How the offer works
IHG One Rewards' fourth-quarter promotion is simple once you see the two moving parts. The first is the booking channel. Stays booked through any IHG-owned channel earn double points; stays booked through the IHG One Rewards app, or through WeChat or LINE in Asia, earn triple. The second is the counter. The first qualifying stay after you register earns no bonus at all. The multiplier starts with the second stay and runs through December 31, 2026.
The official offer page gives the example: a $100 one-night stay earns 1,000 base points for a Club member at 10 points per dollar. Under 2X that stay adds 1,000 bonus points; under 3X it adds 2,000, for 3,000 in total. Elite members earn more because their base rate is higher: Silver 12, Gold 14, Platinum 16 and Diamond 20 points per dollar. There is no cap on the bonus.
Registration and the first-stay trap
Pre-registration ran from September 17 to September 30, but anyone can still register through December 31 on the offer page. Stays completed before you register do not count, and neither does the first stay after registration, so the practical advice is to register today even if your next IHG night is weeks away. Each stay's tier is set by how it was booked, so a member can mix a website booking at 2X with an app booking at 3X.
The qualifying stay definition is one or more nights at a participating hotel on a qualifying rate with spend above $30 a night, booked direct. Reward Nights and Points & Cash stays are excluded, as are bookings through Expedia, Booking.com and other third parties. If two registered members share a room, only one earns, and if one member books several rooms for the same night, only one room counts. Some Six Senses and Iberostar Beachfront properties do not participate; Cuba is excluded.
Why this one is better than usual
IHG's promotions have been thin for a couple of years. The offer that opened 2026 paid 2X from the second stay with no app tier. This one adds the 3X layer, which MileLion described as roughly double the earlier offer. At our working value of about half a cent per IHG point, 3X works out to a rebate of around 10% of spend for a Club member and more for elites. For someone staying at Holiday Inn Express properties for work through the holidays, that adds up faster than Marriott's fall offer, which we covered in our Marriott piece.
The catch is the app. Many members book IHG through corporate travel tools or the website out of habit. For the length of this promotion, the app is worth the extra tap; the difference on a $150 night is 1,500 points, about $7.50.
Points, posting and the deadline
Bonus points post within about six weeks of checkout and do not count toward elite status. The inquiry deadline for missing points is March 25, 2027, so keep folios until then. One more thing to note: IHG's annual free night from its credit cards and the fourth-reward-night-free benefit are unaffected, and a paid stay booked in the app still earns the promotion even if you add a Reward Night on either side as a separate reservation.
Register, book the next two stays in the app, and let the counter do the rest.