[2022.6] These changes are now live. If you’ve already met the required nights for a Milestone Reward this year, you should be able to claim it.

IHG has recently published a lot more specific details about these changes on its official website. In short, the program is adding benefits like free breakfast, room upgrades, and Milestone Rewards, so this is a pretty meaningful enhancement overall. The most important updates are below:

Diamond members:

  • Dedicated customer service
  • Additional discount on award stays: no exact discount has been published, but it will probably be something like 10% off award stays at select hotels rather than anything too generous
  • Room upgrades: this is now explicitly listed, and it feels like upgrades could be much better than they are today.
  • Welcome amenity options: points, a drink/snack, or daily breakfast for two. This is an excellent benefit!

Platinum members

  • Additional discount on award stays: no exact discount has been published, but it will probably be something like 10% off award stays at select hotels rather than anything too generous
  • Room upgrades: this is now explicitly listed, so the odds of an upgrade should be better than before

Milestone Rewards

  • Starting at 20 nights, you can earn an extra reward every 10 nights
  • Reward options include: points, food and beverage vouchers, suite upgrade certificates, and an annual lounge membership
  • The suite upgrades and lounge benefit are both quite good, though they still require real paid or completed stays. This is especially great for frequent business travelers.

Preview of the changes

According to the IHG website and DOC, IHG’s loyalty program was set to undergo a number of changes. My personal take was that this was a lot of unnecessary reshuffling, especially since they removed the only truly meaningful benefit, the Spire 25,000-point bonus. Hopefully they would add some real benefits to each tier later on, such as breakfast. The specific changes were as follows:

  • A new Gold tier is being added, requiring 20 nights to earn
  • The old Spire Elite is being renamed Diamond Elite, which brings it more in line with current industry naming
  • Earning rates on stays are increasing across all tiers
  • The extra 25,000-point benefit previously given to Spire Elite/Diamond Elite is being eliminated
  • Qualifying for Spire through points is becoming harder, while the stay requirement is being reduced

Current elite status will be extended through February 2023. The new elite tiers took effect in March 2022, and members were mapped to the corresponding new tier based on their current status at that time. Any new stays would count toward upgrades under the new chart. If you do not complete the required stays for your current tier during 2022, you will be downgraded in early 2023.