IHG Rewards Club has just become the latest program to announce plans to extend elite status, and more, following in the footsteps of Hilton Honors, World of Hyatt, and Marriott Bonvoy. Let’s take a look at the details.

IHG Rewards Club extending elite status by 12 months

IHG Rewards Club will automatically be extending all members’ elite status through January 2022, which represents a 12 month extension. This applies to all active Gold, Platinum, and Spire Elite members.

Personally I think there has been no major rush for programs extending status as we see how the situation evolves, though it’s still interesting to see that IHG took the longest to make this announcement, since they by far have the weakest elite benefits of the major programs.

Personally I have IHG Rewards Club Platinum status through the awesome IHG Premier Card. The card has a reasonable annual fee and offers all kinds of awesome ongoing perks, including Platinum status, an anniversary free night certificate, a fourth night free on award redemptions, and more.

I get lots of value from the anniversary free night certificate

Other IHG Rewards Club extensions

Prior to this, IHG Rewards Club had already announced other positive developments:

  • IHG Rewards Club is extending anniversary free night certificates that are currently active through December 31, 2020, and those issued in 2020 will be valid for 18 months (rather than the usual 12 months)
  • InterContinental Ambassador complimentary free night certificates are being extended by three months (for members as of March 15, 2020)
  • For those looking to earn IHG Rewards Club elite status (either from scratch, or looking to upgrade a level), elite requirements have been reduced by 25% for 2020
  • IHG Rewards Club has paused points expiration through December 31, 2020

I get lots of value from the anniversary free night certificate

Bottom line

It’s nice to see IHG Rewards Club also extending elite status by a year. While IHG has weak elite benefits, they have a huge global footprint, so for me they’re a useful backup program.

Are you happy to see IHG extending elite status by a year?

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