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IHG'S Priority Club(R) Rewards to 'Give Back' Up to 400 Million Loyalty Points in Worldwide 'Luckiest Loser' Competition

By: InterContinental Hotels Group |  0 Shares     75 Reads

IHG Offers Priority Club® Rewards Members a Chance to Recoup Points they "Lost" with the Recent Devaluation of HHonors® Points

ATLANTA // PRNewswire-FirstCall // -- IHG's (InterContinental Hotels Group) Priority Club® Rewards, the world's largest hotel loyalty program, today launches its worldwide "Luckiest Loser" competition. In response to the recent increases in the Hilton HHonors® hotel rewards rates, which effectively devalued HHonors members' points by about 20 percent, Priority Club Rewards is offering consumers a chance to gain back their "lost" loyalty points. The Priority Club Rewards member who has the highest verified Hilton HHonors points balance will be the "Luckiest Loser" and gain two million Priority Club points; enough to redeem for about 80 free hotel nights at more than 4,000 of IHG's hotels across the globe. Another 20,000 "Lucky Losers" will be awarded up to 400 million total Priority Club points to help compensate for what they are "losing" with Hilton HHonors.

"If you want your loyal customers to stick with you during tough times, it's vital to show you appreciate them and give them more value, not less. So it's no wonder there was such a negative reaction to Hilton devaluing their points program," said Tom Seddon, chief marketing officer, IHG. "Some of our customers, particularly ones we're talking to on social networking sites, asked us if there was anything we could do to help - so we're offering to replace their lost Hilton HHonors points with Priority Club points, giving them the opportunity to stay for free at any one of our 4,400 hotels around the world."

The current loyalty market is arguably as crowded and competitive as it has ever been, and savvy travelers are taking notice. In fact, during 2009, Priority Club Rewards members redeemed 10 percent more points than in 2008, making the most of new reward options such as Flights Anywhere™ and Points & Cash to maximize the value and versatility of their points for everything from travel expenses to everyday purchases such as gas, groceries and holiday gifts.

"We know from research that the value of loyalty points is paramount to members," said Don Berg, vice president, Loyalty Programs, IHG. "Travelers depend on their rewards to help them cover the costs of their summer vacations and weekend-getaways, and they don't expect their points to suddenly lose value overnight."

To enter the competition, participants must also be registered Priority Club Rewards members as of Jan. 31, 2010 and follow the verification process.

• Simply supply their Hilton HHonors points balance at www.priorityclub.com/luckiestloser
• Each qualified participant will automatically get 1,000 Priority Club® points just for entering
• The top 20,000 "Lucky Losers" will each "gain back" up to 20 percent of their current HHonors balance in Priority Club points (up to 20,000 points each)
• The "Luckiest Loser" will win two million Priority Club points – enough to stay with IHG hotels for free for almost three months!

The competition will run through Feb. 28, and is exclusive to current members of both Priority Club Rewards and HHonors programs as of Jan. 31, 2010.

Hilton® is a registered trademark of HLT Domestic IP LLC and HHonors® is a registered trademark of Hilton HHonors Worldwide, LLC.

About Priority Club Rewards

With 47 million members globally, IHG's Priority Club Rewards is the first, largest and fastest-growing guest loyalty program in the hotel industry. Named Best Hotel Rewards Program in the World five years running by Global Traveler magazine and Best Hotel Loyalty Program for three consecutive years by Business Traveler magazine, Priority Club Rewards offers more sought-after benefits and the greatest ease of use of any hotel loyalty program. In addition to flexible features like No Points Expiration, No Blackout Dates, Points & Cash and Flights Anywhere™, Priority Club Rewards members have more options for point redemption than any other hotel loyalty program, including redemption at more than 500,000 lodging establishments worldwide – even at rivals' hotels – through the industry-leading Any Hotel, Anywhere reward. Members can redeem points not only for hotel nights, but also for airline miles on more than 40 partner airlines, for auto rentals, for gift certificates and for hundreds of products available in the Rewards Catalog. And Priority Club Rewards is the only hotel loyalty program to offer a Personal Shopper program that allows members to exchange points for items not found in the Rewards Catalog. Enrollment in Priority Club Rewards is free. Guests can enroll by logging onto priorityclub.com, by calling 1-888-211-9874 or by inquiring at the front desk of any of IHG's more than 4,400 hotels worldwide.

Notes to Editors

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [LON: IHG, NYSE: IHG (ADRs)] is the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms. IHG owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, nearly 4,400 hotels and over 640,000 guest rooms in 100 countries and territories around the world. The Group owns a portfolio of well recognized and respected hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites® and also manages the world's largest hotel loyalty program, Priority Club® Rewards with 47 million members worldwide. IHG has 1,500 hotels in its development pipeline, which will create 140,000 jobs worldwide over the next few years.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

SOURCE InterContinental Hotels Group

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