IHG Rewards has finally made an announcement that confirms what had already been updated on their website – elite status will be extended by another year.
Status Extensions
As expected, Gold, Platinum, and Spire members will have their status extended until February 28, 2023.
The invitation-only Royal Ambassador and Kimpton Inner Circle statuses will also be extended until December 2022.
The $200-per-year Ambassador status will NOT be extended.
Points Expiration
Points do not expire for members with Gold or better elite status. For regular Club members, IHG has further extended the points expiration waiver until the end of 2022.
Rollover Nights
It is unclear how this will work. The website update now says:
For Platinum and Spire Elite members, all qualifying nights earned in 2021 above the tier threshold, will be rolled over into 2022 and count towards status earned in 2023.
With the “tier threshold” now effectively zero nights, this may mean that all nights will rollover to 2022.
Credit Card Anniversary Night Certificates
It appears that only certificates issued in 2021 will be extended until December 31, 2022. If you have any certificates issued before 2021 (but extended previously), you will have to use them before they expire.
The Bottom Line
Because IHG status provides few benefits, it was always obvious that IHG Rewards would extend status for another year once the competition made their announcements.
Naturally this extension does not apply to Ambassador status, which actually brings in revenue for IHG… 🙁
