Insider Details on IHG’s New Share Forever Promotion

This morning, IHG sent out a press release for a new Share Forever promotion they are starting on Monday. Unfortunately, as many bloggers have pointed out, the details behind this new promotion are vague, at best.

Here’s a snippet from their release:

The “Share Forever” promotion gives IHG® Rewards Club members the chance to earn 500 additional points after just one night at an IHG hotel which they can redeem toward a Reward Night at more than 4,800 hotels anywhere in the world or through the IHG Rewards Club Catalog for merchandise, flights or digital downloads. After staying additional nights, members can earn more points. The promotion is open to IHG® Rewards Club members who are residents of the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America.

How the “Share Forever” promotion works:
– IHG® Rewards Club members must register here starting on April 20. Once registered, members have the opportunity to:
– Earn 500 bonus points after one night at an IHG[1] hotel anywhere in the world between May 1 and Sept. 7, 2015
– With additional nights, earn more bonus points, and free nights
– Gift rewards to friends and family
– Celebrate through personalized offers presented via the member’s IHG Rewards Club microsite upon login

In speaking with a contact at IHG, I have more details behind this program, shedding more light behind the vagueness. In looking at things, this can actually be a very lucrative promotion, depending on whether you keep the shared points or give them away.

Here’s what I was sent from a PR person at IHG, after some follow up and inquiry:

Attached is an example of what a member’s offer construct could look like. Keep in mind its variable. The earning potential for the Share Forever promotion can be anywhere from 68,500 to 115,500 bonus points plus a maximum 58,500 bonus points to share, or keep.

For the first night, all members will receive 500 points for them and 500 points to share (which they can keep for themselves as well if they’d like). Then, a member will receive a variable nights requirement with a variable point amount. They will get 1,000 more points to share (or keep). The offers increase with this type of construct. It’s different than transferring points to another members account because when points are transferred there is a fee associated with it.

So, there’s a few things to note about this promotion:

• The amount of points you’ll earn is variable, depending on the person. It’s similar to Hyatt’s “Stay More, Play More” promotion.
• You can keep the points that are meant to be shared, or share them – the choice is yours. If you keep them, you’ll obviously walk away better from this promotion (though, you may end up losing some friends…)
• A maximum of 115,000 points is nice, and I suspect this will be for 20 nights above the goal, with the goal changing between people.
• It’s worth noting that stays at Kimpton hotels do not county towards this promotion. For now, both loyalty programs are separate.

 

What do you think of this new promotion? Is it lucrative? Will you be increasing your stays with IHG because of it?