It seems that the Big Win promotion was sufficiently successful for IHG earlier this fall; the company is using the same concept for their promotion in the first part of 2014 as well. Registration is now open and, like the previous iteration, the promotion is customized to each participant. Points are earnt based on various qualification events such as stays in different brands, booking online or other actions. The promo period is between 1 January 2014 – 30 April 2014.
Here’s what my offer looks like:
I need 5 nights total at any IHG brand, and must book at least two stays via the mobile app. I also need two brands to satisfy the “Explore our brands” part of the promo but that shouldn’t be too hard to meet if I bother to get the two stays each at different Holiday Inn and Intercontinental hotels. All told I should be able to realize 80,400 points for just five nights across four stays, assuming I am strategic in the bookings. That’s not bad, especially when I know that I’ll likely be staying at a Holiday Inn one night in January, but it is still not entirely clear that the promo is compelling.
I did the math for the prior iteration and I couldn’t make it add up. This time around it is more stays and fewer points for me. The only reason I’d even consider it is that I probably will be traveling enough places during the promo window that I can realize the stays without much in the way of extra expense; that was not the case last time around.
What’s your Big Win look like for early 2014? Are you going for it?
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I’m about the same total points, but a lot more hoops to jump through, 10 nights, 2 Saturday nights, 4 brands, etc.
I got more points (110k vs 103k) for easier stays (5 nights, just hi and hix brands). Seems like a no brainer for those of us who can get sub $100 nights.
I’m not so sure that 110k points is worth $500 in spend. That’s barely a discount on retail pricing and unless you have a specific plan for them which makes it a good value the risk would seem to outweigh the reward at that margin. At least that’s how I see it.
It’s a decent rebate if you actually can use the stays. Not so good if you’re just trying to do a mattress run. Of course, you could just book drastically lower opaque rates and forgo the points altogether, since elite benefits at IHG are so spartan.