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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Most Recent Credit Card Applications

Important Note: We talk about credit card sign-up bonuses on our blog because they are an important part of the “game.” Any credit card links in this post will be public application links taken from the issuer's direct website. We do not earn income from you applying from the links. Similarly, please take an extra minute or two before applying for credit cards. If you do not pay your credit card balance off every month then you should stay away from this aspect of the game. Credit cards can lead to major long-term problems if not used correctly. I encourage you to read my post on Young People and the Chains of Credit Card Debt for more details.  

This week, I broken one of the golden rules of credit card churning: thou shall only apply for credit cards once every 90 days!

Yes, I applied for credit cards within 90 days of my last churn. Unlike last time, I decided not to churn after midnight. I learned my lesson and my success was the same 2 instant approvals and 1 pending.

The reason why I decided to apply for credit cards prior to my 90 days was simple: need. As I previously mentioned, I am planning on going to Alaska with Cash Back Boy, in July. We still have not booked our tickets and prices have gone up, and up and up. Then I had an idea: the Bank of America Alaska Credit card.

Strangely, the benefit that I want out of this credit card is not the points, but rather the companion ticket. Once approved, the card offers it owner a $99 ($117 with taxes) companion pass. This will reduce the cost of the airline tickets to Alaska dramatically for the two of us. Here is the public link to apply.

Of course, this is the application that I got a Pending Decision. Crossing my fingers as I need this the most.

The second card I applied for is the Chase Priority Club Visa.

I decided to get this because I will be cancelling a few Chase cards in the next month or so. Also, I received an email with an 80,000 offer, which is better the typically 60,000 offer. One can find the normal 60,000 offer here. If you Google, one can find a link to an offer for 80,000 points.

Result: Instant Approval

The final credit card I applied for was the American Express Delta Gold. I decided to do the 45,000 mile offer; instead, of the normal 30,000 mile offer. This will help me clear another section of the my Delta GrandSlam. I have previously written here about American Express Delta Gold section of the GrandSlam and how to get this 45,000 mile offer.

Warning: To get the 45,000 mile offer, one will need to go to a third party site. I had to refresh the
              application page two or three times before the third page appeared.

Result: Instant Approval.

Getting 2 instant approvals out of three is excellent. I just wish one of them was the Alaska Airways card. I am crossing my fingers and toes that I get approval for that card. Otherwise, Cash Back Boy is going to have to apply for his first points card.

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 Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com

Priority Club Visa Holder? Check Your Snail Mail

Do you have the Priority Club Select Visa? You might want to check your snail mail.

The GF has the card and she got a package in the mail from them with a few promotional items, but one of them includes a specialized link to a 90-second video that you can watch to gain 1,000 Priority Club Points.

It isn't much in the scheme of things, but hey...free points are free points.