IHG Hotels & Resorts (One Rewards)

Good Hotel program at a low cost when compared to other brands. My favorite is the Crown Plaza IHG hotel. Its a 4 star hotel designed for business travelers. However, the price is unusually low for a 4 star hotel and the price ends up attracting savvy frequent travelers. The credit card is a great value. $49 annual gets you a free night every year after the first year, which includes a free night at a 5 star hotel (Worth $500 per night).

This is a great program for Adults with no kids - this used to be the best program around. I still rate it very highly but it is nigh on impossible to get a room for a family of 5 (I have 3 kids under 10). This leads to not being able to use the intenet to book - I have to ring each hotel individually to see if they can take my family or ask for an adjoining room - or if I can get a discount for the adjoining room. Some hotels are excellent but most are dissapointing. You can never get a free upgrade with kids whatever your status! I used to love this but now I hardly use it as I have to find other hotels that can take my family!

The IHG program is great if you know how to work it correctly. If you have a reasonable amount of stays, say 10 or more per year, you can easily get 5-10 free nights. Make sure you are signed up for promos, and follow the promo thread on www.flyertalk.com - You can easily double or triple your earned points, if you carefully study the promotions. If you stay at any Intercontinental hotels on a regular basis, then the Ambassador program is a safe bet. Currently it costs $200 for the first year (renewals $100), or you can pay 32k Priority Club points for your first year. You get a one level upgrade, fruit/water, plus a 5000 point certificate and a Bogo certificate that gets you a free weekend night, when you pay for one. (Now requires you to book a higher rate than before, but usually a good deal.) The best status is the Royal Ambassador, which requires 50 or more nights, with 3 different Intercontinental properties. Free minibar (non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages), 2 level upgrade. Extra points on each stay.

I have been extremely happy with this program. My fiance and I travel frequently for work and get to use IHG's frequent promotions and our Chase card to rack up points! We never pay for vacation nights and this year will be using points to visit Bora Bora for our honey moon. I highly recommend visiting the FlyerTalk forum and using all promotions to bolster your points.

I have been a member for a number of years. One of the better programs if you like to use the internet to redeem points.

Ever since I joined this program it has been nothing but excellent for me.

I am Platinum Elite status with Holiday Inn. I have done business with Holiday Inn Hotels for over 25 years. 25 years because, overall they treat me the best, have relatively competetive rates, results oriented customer service and brand name gifts. I cannot recall being disappointed in all the years I've done business with this chain - something I cannot say about any other hotel chain at one time or another.

The worst of all Hotel Programs! Barley ever get the points credited to my account, when overseas. Prefer Hilton or even Marriott!!