IHG’s Unannounced Stealth Devaluation – ~450 Properties Are Changing in Cost

IHG Rewards Club Changes

Yesterday IHG announced a few changes to their rewards program including the addition of a new unnamed top tier, a shorter expiration period for points and lower qualification requirements for Gold & Platinum.

Frequent Miler covered the changes in detail and you can find the full press release from IHG here.

But Wait There’s More

If you read the press release then you know that these changes aren’t too bad. Sure the 12 month expiration period for points kind of stinks, but it isn’t a huge deal. (I’m also excited to find out more about this new top tier.)

Unfortunately there is one other significant change that is coming that was missing from their official announcement. Found on the bottom of their FAQ page:

Are the point requirements for Reward Nights changing?

Our point requirements are changing slightly for 2015, effective 1 May 2015. We’ll be raising less than 300 hotels by 5,000 or 10,000 points and we’re lowering about 150 hotels by 5,000 points. The overall point requirement of 10,000 to 50,000 points for all Reward Nights is not changing.

Sneaky Sneaky

So it seems that they didn’t feel a change in the cost of ~450 hotels was newsworthy enough to include as part of their announcement. Instead, I guess it makes sense then to bury this news on the bottom of a page explaining all of the changes. (*sarcasm)

I acknowledge that by including the information on their FAQ page they are technically announcing it, but to put out a press release and fail to mention these changes is anything but honest.

Conclusion

In a program as large as IHG Rewards Club it isn’t surprising that 300 properties will be moving up and 150 down in cost, but what is surprising is that they don’t value their customers enough to be upfront about it.

HT: One Mile at a Time

Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

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