IHG RESTRUCTURES REWARDS CLUB, ADDS BUSINESS REWARDS
InterContinental Hotels Group has unveiled changes to its IHG Rewards Club. Beginning in July, Rewards Club will introduce a new top membership level. This top tier can be reached by earning 75,000 qualifying points or staying at IHG hotels for 75 qualifying nights, over the course of a year.
Members in this new level will earn 100 percent extra bonus points on qualifying stays. Members of this newest level will also be able to choose between receiving 25,000 points or upgrading a friend or family member to Platinum. The qualification requirements for all membership levels have been restructured. Club members will need to earn just 10,000 qualifying points or stay for 10 qualifying nights to be eligible for Gold membership. Gold members will need to earn 40,000 qualifying points or stay for 40 qualifying nights to reach Platinum membership.
Starting in May, all points for IHG Rewards Club Members will expire if they have not earned or redeemed any points at all in the previous 12 months.
To get complete details visit ihg.com. In other Rewards Club news, IHG has launched IHG Business Rewards, offering IHG Rewards Club points on all qualified business bookings made by members on behalf of others. There is no booking threshold and no minimum qualifying spend.
All IHG Business Rewards bookings will also count toward achieving IHG Rewards Club Gold or Platinum tier status, when the same member books and stays at an IHG hotel. Members can use IHG Business Rewards points with all the redemption options available in the IHG Rewards Club global catalog.
For more information visit ihg.com/businessrewards.
Time to Give Back
As loyalty programs change and offer more and varied experiences, HHonors has teamed with PointWorthy.com to include a way to give back to others using points.
Head to the hhonors3.hilton. com to read through the easy steps and link to pointworthy site.You can donate to organizations that will care for animals (WWF), feed the hungry in the US (Feeding America), recycle soap (Global Soap Project) and more. There is also a search engine, which allows you to search for a specific charity or one in your state.
There is definitely something here for anyone who wants to give back. Alaska Airlines has announced they will reward you with 1,000 bonus miles if you tag your bag at home. They are calling it their“newest timesaving trick.”For your travel to select cities, you can log onto their website and print out your bag tags before you leave for the airport.
When you arrive at the airport, you leave your bags with the Self-Tag Express bag drop area in the ticketing lobby. They have a bag tag holder for your use – which you can pick up at the airport or have mailed to you ahead of time. The 1,000-point bonus offer is good through Oct. 20.
Online Self-Tag Express is already available for nearly 75 cities in the Alaska Air network, with another 25 coming soon. All the details can be found at alaskaair.com.