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IHG recently revamped its elite program and introduced Milestone Rewards to reward members for hitting certain night achievements throughout the year. At most levels, you can choose between various types of rewards — including Confirmable Suite Upgrades.
These suite upgrades vary slightly from Marriott's and Hyatt’s suite upgrade rewards, so it’s important to understand exactly how to use them and what types of rooms you can get for your stays.
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What Are IHG Confirmable Suite Upgrades?
By virtue of hitting a milestone reward with IHG, you’ll have access to choose as one of your reward options either one or two confirmable suite upgrades. These open the door for you to move your basic room up to a larger, premium room or even an entry-level suite.
There are a few restrictions to watch out for, especially around timing. You’re only allowed to make use of these certificates within a 14-day advance booking window. That’s not to say you have to make the reservation in that window, but that is when it will open for you to have it applied to your reservation.
How to Earn IHG Confirmable Suite Upgrades?
IHG One Rewards members get the option to choose Confirmable Suite Upgrades upon reaching the following milestones:
- At 20 nights, you can select one confirmable suite upgrade
- At 40 nights, you can select one confirmable suite upgrade
- At 70 nights, you can select two confirmable suite upgrades
We love that your first available upgrade comes at 20 nights, meaning that you've got a chance to confirm suite upgrades well before other brands. Marriott and Hyatt both require many more stays before you're able to take advantage of this benefit.
Keep in mind that they do have an expiration date, so there is a bit of strategy involved. The vouchers will expire 365 days after you earn them, so if you want to stretch them out for maximum value, you should wait until close to the end of your milestone expiration 5o choose this benefit. This means that the expiration date of your certificates will also be extended.
As an example, if you have until October 2 to choose your milestone reward benefit, then you could wait until October 1 to make that choice, and your suite night upgrade would be valid 365 days from October 1. If you chose it earlier, then the expiration date would adjust accordingly.
IHG Confirmable Suite Upgrade Limitations
Most people skip over reading the terms and conditions, but that’s what you’ve got to learn to take full advantage of IHG Confirmable Suite Upgrade rewards. Here’s the simplified breakdown, bolding is my own:
- Call between 14 days and 24 hours before check-in to use
- Maximum stay is five nights
- Make a refundable rate reservation; no prepaid bookings allowed
- Reservations can be made on points or a cash rate
- Once you have the cert, click “redeem”, and the number for your IHG call center will pop up.
- Speak to the phone representative to find out which suites OR premium rooms are available
- Not all suites qualify, typically only entry-level suites or premium rooms
- Hotels can define what exactly is an entry-level suite
- You can make the original reservation via the app or website, but upgrades are via phone only
- If you cancel your reservation, it takes about a week to have the certificate redeposited
- You can only use the certificate for a room that is in your name, and only one room per reservation
- You can’t gift or transfer these awards
- Some hotels might opt out. Call the IHG Customer Care beforehand to enquire
How to Redeem IHG Upgrade Certificates
It doesn't matter if you use the app, website, or even call on the phone to make a booking. To apply the upgrade certificate, you've got to talk to a human at the IHG call center. Simply dial in and tell them that you'd like to apply one of the vouchers in your account to a reservation, and they'll walk you through the steps. Since you're dealing with a human, and not a computer, your experience may be different each time that you call.
In the times that I’ve called in to the call center and tried to use the upgrades, they seem to want to give me the lowest available room, even though other rooms might be available. For example, if I see a Junior Suite available, but there’s also a King Corner room, they’ll often offer up a “Congratulations! I see that a King Corner room is available, and as a premium room, I can make that happen. Shall I make that reservation change for you?” Then, when I push back and let them know that I also see a Junior Suite is available, it magically pops up in their system. Don’t be afraid to help guide the phone agents towards the room that you want.
I also like to make sure to refresh my app and see the reservation and also wait for the email confirmation to come through, just to make 100% sure that it works perfectly. After all, once you're off the phone, it becomes harder to make changes to an existing reservation.
Personal Experiences and Great Value
I’ve used certificates a couple of times. Both times, I've got amazing results. The first was for a trip to Hong Kong where we stayed at the Regent Hong Kong. Situated directly on the harbor, it was awesome to be able to see the light show every night while soaking in our amazing tub.
While the suite wasn’t available, we were able to get the Harbor View room with a daybed, which would have been multiple hundreds of dollars more per night. On top of that, we were able to apply this to a points booking, saving even more money.
Another awesome redemption is at the Intercontinental Marseille. This hotel is one of the top hotels in the region and the rooms here are impeccable. Using your Suite Upgrade certificate can snag you a terrace room or potentially even a junior suite, which gives you more than 45 square meters to relax and stretch out on your way back from exploring around the southern French port city.
Bottom Line
IHG’s revamped elite program now offers Confirmable Suite Upgrades as part of its Milestone Rewards, allowing members to lock in an upgraded room or suite in advance. Members can select Confirmable Suite Upgrades at 20, 40, and 70-night milestones — earlier than similar options with other programs like Marriott or Hyatt.
However, there are key restrictions: Upgrades must be confirmed by phone, only apply within a 14-day window before arrival, and are subject to availability (typically for entry-level suites or premium rooms). Even so, they can provide excellent value if you know how to use them strategically.
- Our Best Offer of 2025! Earn 5 Free Nights
- Enjoy an Anniversary Free Night at IHG Hotels & Resorts. Plus, enjoy a fourth reward night free when you redeem points for a consecutive four-night IHG® hotel stay.
- Earn up to 26 total points per $1 spent when you stay at IHG Hotels & Resorts
- Earn 5 points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, at gas stations, and restaurants. Earn 3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Automatic Platinum Elite status as long as you remain a Premier cardmember
- Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS Statement Credit of up to $120 every 4 years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to your card
- IHG One Rewards Bonus points are redeemable at Hotels & Resorts such as InterContinental®, Crowne Plaza®, Kimpton®, EVEN® Hotels, Indigo® Hotels & Holiday Inn®
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- Earn 26 points total per $1 spent when you stay at an IHG hotel
- 5X points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, gas stations, and restaurants
- 3X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
The earning for spending at IHG hotels breaks down as follows:
- Earn 10X points for being a IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card member
- Earn 6X points from IHG® with Platinum Elite Status, a benefit of having this card
- Earn 10X points from IHG® for being an IHG® One Rewards member (Being a cardholder is not required to earn this bonus for participating in the IHG® loyalty program)
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
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