Pic: InterContinental Hotel Group – Best Price Guarantee
I’ve been monitoring the room rates at InterContinental Madrid for an upcoming weekend trip in January. Yesterday, I spotted a rate at olotels.com (via HotelsCombined.com) which was much lower than the published rate on the IHG website. 
Pic: Olohotels.com InterContinental Madrid €99/night rate (incl. tax)
Pic: InterContinental.com IC Madrid €146,88/night rate (incl. tax)
After verifying the IHG Best Price Guarantee Terms and Conditions once more, I booked the more expensive rate at the IHG website and submitted a Best Price Guarantee claim. As I didn’t receive a reply on my online claim, I called the IHG Best Price Guarantee Support Desk who assured me an email was on its way. This morning I received confirmation of my complimentary first night and the lower €99 rate for my second night at InterContinental Madrid. Two nights at a five star property in Madrid for €99, another great deal! 
How to get the lowest room rates at IHG Hotels?
- BEST AVAILABLE RATE: Determine which IHG hotels (InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Indigo, …) are available for your dates and destination at the IHG website. By default the results will show the Best Available rate.
- BEST PRICE GUARANTEE: Use HotelsCombined.com (or similar) to determine if a third party website is selling the same hotel room at a cheaper price. If that’s the case, submit a Best Price Guarantee claim. If your claim is valid (make sure to read the terms and conditions) IHG will match the lower price, and give you your first night free!
- IHG PROMOTIONS: FrequentFlyerBonus.com has a nice overview of all current promotions (even per country). Also check IHG Weekend Breaks (2 for 1, 3 for 2, 35% discount)
- PRIORITY CLUB POINTBREAKS: Check if the hotel is not listed on the PointBreaks list. If you’re lucky, you can redeem a free night for only 5000 PriorityClub points! If the hotel rate is really expensive and not listed on the PointBreaks list, you can still pay the regular points price to redeem a free night.
- FRIENDS AND FAMILY RATE: If available, this will most likely be the lowest rate but you won’t receive PriorityClub points nor is the hotel obligated to provide you with any of your status privileges (Ambassador upgrades, PriorityClub perks, etc..) You don’t have friends or family working at IHG? No worries, we’re all friends of Doug Castor (Global Sourcing Manager with IHG) He’s sharing his personal link to the IHG Friends and Family rate on his twitter account (which I used successfully in the past)
- Enjoy your lowest rate!
