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The IHG point reward program is one of the most popular, and rewarding, hotel programs in the country. It’s a great way to earn some serious hotel rewards like upgrades, guaranteed availability as well as free hotel nights. There are four tiers in the IHG Reward Programme which starts at Club right up to Spire Elite with Gold Elite and Platinum Elite in between.
So, what do IHG Platinum Members Get?
- Exclusive Platinum Elite Discounts
- Extended Check-Out
- Platinum Elite Points Never Expire
- 50% Bonus Over Base Points
- Elite Rollover Nights
- Free Room Upgrades
- Guaranteed Room Availability
In order to achieve Platinum-level status, you will need to stay in an IHG hotel for 40 qualifying nights or collect 40,000 qualifying points in a calendar year.
How to Get IHG Platinum Elite Status
Like almost all hotel point programs, you manage to move through the reward tiers by staying at the hotel. Although you can usually find ways to increase hotel reward points, usually tier points are only available through qualifying stays. There is a small exception to IHG where it is possible to buy IHG Platinum Elite Status, but we will come on to that shortly.
40 qualifying nights need to be collected to earn the platinum status or 40,000 qualifying points. This means you’ll need to stay in an IHG hotel for an average of 1 night for every 9.1 nights in a calendar year. This status is usually achieved by business travelers, but there is a way for casual travelers to unlock the benefits the platinum tier level brings, by using the Ambassador tier.
IHG Ambassador for Platinum Elite Status
If you are part of the IHG Reward program like I am, you may have received emails from the IHG Group to join the Ambassador program.
The Ambassador program is an elite tier in the IHG roster of tiers. It offers its own individual benefits such as a free weekend hotel night, extended 4 pm checkout, and a guaranteed hotel room upgrade – and it also gives you an instant and free upgrade to the Platinum Elite tier!
There are two ways to join the Ambassador program:
- 40,000 IHG Points
- US$200 fee (approx. £155)
The Ambassador program isn’t particularly popular in the UK as the program only applies to the Intercontinental Hotel chain, of which there are only three in the UK (two in London and one in Glasgow).
But if you are an avid traveler and stay in the InterContinental hotel chain often, this is a great program to join.
We have a great IHG Ambassador review article here, so we won’t cover too much about the Ambassador program in this article, but one benefit is an immediate upgrade to the Platinum Tier to be used as normal in the IHG Holiday Inn and IHG Holiday Inn Express chain hotels.
In some cases, it can be worth paying the $200 (approx. £155) fee just for the IHG Platinum Tier status even if you don’t use the Ambassador benefits or stay in InterContinental hotels.
Is IHG Platinum Elite Status Worth It?
IHG Platinum Elite is worth it for those who stay in Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels on a regular basis. The 50% bonus points will help achieve free nights faster, plus the hotel room upgrade can help save between £50-£100 on hotel night costs per stay. For casual travelers, the benefits may not exceed the costs, but a stay of over 5 nights in a year may make this a valuable proposition.
The room upgrade savings alone can be worth it. Even just a 5-night stay the investment into the Ambassador program means each night’s upgrade would cost just £31 per night. This is without the 50% bonus points, which is the most attractive benefit and extended checkout available.
Here though are the benefits exclusively available to IHG Platinum holders, not available to the lower tier status levels:
- 50% Bonus Over Base Points
- Elite Rollover Nights
- Free Room Upgrades
- Guaranteed Room Availability
IHG Platinum Elite vs IHG Spire Elite Status
Once you have managed to reach the heights of the Platinum Elite status, without hesitation you’ll probably be looking at setting your sights on the next and final tier in the IHG roster, the Spire Elite Status. With almost double the number of qualifying nights or qualifying points required for Spire Elite than Platinum Elite, let’s take a look to see if the benefits are twice as good!
First, let’s look at the number of qualifying nights and qualifying points needed for both tiers:
- Platinum Elite – 40 qualifying nights or 40,000 qualifying points
- Spire Elite – 75 qualifying nights or 75,000 qualifying points
Here is a table showing the exclusive benefits available for both Platinum and Spire tier-level holders:
Benefit | Platinum Elite Tier | Spire Elite Tier |
---|---|---|
50% Bonus Points | Yes | – |
Elite Rollerover Nights | Yes | Yes |
Free Room Upgrades | Yes | Yes |
Guaranteed Room Availability | Yes | Yes |
100% Bonus Points | No | Yes |
Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Five Stars | No | Yes |
Unlike the Platinum level, there is no way to buy your way into the Spire Elite tier. You have to earn your way there through hotel night stays and point collecting. To reach this level you’ll need to stay in IHG hotels 1 night out of every 5 nights in a year. That’s a lot of nights!
Really though, Spire Elite’s benefits are more beneficial for business travelers. Yes, you will gain 100% bonus points over the base, which will give you more points for free nights faster, but other than this the only other major benefit is the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Five Star upgrade.
This is usually reserved for Hertz Car rental reward customers who take between 12-19 car rentals and spend between $2,400 to $3,999 (£1,850 to £3,100) in a 12-month period. This program comes with a whole range of Hertz benefits but of course, you need to hire cars often to take advantage of the perks. If not, it’s a nice but quite pointless reward.
IHG Platinum Elite Status Benefits – In Conclusion
The Platinum Elite status is a nice step up from Gold Elite. More base points, free room upgrades, and guaranteed room availability are really good benefits to have, especially if you stay regularly within IHG Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels. There are many of them across the UK. If you stay in more than 5 IHG hotel rooms a year you may find the upgrade cost to Ambassador, which gives you an immediate upgrade to Platinum Elite status worthwhile.