My Road Map for IHG's The Big Win

Late last month, IHG (Holiday Inn, Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza) came out with a promotion called The Big Win. The miles/points community was a buzz. The reason for the buzz was that it was first real promotion that 1) had a large bonus and 2) required multiple steps to get the bonus.

The Big Win promotion is different from everyone. Some people have a maximum bonus of 50,000 points, while others have bonus upwards of 150,000 points. My bonus is 107,700.

The promotion runs from September 1 until the end of 2013. Four full months is a long-time to accomplish this promotion, but it will take a concerted effort. Anytime a promotion like this appears, I always create a plan of attack on how to accomplish the promotion.

The first step of this plan is to look at each all the components of the promotion:

Book 1 Night = 1,000 Points

Stay 5 Times = 6,700 Points

Book 2 Separate Stays Through IHG Website - 2,400 Points

                                      

Stay at 3 Different Brands = 22,000 Points

Stay at 2 locations in Big Cities = 12,000 Points

Take a Survey - 100 Points

Stay twice on Saturday Nights = 8,000 Points

Use the IHG Credit Card 1 Stay = 1,500 Points

Only if I accomplish all these will I earn an additional 54,000 points

To summarize, the information above. I need to do the following:

                              - Stay 5 Times

                              - 2 Saturday Stays

                              - Stays at 3 Different Brands

                              - Stay in 2 Cities

                              - Book through IHG website twice

                              - Use my Priority Club credit card to pay for 1 stay                   

The second step is to look at your planned travel schedule throughout the promotion. For me, I have the following travel scheduled:

          - Saturday Night in Hampton, VA for a wedding

          - Weekend Trip to Chicago for college football

          - Week-long Vacation to Buenos Aires

The next step is to match the planned trips to the required components:

           - My trip to Hampton with accomplish the following:
                           - 1 stay
                           - Stay at 1 brand
                           - 1 Saturday night stay
                           - Book through IHG site
                           - Pay with Priority Club Visa

           -Weekend trip to Chicago
                            - 1 stay
                            - Stay at 1 brand
                            - 1 city stay
                            - 1 Saturday night stay
                            - Book through IHG site
                            - Pay with Priority Club Visa

           - Buenos Aires Trip (booked at Intercontinental)
                            - 1 stay
                            - Stay at 1 brand        
                            - Book through IHG site

My three planned trips knocks out many of the requirements for this promotion. All that's left is the following:

                          - 2 more stays
                          - 1 Washington, DC Stay (city requirements)
                          - Take their survey

The last two stays will have to be mattress runs by Dulles airport. After that, I will be 107,000+ miles richer.

One first glance, The Big Win promotion looks daunting. Breaking down promotions into workable plans makes any promotion more manageable.

At the beginning of a promotion, a little bit of planning can result in big payoffs!
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