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!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow us on Twitter @doit4thepoints! Have a question for me? E-mail me at jd@doitforthepoints.com
