[2020.4 Update] IHG officially announced a global status extension yesterday: elite status will now be extended through January 2022, and account updates will be processed over the next few weeks. In addition, if you successfully requalified for Spire in 2019, your choice benefit (25,000 points or gifting Platinum status to a friend) remains unchanged.
In response to the pneumonia outbreak caused by the novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV (Sars-Cov-2) (for general updates on the outbreak, see this article), IHG has introduced a special relief policy for members in Greater China. For details, you can refer to IHG's official WeChat post.
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Key Requirement
The most important requirement is this: your membership account billing address must be in Greater China (Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan). IHG will determine eligibility based on the address on file in your member account as of February 17. In other words, changing it now will most likely not help.
Relief Policy Details
- Relief policy 1: Elite status extended by 12 months
- Relief policy 2: Points expiration waived through December 31, 2020
- Relief policy 3: InterContinental Ambassador status and weekend free night certificates extended by 6 months
- Relief policy 4: Free night certificates issued by the CITIC co-branded Platinum Card and World Card extended by 190 days
Since most of our US readers have Platinum status from the Chase co-branded card, this relief policy will not be especially meaningful for most US-based readers, so we will not go into every detail here. But if you are a Spire member, this relief package is actually quite generous.
IHG Spire benefits in Greater China are pretty solid, and benefits in the Asia-Pacific region are decent as well—suite upgrades and free breakfast are often possible. See this article for more:
And of course, if you paid for RA Ambassador status last year and your billing address is in Greater China, you are definitely getting strong value back from it as well.
A Very Complete "Relief" Outcome
IHG / China Southern Timeline
There has been a timeline to the IHG / China Southern promotions, and the two have complemented each other well. We have covered the developments promptly throughout; here is a quick recap:
- Last year, IHG launched a status match program. Many readers successfully used the Hilton Diamond status that comes with the AMEX Aspire to get onboard and receive IHG Spire status. If they requalified, the status would be extended through the end of 2020 (and it seems many were automatically extended).
- IHG's 2019-2020 weekend promotion later required the billing address to be changed to Greater China mid-promotion (a very powerful requirement!)
- China Southern / IHG launched a match promotion: Platinum matched to China Southern Silver, and Spire matched to China Southern Gold. Without requalification, those statuses were set to expire at the end of February this year.
- China Southern then launched its own relief plan for the outbreak, automatically extending Silver and Gold members who were expiring at the end of February this year by one year.
- Now IHG has launched a member relief policy, and Spire can be extended for another year as well (this post).
So the ideal outcome is this: IHG Spire is extended through the end of 2021, and China Southern Gold is extended through the end of February 2021. Congratulations to readers who qualify!
Requalification Choice Benefit
Many people may not know that successfully requalifying for IHG Spire comes with a choice benefit. For a period of time, even members who renewed through Ambassador were able to choose a gift. When you requalify for Spire, you can choose one of the following two options:
- 25,000 IHG points posted immediately
- Gift IHG Platinum status to a friend
- Where to find it: My Account — under Spire Elite on the right side — Explore Your Benefits
Takeaway: Should You Change Your Frequent Traveler Program Address to China Right Now?
IHG is currently the first non-Chinese travel loyalty company to launch a member relief policy specifically in response to this outbreak.
Nearly all China-based frequent traveler programs have launched some kind of relief policy. As the first overseas company to act, IHG has earned widespread praise. So will Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott follow? That is hard to say. IHG has long faced relatively heavy competitive pressure in China, so other international hotel groups may not necessarily follow with similar policies. Still, it is worth making a few predictions:
- Hilton: Probably not very useful for US readers, since many already have Diamond anyway.
- Hyatt: If you are a Globalist, you may want to consider changing your billing address to Greater China immediately.
- Marriott: If you are Platinum or Titanium (and happen to be expiring at the end of February), you may want to consider changing your billing address to Greater China immediately.
Note: Changing the billing address on your account may cause you to miss some US-targeted promotions, such as elevated credit card welcome bonus offers. YMMV.
Also, if your billing address is in China and your free night certificate from the Chase IHG credit card is about to expire, you can try asking customer service for an extension (through US customer service, explaining the coronavirus outbreak). YMMV. Similarly, you can also try requesting extensions for free night certificates or points with other hotel groups.