Over the past few days you might have read on many blogs that IHG changed the terms of their “Into the Nights” promo. While I wasn’t personally affected by this change, I know MANY folks where. The terms that changed were the requirements of how many nights you needed to book through the app. For most people, this requirement changed from only needing one night to MANY nights.
When folks started to see this change, IHG ultimately said “too bad.” Apparently people were originally given the incorrect promotion and the new terms were the new requirements. This went on for a day or so and really gave IHG a bad rep.
After many complaints, IHG finally came around and have agreed that those who have already registered for the promotion can revert back to the original promotion they were given. The only problem with this is the site still gives the new terms. My assumption is the system is will not automatically give you the points if you meet the terms of the original promotion and a phone call to IHG will be required. But that is speculation, so I will be interested to see what happens with this. Per the IHG representative on FlyerTalk:
“IHG will be honoring their original offer and IHG Rewards Club Members will see their offer as complete if they made progress toward it. If the members have yet to stay toward their offer, but have already registered, it will transition back to a hurdle of one stay to complete.”
Unfortunately though, those who have yet to register will be required to complete the new terms to get the points. This is unfortunate for those who have already looked into their offer, but for some reason hasn’t yet register. But, if you call and request the original offer for your account, you should be granted that request. At least that is how I read the IHG representative on FlyerTalk:
“IHG Rewards Club Members who have yet to register or to see their offers will receive the variable stay amounts. To those who may inquire why they have a variable amount, we are honoring the original offers that members saw when they received their offers. All members who are newly registering are receiving the correct variable amounts.”
I personally reached out to my PR contact at IHG and was told that someone from IHG Rewards would be reaching out to me immediately. As expected, I still have not heard from this representative. Once I do (if I do), I will be sure to keep you all updated.
Will you continue on with this promotion? I have one out of four nights completed, so I am going to move forward. I would not be surprised if many folks stop in their tracks and never trust IHG again. Quite honestly, once this promotion is over, I will most likely not go out of my way for them again. While I understand there are sometimes mistakes, this was a massive mistake that was not discovered until weeks later. I also am quite disappointed in the way IHG handled this issue initially.
What do you all think?
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Remember, with IHG, if you complain you may just have your account shut down.
As a very loyal IHG customer I don’t trust them anymore. It’s not just this but also my wife lost a chase free night certificate that they can’t find. Sad.
@DaninMCI – So sorry that happened to you regarding the free night. Overall, definitely not good!
I totally don’t think they can be trusted, but then again, most companies can’t be. So just as with anything, make sure you keep detailed receipts / notes and be prepared to fight for the terms of the promotion. Personally we decided that the cost wasn’t worth it for us, so we’re not playing but that’s what I would do if I was.
I sent a complaint note 2 days ago, and I just received a reply that they were forwarding my concern to their coordinator. I was glad to at least get a reply, as I NEVER received a reply when contacting them about missing points from The Big Win. Honestly, I am frustrated, as I already have 4 stays logged for the promotion and I had already booked my 1 stay through the app for November.
Honestly, they are, as usual with their previous promotions, just something to keep on my check-list for week after week follow up. How many hours will be needed with email or phone calls? Did they really make a mistake on the front end, or did they feel that too many people were going to be getting 2 free nights? I am required to complete 16 stays, but many posted that they were able to get a free night with just 1 stay–that seems like more of the problem. I travel for business and have been loyal to them for years, but I’m going to start looking more closely at what other options for hotels are available through my company.
And if you haven’t already figured this out I AM PEEVED AT IHG!
It’s over 2 weeks and a stay (which would fulfill 2 of their “Into the Nights” requirements has yet to post.) Sent a missing stay request, but have yet to hear. They are always slower than other major chains in posting stays, but this is doing nothing for their loyalty program. They have good, dedicated hotels out there, but their IHG Rewards department isn’t doing them any favors.
@Bret – I am sorry to hear that. I agree though that their customer service in regards to this promotion has been terrible.
TThank you for your response.
This is the response I got from IHG rewards 17 days after a qualifying stay:
Unfortunately, we are unable to check the Into The Nights tracker on our end as we are experiencing some errors. We have also reported the issue to our contacts for further checking. Although we are unable to provide a time frame on when this will be fixed, rest assured that the team is working round the clock to resolve this issue.
@Bred – Wow! They really are messing up this promotion big time. At least there is an error so your stay will be credited at some point.