A LoyaltyLobby reader sent us a question regarding IHG One Rewards Food & Beverage awards that can be chosen as Milestone Rewards when members reach certain night hurdles with the program.
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You can access IHG One Rewards Food & Beverage awards here.
READ MORE: IHG One Rewards Rate & Bonus Points Offers
Reader Question:
Last year I opted for a significant number of F&B Milestone rewards.
I have only travelled within Europe over the last 18 months.
Although the expiry date has been extended to December 2023 I can get no information about when I will be able to redeem these in the UK and Europe.
Numerous telephone calls to the Service Centre have proved to be unhelpful and frustrating.
Do you have any up to date information available about redeeming F&B Milestone Rewards to share with your readers.
The concise answer to the reader’s question is no. There is no communication from IHG when these are enabled at all IHG hotels worldwide.
IHG’s loyalty program went through a refresh a year ago and has a new Milestone Rewards feature that allows members to choose their preferred reward every 10 nights consumed, starting at 20 nights and ending at 100 nights.
There are always other options, but theoretically, the F&B option is roughly double the points option’s value.
But what are these F&B awards really worth if you cannot use them? I have 12 of them sitting on my account.
The IHG’s website states that these are available for use at “SELECT HOTELS,” but there is no list of hotels where we can use them.
IHG states they are usable at select brands in North America and Greater China but nothing else. I am staying at one of the IHG’s flagship InterContinental hotels in Europe, and the F&B awards are not enabled here.
The drop-down menu on the F&B awards indicates that a stay at the Indigo Hotel in Helsinki would have been an eligible place to use these.
Conclusion
The refresh of IHG One Rewards hasn’t exactly gone to the plan regarding these Food and Beverage awards and confirmable suite upgrades (but would we have expected anything else from the IHG?).
It is probably best to avoid these F&B awards until they can be used at all IHG-affiliated hotels worldwide and choose the bonus points instead (at least we can use them).
I am almost sure that IHG will extend all 2023 expiry ones by additional 12 months due to the inability to use them in most markets.
Again, communication from IHG has been non-existent. It is almost like Atlanta pretends that all is fine, like Baghdad Bob did in the 1990s.