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IHG Rewards Club: Gold status after one stay
Pic: IHG Rewards Club membership cards: Club, Gold and Platinum
Last week, I published a post with all known IHG Rewards Club bonus codes. I decided to put them to the test and registered a new IHG Rewards Club account for my father. Last weekend, I did a mattress run at nearby Holiday Inn Brussels Airport and today the results came in. Not every promotion code worked, but most did. What would have normally been a 987 points stay, turned into a 22,487 points stay thanks to the bonus codes! I also earned Gold Status thanks to promotional code 1038. (new!)
Pic: IHG Rewards Club – Account Activity after a 1 night stay using all bonus codes.
I value IHG Rewards Club points at $70 per 10,000 points, which is the cheapest price you can buy them at using the points + cash trick. This stay earned me around $150 in points which I can redeem for 4 free nights using the PointBreaks offer. Staying 2 more times at two different IHG brands (total of 3 nights) will complete my The Big Win offer, netting me another 50,000 points!
Lufthansa Business Class to 2014 World Cup in Brazil
Business Class award availability from Europe to Brazil during the 2014 World Cup is almost non-existing. Being creative with your routing, can provide some alternatives.
Flying from Frankfurt to Buenos Aires to Sao Paulo is a great example of an alternative routing. A standard award search on United.com or ExpertFlyer doesn’t show business class availably between Frankfurt and Buenos Aires. However, Lufthansa Miles & More members do have the possibility to book business class awards on flights LH510 and LH511. Add Turkish Airlines fifth freedom flights TK15 and TK16 (Buenos Aires – Sao Paulo) and your itinerary is complete. Surprisingly, Turkish Airlines has plenty of business class award availability on the EZE-GRU segments.
Pic: From Brussels (BRU) to Frankfurt (FRA) to Buenos Aires (EZE) to Sao Paulo (GRU)
I called my Miles & More service center and made a tentative booking BRU-FRA-EZE-GRU-EZE-FRA-BRU with all segments in business class and stopover in EZE. I wanted to make sure the itinerary would price & ticket correctly, and it did. But at 135K miles and 663€ taxes & fees (!!) it didn’t really feel as a great award booking. Adding the fact flights LH510/LH511 between Frankfurt and Buenos Aires would be operated by B747-400 aircraft (high chance of having the old business class cabin), and my initial excitement was gone. Anyway, this was just a first attempt. I’m sure there are more opportunities for alternative routings out there. Do you know them? Please share! Thanks.
This was TravelMagic 2013
On Saturday September 21, more than 125 attendees from 12 countries gathered at The Hotel Brussels for frequent traveler seminar ‘TravelMagic 2013‘. Read reviews at De Standaard, Dailybits and Ikvliegveel.nl, check our pictures and learn from Thijs Feryn’s presentation “Lufthansa Miles & More + Credit Cards for Belgians“. Enjoy!
All IHG Rewards Club Bonus Points Codes
Update Jan 2014: Make sure to check the IHG Rewards Club 2014 Promo Codes list
IHG Rewards Club (previously known as Priority Club) is the loyalty program of InterContinental Hotels, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo and some smaller brands. The program offers a number of bonus codes which allow you to earn thousands of extra points. In fact, after one stay using the codes below, you’ll earn enough points for at least one free night! (free nights start at 5000 points)
If you don’t have an IHG Rewards Club account yet, register here.
Visit this link to register for all bonus codes or click on the codes below.
Book Direct – 2619 (2000 Bonus Points, up to 4 stays)
5000 point Platinum – 4777 (5000 Bonus Points)
New member bonus – 4648 (1500 Bonus Points)
New member bonus for 90 Days – 1027 (3000 Bonus Points per stay)
Elite Member Next Stay Bonus – 2785 (3000 Bonus Points)
Elite Member Next Stay Bonus – 3825 (3000 Bonus Points)
Elite Member Next Stay Bonus – 1012 (5000 Bonus Points)
Elite Member Next Stay Bonus – 1037 (5000 Bonus Points)
Next Stay Bonus – 7641 (1500 Bonus Points)
Next Stay Bonus – 4041 (3000 Bonus Points)
Welcome Back Bonus – 2656 (1500 Bonus Points)
Welcome Back Bonus – 1023 (3000 Bonus Points)
1000 Bonus Points for 60 Days – 4709 (1000 Bonus Points per stay)
2000 Bonus Points for 60 Days – 1041 (2000 Bonus Points per stay)
Anniversary Bonus for 90 Days – 4644 (1000 Bonus Points per stay)
Remark: Some of the codes might require elite level status. You can obtain elite level by status match (e.g. Le Club AccorHotels Platinum -> Best Western Rewards -> IHG Rewards Club) or by buying an IHG InterContinental Ambassador membership.
Pic: After entering all bonus codes, you’ll see something like this under “My Offer Status”
But there’s more… until the end of 2013, you can participate in The Big Win offer. New members can earn up to 50,000 bonus points, existing members even more. As a new member you can earn the 50K points after just four nights:
- Stay 4 nights
- Stay at 3 different brands (e.g. Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn Express)
- Include 2 Saturday Nights
- Use the IHG website to make your bookings
- Complete a small survey
Conclusion: Using the promotion codes above in combination with The Big Win offer, you can earn A LOT of extra IHG Rewards Club points. Free nights start at 5000 points (PointBreaks), making this a very attractive offer.
Hat tip: LoyatlyLobby
Best last minute hotel booking apps + promo codes
In preparation of my TravelMagic 2013 presentation, I’ve been reviewing a number of last minute hotel booking apps. I’ve selected 3 mobile applications which provide the best hotel deals. Summary:
JustBook: Use voucher code ‘N24’ for €20 discount on your booking. (Update Oct 2013: N24 code expired, use ‘CJ2URGSCC’ for €10 discount on your first booking)
You’ll also earn 500 Lufthansa Miles & More Award miles on your first booking + 2 miles per euro spent.
HotelTonight: Use promo code ‘BLAPERS’ for €20 discount on your first booking.
VeryLastRoom: Use promo code ‘$LAPERS’ for €15 discount on your first booking.
JustBook
The Justbook app offers discounted rates for hotels in +100 European cities which can be booked up to 7 days in advance. The real deals are last minute, posted on the day of arrival at 10am.
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