My lamenting earlier today of the IHG 2-for-1 rate demise was premature. The 2 nights for the price of 1 night discount rate at IHG hotels in the UK and Europe still lives. Thanks to Raffles of HeadforPoints blog for this new IHG 2-for-1 link.
Now I can get back to the type of analysis I had originally planned to write this morning.
IHG 2-for 1 rates provide 50% off the Best Flexible Rate at participating Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn and Holiday Day Inn Express hotels in the UK and Europe. Typically an advance purchase rate is a 20% to 30% discount on the Best Flexible Rate, so these 50% discount rates will save quite a bit more per room night.
Another feature is the IHG 2-for-1 rates are often available for premium room types like Lounge Access Club Room, Junior Suite or a One Bedroom Suite.
This post shows the type of savings available at a London Holiday Inn and a Barcelona, Spain Holiday Inn Express.
Holiday Inn London – Mayfair
Holiday Inn London – Mayfair gets decent ratings on TripAdvisor.com as #328 out of 1,081 hotels in London.
The IHG 2-for-1 rate is available for Friday, October 12 and Saturday, October 13, 2012.
Exclusive 2-for-1 rate Holiday Inn London Mayfair Oct 12-14 = £84.50 GBP (excludes 20% VAT) per night.
Holiday Inn London Mayfair October 12-14 total rate = $161 USD per night after tax booked with 2-for-1 rate.
The same hotel and room without the 2-for-1 rate is £355.20 GBP ($564 USD or $282 USD per night) for this same stay booked with 21-Day Advance Purchase Rate. Both the 2-for-1 rate and Advance Purchase rate carry same terms.
Holiday Inn London Mayfair 2-for-1 rate is $161 per night compared to next lowest rate at $282 per night using the 21-Day Advance Purchase rate. Both of these rates are prepaid, nonrefundable, no changes.
Holiday Inn London – Mayfair 1-Bedroom Suite on 2-for-1 rate
October 12-14
- 2-for-1 rate = £472.80 GBP ($750.78 USD)
- Next best rate is 21-Day Advance Purchase = £784.80 GBP ($1,246.20 USD or $623.10 per night)
- $375 USD per night for a 1-bedroom suite in London (2-for-1 rate)
- Earn at least 12,360 points for this rate.
Booking page on 2-for-1 rate discount included this message. The number of base points shown is much closer to the 21-day advance purchase rate than the 2-for-1 rate. This appears to me to be misleading when shown in conjunction with IHG 2-for-1 rate. $750 USD for 2 nights on 2-for-1 rate should earn about 7,500 points.
$161 USD for a Holiday Inn standard room and $375 for a suite is still a high rate room!
$161 for a Holiday Inn standard room in London may not seem like a great deal to you. Depending on your travel pattern the $375 room rate for a suite may also seem sky high. Remember this is just one sample weekend date for one hotel in a great central London location.
Check these IHG 2-for-1 rates for Christmas holiday season hotel stays and you will likely find much lower rates in city center hotels. Just remember that as an American we have become used to everything being open on Christmas holidays. European cities tend to be much more shut down over the Christmas holidays.
Check hotels in London suburbs. There are about 60 IHG hotels in the metropolitan London area, and the rates drop substantially from city center hotels. Usually there are hotels under $60 USD per night in the London suburbs.
The 2-for-1 rates have participating hotels around Europe. I gave Paris a try, but didn’t see the 2-for-1 rates at any central Paris hotels for dates I checked over the next two months.
Barcelona has IHG room rates under $100 USD per night
Barcelona, Spain may not be a great example for displaying the value of IHG 2-for-1 rates. Very high unemployment combined with a September 2012 increase in the VAT, a tax on most everything sold, sounds like harder times a-coming. Spain is in economic collapse when you hear the stories in US media.
One of my motivations for attending TBEX Europe Sep 21-22 in Girona, Spain is to spend a couple of weeks in the Costa Brava region and make correlations myself on the reality of the Spain I experience with the current economic condition news reports. I am trying to divide my time over two weeks in Spain to spend time exploring on my own and also participate in TBEX12 Europe sponsored tours and hotel stays.
No doubt you will get a Costa Brava, Spain immersion in September and October from Loyalty traveler blog posts. Much of it will likely come after the fact. Real time blogging might be fun for some readers, but I enjoy being connected to people and places more than my computer when I travel.
Holiday Inn Express Barcelona City 22
Monday, Sep 17- Wednesday, Sep 19, 2012
- 66 EUR per night = $83 USD (2 for 1 rate) for Standard Room.
- 107 EUR per night = $135 USD (Advance Purchase) for Standard Room.
- 132 EUR per night = $166 USD (BAR) for Standard Room
For this hotel the 2-4-1 rate saves $52 per night compared to the otherwise lowest advance purchase, nonrefundable prepaid rate available through a standard search of IHG hotel rates.
Tripadvisor.com ranks Holiday Inn Express Barcelona City 22 as #241 of 534 hotels. 67% of consumer reviews rate hotel as Very Good (217 reviews) and Excellent (88 reviews).
Free wi-fi and breakfast included in the hotel rate is a bonus.
The IHG 2-for-1 is a discount rate to know when your travels take you to Europe.
Loyalty traveler post link: http://loyaltytraveler.boardingarea.com/2012/08/31/ihg-2-for-1-rate-analysis-for-london-and-barcelona/
Ric Garrido, writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. You can follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.
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