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[Updated 2020.12] I forgot to update this post earlier—it should have been updated back in July. The new round of this promotion offers rates as low as 30% off, valid from 2020.7.30 through 2021.7.31. Details here:

Also, I have to mention IHG’s WeChat mini program—it is incredibly well done and basically has everything you would want.

[Updated 2019.12] You can now book this elite member weekend promotion directly in the IHG WeChat mini program (for Gold members and above), which is very convenient. See the official IHG explanation.

After opening the mini program, you can directly select “Elite Member Weekend Special” under rate preferences. You can also choose the CITIC 15% off rate as usual (you need to pay with a CITIC co-branded card; this also used to require phone booking). This improvement is genuinely very convenient. There is no need to call in anymore, and price comparison is much easier too (the phone-booking comparison process described earlier in this post was much more complicated). Even those of us in the U.S. can now book remotely with ease. My guess is that you also no longer need to change your billing address to one in China. Big thumbs-up to IHG for this improvement!

If you want to help family members in China book this as well, you can use the following methods to help them get Gold status, then bind their IHG account to your secondary WeChat account and make the booking yourself (one WeChat app allows login/switching between two accounts). The room charge is paid at check-in, and you can use an authorized user card you got for them or their own CITIC co-branded card.

[Updated 2019.10] Today I used “Extraordinary Privileges” again to book a hotel (available to IHG Gold members and above). The phone agent required the account billing address to be in Greater China in order to make the booking. In my earlier real-world booking example in this post, a U.S. billing address worked fine. Since the booking walkthrough below is a bit too complicated, I’ll also share this latest data point here. This time I booked a Holiday Inn Express (an HIE with breakfast for two included) for Friday through Sunday. HIE itself does not offer many special elite perks, but compared with booking directly through the official website, the final savings were very substantial:

Note: the standard room and standard king room had the same rate on the official website. By booking “Extraordinary Privileges” over the phone, I saved 150 RMB after tax for the two-night stay.

Changing the billing address on your IHG account may cause you to miss U.S. promotions, but at the same time it may allow you to register for promotions exclusive to Greater China. You can always change it back later, though I recommend waiting until after the stay is completed.

Some readers may not realize that hotel discounts or promotions can vary by region (or maybe they do know, but assume they are not useful for those of us living in the U.S.). In fact, some of these promotions can still work for people living in the U.S. For example, in my earlier posts “Summary of Overseas (U.S.) Cashback on Chinese Mainland Credit Cards,” “Hilton 5,000-Point Hotels,” and “Hilton 10,000-Point Hotels,” I mentioned Hilton promotions in Asia-Pacific or mainland China. Basically, as long as you register and stay in the relevant region, the promo will trigger. IHG has a large hotel footprint in Greater China and also likes to run promotions specific to the region. Some of these require your billing address to be in Greater China to qualify (my impression is these usually require separate enrollment), while others do not (usually the ones that do not require enrollment).

IHG Spire Elite Benefits in Greater China

IHG elite status is mainly divided into: basic members, Gold Elite, Platinum Elite (the Chase IHG Primier credit card gives Platinum), and Spire Elite (which is essentially IHG’s top elite tier). In reality, IHG has long lagged behind the other major hotel groups when it comes to elite benefits. Given the large number of hotels and members in Greater China, IHG has been trying to make some changes, and it has introduced some special elite benefits in the Greater China region, mainly for Spire Elite members, including Spire Elite, InterContinental Ambassador Spire Elite, and Royal Ambassador Spire Elite.

Greater China exclusive benefits:

  • Stays at InterContinental Hotels & Resorts in Greater China receive a dining voucher worth 120 RMB
  • Stays at Hotel Indigo receive a dining voucher worth 90 RMB
  • Stays at Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts receive a dining voucher worth 60 RMB (for hotels in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, this will be converted to equivalent local currency; same below)
  • Stays at Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts and HUALUXE Hotels & Resorts include executive lounge access (the lounge may not necessarily be open during breakfast hours)
  • Stays at Holiday Inn Express receive a welcome gift bag.
  • Note: dining vouchers usually cannot be used toward breakfast.

Compared with what you get from Hilton Gold (which can be obtained directly from various AMEX Platinum cards and the Hilton Surpass/Hilton Business Card), Hilton Diamond (which is given directly by the AMEX Aspire credit card), Marriott Platinum and Titanium, and Hyatt Globalist, these benefits are still somewhat weaker. But considering that North America basically gets nothing, having some benefits in Greater China is already pretty decent. Of course, most North American readers are usually only Platinum, so they cannot enjoy Spire treatment, but when staying in Greater China (even though Platinum is kind of a “P” status), they may occasionally still receive decent treatment—far better than in North America.

“Extraordinary Privileges” for Greater China IHG Gold Elite and Above

IHG Greater China also frequently runs regional bonus points promotions and weekend promotions. Let’s take a look at “Extraordinary Privileges,” which had already been running for 2 years: [weekend discounts as low as 30% off—though in practice usually 20% or 30% off—plus free breakfast for two (effectively breakfast for 3, including one child’s breakfast), extra bed, late checkout, etc.].

On July 17, 2019, IHG launched that year’s Greater China “Extraordinary Privileges” promotion, running through 2020.7.19 (booking ends 2020.7.18; stays end 2020.7.19). See promotion details here (WeChat-exported page), or scan the QR code below:

Promotion overview. First, let’s take a look at the official promo image:

  • Booking period: July 18, 2019 to July 19, 2020. Statutory holidays in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan are excluded.
  • Eligible members: IHG Gold, Platinum (the Chase IHG Premier credit card comes with Platinum), Spire Elite, and InterContinental Ambassador. (I assume most readers have Platinum status from the Chase IHG Premier.) You must also “reside long-term” in Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan). 【The official site specifically notes that “long-term residence” generally refers to Chinese citizens or foreign citizens who reside long-term in Greater China, so most of us living in the US should actually still qualify. Your account billing address does not need to be in Greater China.】
  • Promotion highlights: When booking participating hotels (except Holiday Inn Express, since Holiday Inn Express already includes breakfast...), you can get 20% to 30% off the standard breakfast-included rate for weekend stays (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, excluding statutory holidays in Greater China cities) based on the Best Flexible Room Rate with Breakfast; in my test, this was the member rate. The package includes breakfast for two, plus complimentary extra bed service and late checkout (subject to availability)!
  • Booking: Reservations are accepted 24h a day, but must be made at least one day before check-in. Call the following numbers or book directly through the IHG WeChat mini program (New):
  • ·Members in mainland China: 400-880-3515

    ·Members in Taiwan: 0080-186-3388
    ·Members in Hong Kong: 800-965-888
    ·Members in Macau: 0800-738

The following hotels do not participate in this promotion:

  • Hotel Indigo Xiamen Harbour, Holiday Inn Express Lhasa Potala Palace, Crowne Plaza Macau, Holiday Inn Macau, Holiday Inn Express Hong Kong Soho, Holiday Inn Express Hong Kong Mongkok, Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central, InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong, InterContinental Hong Kong, Regent Chongqing, Holiday Inn Nanjing Xuanwu Lake, Holiday Inn Nanjing Qinhuai South Suites, InterContinental Resort Jiuzhai Paradise, Holiday Inn Jiuzhai Jarpo, The Venetian Macao Resort alliance under InterContinental, The Parisian Macao Resort alliance under InterContinental (as a side note: these two Macau properties belong to Sands China. On June 25, 2019, Sands China partnered with IHG, and these two hotels then joined IHG redemptions at 70,000 points per night).
  • All InterContinental® alliance resort hotels are excluded from this promotion.

Can those of us in the US book this?

I think the answer is absolutely yes, as long as the hotel you are staying at participates in the promotion.

  • If you hold ID from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan, you fully meet the official requirements.
  • If you only have US identification, then as long as you consider yourself a long-term resident of Greater China, that should work.
  • If you need to book while in the US and do not have a convenient way to call, you can consider using Google Voice, Wechat out, or Google Fi. You might also ask relatives in the relevant region to call for you; usually they only need to verify your name and account number.

So is there actually any catch to this promotion? KUKU did a real booking test for everyone:

Real booking test

I was in China at the time, and happened to need to visit Zhangzhou, one of the cities in the so-called “Southern Fujian Triangle,” over a weekend. Even though it is considered part of that triangle, the hotel groups we commonly use have much weaker coverage there than in nearby Xiamen and Quanzhou. Searching through Hyatt, Marriott, and Hilton only showed hotels in the Xiamen area... IHG had just one option here: Crowne Plaza Zhangzhou. This hotel usually costs only 20,000 IHG points per night, but in order to test this “Extraordinary Privileges” promotion, I paid cash for it.

  • My elite-status background: IHG Spire Elite status (which means lounge access at Crowne Plaza properties in Greater China; see the first part of this article), account billing address in the US, US phone number, and Chinese citizenship.

To avoid any surprises, I first checked rates on the IHG website:

To see whether I might get upgraded later on (mostly because I’m cheap...), I paid attention to the two cheapest room types: Crowne Superior Room (Superior Room, 432 CNY before tax without breakfast) and Crowne Deluxe Room (Deluxe Room, 480 CNY before tax without breakfast). I was pretty happy, since stacking a 20% or 30% discount should make it even cheaper. To be safe, I also calculated the after-tax breakfast-included price. Adding breakfast for two at this hotel cost only 49 CNY... cheaper than grabbing breakfast from a street-side shop!

The promotion specifically says the discount is based on the Best Flexible Room Rate with Breakfast, so normal booking prices would be as follows (here I am using the refundable, cheapest, no-breakfast price as the comparison baseline):

  • Superior, no breakfast, refundable, before tax: 456 CNY (Member rate), 480 CNY (non-member rate)
  • Superior, breakfast for two, refundable, before tax: 480 CNY (Member rate), 506 CNY (non-member rate)
  • Deluxe, breakfast for two, refundable, before tax: 529 CNY (Member rate), 557 CNY (non-member rate)

So the after-tax prices would be:

The above shows my member rate. Since I was paying out of pocket, I definitely wanted the best value for my own money:

  • Superior, no breakfast, refundable, after tax: 502.56 CNY
  • Superior, breakfast for two, refundable, after tax: 559.55 CNY
  • Deluxe, breakfast for two, refundable, after tax: 616.56 CNY

With all that in hand, I moved on to the real test (which was really just a phone call, very quick...):

  • I called 400-880-3515 and got the language prompt: 1 for Cantonese, 2 for Mandarin, 3 for English.
  • Once connected, I gave my member number, destination, hotel name, and dates.
  • I was asked about occupancy: 2 people or 2+1 (kid). I answered 2 people.
  • The agent asked whether I wanted one king bed, and I said yes. Then I was quoted ¥425 before tax including breakfast. (I quickly checked the prices above, and only the Deluxe room with breakfast for two at the member rate, 529*0.8, came out to about 425, so I took it.) Note: at check-in, the front desk told me the reservation also included one child breakfast, so in practice it was actually breakfast for 2+1.
  • I was also told that a free extra bed could be added later if needed. The cancellation policy was the same as the standard flexible booking policy: cancel at least 2 days in advance.
  • As soon as the reservation was made by customer service, I received booking notifications via both WeChat and SMS. After checking, the after-tax total was ¥519.21. That was 17 RMB more than the lower-category room without breakfast, 40 RMB cheaper than the lower-category room with breakfast for two booked normally, and about 100 RMB cheaper than the same-category room with breakfast for two booked normally. I called the hotel and was told that for a regular Spire booking, the lounge at this hotel is not open in the morning, so there would be no breakfast benefit. Through this “Extraordinary Privileges” promo, getting breakfast for 2 (actually 2+1) at a lower price was pretty nice.

The app also quickly showed the booking, but since it was a special rate, you could not click in to view details. I asked customer service on WeChat, and they said the reservation was fine, so just go enjoy it...

SNP situation

Qualified cash bookings made through official channels are eligible for SNP, and my stay successfully posted a Stay, nights, and Points after check-in. I also received the Spire Elite 100% bonus on points, while conveniently knocking out a few small offers in the 2019 Q4 Accelerate promo.

Stacking opportunities

  • Accelerate promo: Since this was a weekend paid stay, the most likely stackable offer was the 2019 Q4 Accelerate promotion. At the same time, IHG often adds a separate weekend-stay offer within Accelerate, which happened to stack perfectly with the Greater China “Bonus Privileges” package.
  • Chase IHG Primer Credit Card: It comes with IHG Platinum, and at the time there was an offer for 125,000 points plus 40X on IHG hotel spending in the first year (Platinum 15X + credit card 25X). Even though IHG points have gradually become more like Hilton points, 40X still provides very strong value back. (Note: when paying at the hotel, you do not need to use the same credit card that you used when making the reservation.)

Final thoughts

This promotion is pretty solid for readers who already need a weekend paid stay, especially at hotels with high cash rates, where you can save 20% or 25% and also get upgraded benefits. It is especially suitable for two adults traveling with a child. If there are three adults, adding an extra bed (of course, you may not even need one) and paying for an extra breakfast is usually still manageable. If the hotel is feeling generous, you might even get bumped up another level or receive one more adult breakfast. But upgrades ultimately depend on luck, and KUKU still has not been upgraded so far.....

As for Holiday Inn Express, which already includes breakfast, I think you should at least still come out a bit ahead, but I would recommend checking prices on the official website in advance. In any case, I hope IHG continues improving elite benefits so everyone can churn happily, stay happily, and travel happily~

I originally wanted to include the hotel stay review in this article, but space was limited. Since this hotel is relatively simple, I am also planning to include a short guide to Zhangzhou. Although I grew up in southern Fujian, I did not know much about Zhangzhou before this trip, so this ended up being rewarding in more ways than one. Preview of the next post: "Stay Review of the Crowne Plaza Zhangzhou in Southern Fujian Booked Through IHG Bonus Privileges + A Brief Guide to Visiting Zhangzhou Ancient City." The snacks were absolutely amazing, so here is a teaser image first: