I Won Big, But Don't Think I'll Play Again

One of the biggest promotions of the end of 2013 was IHG's The Big Win. I wrote here about how my planned travel worked with this promotion and how I was going to "win."

Shortly after returning from my trip to Buenos Aires, I got an email stating that I "Won Big"

By winning, I earned 107,700 points off the promotion. However, I earned alot more points than 107,700. Alot more:

As a wrote here, I earned 22,917 points with my first stay. While that was my highest earn, I did pretty good with my other four stays:

2nd - 14,675
3rd - 7,275
4th - 5,248
5th - 5.085

My five stays earn me about 55,200 points.

Add that into the 107,700 points from the promotion, I earned 162,900. Amazing haul for 5 stays!

The good news is that The Big Win is back for Quarter 1 of 2014.

So after earning 162,900 last time, I don't think that I am going to participate this time. Why you might ask?

First, my possible win total is 20% less than last time, at only 86,100.

Second, my travel schedule does not work with this promotion. At the moment, I have very few planned hotel stays and those I do have aren't at IHG hotels. In addition, my tasks aren't easy:

Here are my tasks to win again:

1) Stay a total of 5 nights

2) Stay at 3 different brands

3) Book 1 stay through the Best Flexible Rate with Breakfast

4) Book 3 separate stays directly with IHG.com

5) Stay 2 Saturday Nights

6) Stay at 2 Holiday Inn hotels

7) Take a survey

Therefore, I would need to make 4 stays (3 different brands + Holiday Inn again) and pay for 5 nights. What I am not positive of is if Holiday Inn Express would count for # 6"Stay at 2 Holiday Inn Hotels." If it does, they I only need 3 stays, which could be done. 

At the moment, I have one trip that I could stay at a Holiday Inn, but it wouldn't be convenient.  Even if I did that one stay, I would still have complete mattress runs.

For these reasons, I think I am going to pass this round. I had fun IHG, but I am think I am going to sit out this dance.


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

IHG's The Big Win: Status Update

IHG's The Big Win Promotion is a little less than half way over, so I thought that a status update was due.

Since the beginning of the promotion, I have made 3 stays at IHG hotels:

Crowne Plaza - National Airport

Candlewood Suites - Hampton, VA

Holiday Inn Express - Riverwood, IL

Those three stays have accomplished about 75% of the requirements of the promotion.

All that I have left is 2 more stays, one of which needs to be on Saturday. There is still 68,000 points available for me to earn. How do I know this?

IHG has been sending me emails letting me know that I have completed a task. Every time I completed a task, I got an email with the heading "Nice Work. You Just Earned Another Win." 

IHG should be applauded for there proactive notifications. One of the biggest gripes of our community is the lack of notification during contests. During the no defunct US Airway's Grandslam, one of the biggest complaint was that you never knew what tasks you completed. You had to have blind faith in US Airways. That isn't the case with this IHG promotion.

If the emails were not enough, the promotion has its own webpage tracking your progress. 

The webpage has a section for each promotion requirements:

Overall, this is a great promotion. It requires strategy, offers a big reward and provides a tracking system. I wish all promotions were like this one.

How are you doing with the promotion?

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