IHG launches two targeted promos for February & March – so don’t expect a global offer

IHG One Rewards has been running what I would call a ‘holding’ promotion for January. Instead of the usual 3-4 month-long offer, it has been running a 31 day deal of double base points. You can register for it here.

(Running a short promotion doesn’t make a lot of sense which is why you see very few of them. A lot of people already had their January stays booked in by the time this offer was announced, so it is less effective at changing behaviour.)

I was expecting IHG to follow this with a big global offer from February, but it seems not.

Some members of IHG One Rewards have been sent a targeted promotion for stays in February and March.

There are two versions.

This is the least generous, although the best for people who only do occasional IHG stays:

It does what it says on the tin. You will receive 2,000 bonus IHG One Rewards points for every two CASH nights you stay in February and March.

Registration via the link provided to you is required. Existing stays count.

We value 2,000 IHG One Rewards points at £8 so you’re getting £4 back per night on top of your usual points.

The second version is better for heavier stayers – although you don’t get a choice over which version you receive, if either:

You’re getting 2,000 bonus points per night here, worth £8, which is a decent return. You will need to do four nights to get anything, however.

If you didn’t receive an email, you’re stuck. The registration links are personalised and so I can’t share them – there isn’t a dedicated promotional code you can try.

The problem with running targeted offers – apart from the issue of notifying people who have opted out of marketing emails – is that you aren’t converting people who normally use other chains. The only people you are reaching are people who are already on your database as active or semi-active members. You won’t be attracting anyone new via this deal.

For those who didn’t receive the offer, it is now likely that we won’t see an ‘open to all’ IHG One Rewards promotion until April.