Tag Archives: lowest rate

IHG – Two nights for the price of one

Posted on April 7, 2012 | 16 Comments


Update Aug 11, 2012: Updated links to discount rates.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) includes Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Hotel Indigo and InterContinental hotels.  It’s loyalty program, Priority Club Rewards, offers incredible value in terms of free nights redemptions.  Points can be earned fast & easy and redeemed with no black-out dates.  Even without points in your Priority Club account, there are a multitude of options to make your next stay much cheaper.  I’ve already blogged about several techniques in the past.  Today I want to highlight two (more or less hidden) rates for stays in Europe:
“2-for-1” (make sure to select ‘Exclusive 2 for 1′ as Rate Preference)
 and “35% off” (make sure to select ‘Exclusive Prepaid A’ as Rate Preference)

I have a number of upcoming weekend stays for which I used the ‘Exclusive 2 for 1′ rate saving me up to 44% in hotel expenses.
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IHG Best Price Guarantee (InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Indigo Hotels)

Posted on December 21, 2011 | 10 Comments


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?

  1. 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.
  2. 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!
  3. 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)
  4. 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.
  5. 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)
  6. Enjoy your lowest rate!

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InterContinental Bucharest

Posted on March 26, 2011 | 2 Comments

For info on how to get the lowest room rates at InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Hotel Indigo, scroll down.

I’m currently staying at the InterContinental Bucharest in Romania.  The IC Bucharest has 4 published room types: Superior, Deluxe, Club IC and Junior Suite.  During my first stay in November 2010, I was upgraded from a Superior room to a Junior Suite thanks to my InterContinental Ambassador membership.  Earlier this month, I had booked a Club IC room.  Again, I was upgraded to a Junior Suite but with access to the new club lounge at the 21st floor.  If you’re unfamiliar with hotel industry terms like Club room, Club floor and Club Lounge,  read this USA Today Travel article.

As this was my third stay, I was looking for a new experience.  I spotted some pictures of the new Club rooms browsing the IC Bucharest facebook page.  So rather than be upgrade to a Junior Suite I requested to be upgraded from a superior room to a Club Room.  When arrived in the room, I realized there were still ‘old’ Club rooms too.  As the hotel was fully booked on Friday night, I requested to move to a new Club room Saturday.  So here we are today in this lovely contemporary IC Bucharest Club room:

How to get the lowest room rates at InterContinental Hotels?

  1. Determine which IHG hotels are available for your dates and destination at the IHG website.  By default the results will show the Best Available rate.
  2. 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 Lowest Internet Rate Guarantee claim.  If your claim is valid (make sure to read the terms and conditions) IHG will offer you the lower rate – 10%!
  3. Check for IHG promotions.  FrequentFlyerBonus.com has a nice overview of all current promotions (even per country).   Example: 2 Nights for the price of 1: when staying on the best flexible rate at one of hundreds of hotels around Europe including Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Express by Holiday Inn hotels.
  4. Use the 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)
  5. Enjoy your lowest rate!

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