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Worlds First Hotel Loyalty Program

Priority Club Rewards was launched in 1983 and currently hails itself as the worlds first, largest and fastest growing hotel loyalty program in the world.
In 2000, Priority Club launched the industrys first online award catalog at www.priorityclub.com and in 2006, launched its "Any Hotel, Anywhere" award, which gives members the opportunity to redeem points for a hotel stay anywhere in the world.

Members can choose to earn either airline miles or Priority Club points. If you choose points, youll earn 10 points for every $1 spent on eligible charges at Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Express by Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express. Members earn five points for every $1 spent at Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites, and at InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, members earn 2,000 points per stay. At partner ANA Hotels in Japan, points earned vary between 600 to 2,000 points per stay.

Priority Club has a wide range of partnerships including airlines, co-branded credit cards, cruises, car rentals, flowers, financial services, retail and telecommunications, among others. IHG also has a program for meeting planners, Priority Club Meeting Rewards, in which members can earn three points for every $1 spent on qualifying meetings at over 3,600 hotels in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Latin America, Caribbean or Asia Pacific. Enrolled meeting planners who host one qualified meeting will be offered Gold elite status and if hosting two in a calendar year will be upgraded to Platinum status.

If as a Priority Club member, you are also a paid InterContinental Ambassador member, you can earn 20,000 Priority Club points for every 15 qualifying nights at InterContinental Hotels & Resorts properties only.

Award stays are on par with the industry and start at 10,000 points for a stay at Holiday Inn Express, Express by Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts. Candlewood Suites are 15,000; Staybridge Suites are 20,000; Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts and Hotel Indigo are 25,000; InterContinental Hotels & Resorts are 30,000 or 40,000 points and Holiday Inn Club Vacations is 27,500 points. Partner ANA hotel redemptions are 20,000 or 25,000 points and IHG ANA co-branded hotels range from 25,000 to 40,000 points.

A good value are the PointBreaks award nights for 5,000 points per night--a discount of at least 50 percent off standard award night prices. These are available at select locations throughout the world for a limited time. Its a good idea to check back often at priorityclub.com/pointbreaks because these offers are updated frequently.

Members can also redeem Points & Cash awards. With Points & Cash, members can redeem $30 plus 20,000 points or $60 plus 15,000 points--a cheaper alternative to buying points outright when you dont have enough points to claim an award. This is a good option allowing flexibility when booking awards and for those members who are short on points.

The aforementioned Any Hotel, Anywhere awards are accessed through pre-paid lodging cards that are available from 29,000 points for a $100 card up to 59,000 points for a $250 card and can be used to pay for hotel stays worldwide anywhere American Express cards are accepted. The cards expire one year from the date of issue so plan accordingly.

Members can redeem points or a combination of points and cash for Flights Anywhere awards on over 400 airlines worldwide. Sample roundtrip fares include Chicago to Miami for 60,000 points or New York to Las Vegas for 60,000 points and $104. The cost will vary depending on departure date, destination and fare class. To redeem a flight with cash and points, you must redeem a minimum of 20,000 points. In most cases, you can earn frequent flyer miles on the award flights, even when paying with points only.

Members can redeem points for golf equipment, apparel and accessories at the Golf Pro Shop or for brand merchandise such as redeeming 7,000 points for freshwater pearl and crystal bead earrings or as many as 818,000 points for a Sony 52" LCD HDTV set. Members can also use their points for memorable experiences such as white water rafting (19,000 points), skydiving (58,000 points), formula one racing (220,000 points), shark diving (500,000 points) and much more. There is a Personal Shopper service for members looking for a particular merchandise item not offered in the awards catalog. Members can state an item they are looking for and Priority Club will tell you how much the item will cost in points--for members in the U.S. only--and you must spend a minimum 50,000 points.

Members can donate points in 10,000-point increments to charities such as American Red Cross, UNICEF and Habitat for Humanity. Retail, dining and travel certificates start at 20,000 points for a $50 certificate for retailers such as amazon.com, Banana Republic, Best Buy or Target. Members can redeem points for airline miles or credits with 40 airlines globally; most offer 2,000 miles for 10,000 points. Car rental awards with Hertz start at 9,000 points for one weekend day in the U.S. and extend to 150,000 points for a prestige collection seven-day rental. Members can also spend their points on DVDs, CDs and magazine subscriptions.

Meeting Credits allow Priority Club Meeting Rewards members to use their points toward meeting expenses including rooms, food and beverage or personal travel. Meeting Credits start at 50,000 points for a $250 card.

If you choose miles instead of points when staying at Priority Club properties, you can choose from 47 frequent flyer programs worldwide. Earning rates vary by airline and hotel property, many offering 500 miles per stay. Participating North American-based airline programs include Aeroplan, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways.

Priority Club offers a Priority Club Rewards Visa and a Priority Club Rewards Visa Business card. The credit cards offer 30,000 bonus points after first purchase and an additional 10,000 bonus points when $15,000 is spent annually (15,000 points after $20,000 spent on the business card). Purchasing stays at any Priority Club Rewards family of brands globally will net three points per $1 spent and cardmembers receive one point per $1 spent on all other purchases. Cardmembers are upgraded to Gold status for the first year on both cards.
Members can earn points for dining at participating Priority Club Rewards Dining restaurants or when buying wine through Vinesse, flowers with FTD, renting movies with Netflix and various gift and retail items by shopping online with Priority Club Rewards Shopping. Members can earn points through Priority Club Cruises from 3,000 points for cruises of one to five days, up to 20,000 points for cruises of 13 or more days. Hertz is the sole car rental partner and members earn 125 base points per rental day.

Members earn between two and 10 points per minute of talk time for outgoing calls with Travelling Connect and there are other ways to earn points such as 1,000 points for subscribing to USA Today and 2,500 points for an insurance quote from Sentry Insurance. You can transfer 1,000 American Express Membership Rewards points for 1,000 Priority Club points and 1,250 Diners Club points for 1,500 Priority Club points.

Priority Club Rewards Gold membership is given to members who stay a minimum of 15 nights or earn at least 20,000 points during a calendar year. Gold members receive priority check-in, 10 percent bonus on base points for stays and an exclusive Gold elite customer service phone number. Annual Gold elite membership can also be purchased for $50.

Members who stay a minimum of 50 nights or earn at least 60,000 points receive Platinum membership. Platinum members receive complimentary room upgrades, guaranteed room availability with 72-hour advance notice, 50 percent point bonus on base points and an exclusive Platinum phone line. The number of stays required to qualify for elite status is about average, higher than Marriott and Hilton, but less than Starwood; however, unlike the other programs, earning elite status isnt limited to the number of stays. You can also reach elite status based on the number of earned points. Or as mentioned, you can simply buy a Gold membership for $50 or obtain a credit card for a one-year membership. A fast track to elite status is through Priority Club Meeting Rewards where you can reach Gold status after hosting one qualified meeting and Platinum after hosting two. You can also get Gold status when purchasing an InterContinental Ambassador membership for $150 per year.

The lofty InterContinental Royal Ambassador status, which is by invitation only, entitles Priority Club Rewards members who are also InterContinental Ambassador members to additional benefits at InterContinental Hotels and Resorts only, such as room upgrades, complimentary use of health club facilities and complimentary beverages from the hotel room mini-bar.

Points will not be earned for stays prior to joining the program. You must choose between earning Priority Club points or airline miles, but can switch between the two online at any time. Awards can be issued in anyones name. Points do not expire, which provides members even greater flexibility for earning and redeeming points. Priority Club points are not awarded for dollars spent on taxes, service charges and gratuities; however, expenses such as food and beverage, telephone, laundry and in-room movies charged to the members room will earn points. At U.S. and Canadian hotels, members can collect points or miles on all eligible charges for up to nine rooms with restrictions, excluding InterContinental Hotels and Resorts; globally, members earn for the room they occupy only.

To purchase points for yourself or give as a gift, you can buy points in 1,000-point increments with a maximum of 40,000 points. The cost per thousand points decreases the more you buy. From 1,000 to 9,000 points the cost is $13.50 per 1,000 points; 10,000 to 19,000 costs $12.50 per 1,000 points and 20,000 to 40,000 is $11.50 per 1,000 points. You can transfer points in 1,000-point increments for $5 per 1,000 points transferred.

In a test call to the service center, the call was answered promptly (within two minutes) after we found our way through the phone tree and the service representative was knowledgeable and helpful. We also sent an email to the service center asking a basic question and the response was not as fast as we would like but they did respond within four days. Some members weve heard from say the service, if there is a problem, is downright bad.

Priority Clubs award-winning Web site is well-organized, quick loading and members can conveniently redeem points online for hotel award nights and a variety of other awards. You can enroll in the program, find Priority Club special offers, and view your account online as well as track status of your offers when signed in to your account.

Priority Club offers frequent point promotions, with lots of options to use the points once they earn them. Members who have Royal Ambassador status love the free drinks from the mini-bar. The discounted 5,000-point PointBreaks award redemption is a valuable offer and members like the fact that there are Priority Club hotels just about anywhere they would like to stay.

Its not always easy to know if your stay will qualify to earn points/miles. Elite members report a lack of consistency in the program benefits offered. Members report a decreasing amount of the popular PointBreaks awards. Many are not happy with the complexity of the program including the relationship with the separate InterContinental Ambassador program and say that the promotions could be better managed. No elite benefits like free breakfast and Internet access at upscale properties

(800) 211-9874
PriorityClub@ihg.com

Priority Club Rewards
3 Ravinia Drive, Suite 100
Atlanta, GA 30346-2149