free uncapped night after a year with their CC, but then changed the terms before the year was up!
Maybe getting your marketing degree by watching InstaGram videos wasn’t such a good idea!
IHG’s point values seem to be randomly generated. I just booked two nights in Pittsburgh next year at the Kimpton at just over .9 cpp. It will be interesting to see how their point values change once all of you have ditched this shameful and terrible program.
IHG is the WORST!
Hyatt all the way. So glad I stuck with Hyatt since 2016.
Well, hopefully they’ll make the points easier to get and adjust the free night certificate some. I’m not holding my breath on either of them and it’s one more reason to not collect IHG points. They are becoming the pesos of the hotel industry.
And their credit card earns 1x on most spend. So a 0.3% return per dollar spent. What a joke. Its no wonder no one spends on the card
I couldn’t agree more. The IHG credit card is absolutely useless. I have never used it for anything other than the sign-up bonus and can’t imagine that I ever will.
Terrible but good to know.
Marriott: Bonvoyed
IHG: Hold my beer
What’s shameful about it? Their program, their rules. If someone don’t like it then they can go to Marriott, Hyatt or Hilton.
Shut up, Hank.
This is the correct take, Hank. It’s a business decision. It might turn out to be a bad one, but shameful it’s not. The sooner people realize that they are the mice in these little experiments, the better off they’ll be.
Shut up Hank.
I agree. Its their program and they can offer what they want.
IHG offers almost nothing to elite members and their rewards program is very poor.
So if people still decide to stay there instead of Hyatt, marriott, Hilton who have far superior programs then its their own fault and they shouldnt complain. Instead blame themselves for selecting the wrong program.