Key takeaways
- Register first. Bonuses start with your second qualifying stay; the first must also be booked through an IHG-owned direct channel.
- Earn 2X through channels such as IHG’s website, or 3X through eligible apps. The multiplier includes base points, and promotional bonuses are uncapped.
- Registration and earning both end December 31, 2026. A qualifying stay needs at least one night, with total spend exceeding USD 30 or its local equivalent per night.
- Reward Nights, Points & Cash and third-party bookings do not count. Splitting consecutive nights at the same hotel into separate bookings does not create multiple stays.
In this article
One stay to get started; bonuses from the second
IHG’s fourth-quarter promotion is most useful if you already have several paid stays planned. The catch behind ‘up to 3X’ is that your first qualifying stay after registration earns no promotional bonus. Rewards begin with stay number two. With just one stay, even an app booking earns nothing extra from this offer.
From your second qualifying stay, bookings through IHG-owned direct channels, including its website, earn 2X: the usual base points plus an equal promotional bonus. Eligible app bookings earn 3X: base points plus a bonus worth twice the base points. There is no cap on the promotional bonus, but elite bonuses and other bonus points are not multiplied.
The IHG One Rewards App on Android and iOS qualifies for 3X. In mainland China, the HarmonyOS app and IHG’s WeChat mini program also qualify; in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, so does IHG’s LINE MINI App. Each stay is assessed by its own booking channel. Booking one stay in the app does not give a later website booking the 3X rate, and opening the website on a phone is not an app booking.
Registration is open, with earning through December 31
Pre-registration ran from September 17–30, 2026, followed by an earning period of October 1–December 31. You can still register during the promotion if you missed that first window. As of October 4, all three language versions show registration links. You need an active, valid IHG One Rewards account and only need to register once; check your account for confirmation after following the offer link.
Register before checking in to keep things simple. Stays completed before registration do not count, nor do nights outside the promotion period. The first stay used to meet the threshold must also be booked through an IHG-owned direct channel. A third-party booking or an award night cannot serve as your qualifying first stay.
Both registration and earning end on December 31. The countdown above uses December 31, 2026 at 23:59:59 UTC. IHG specifies the date only, so the end-of-day time and UTC zone are our display convention, not a confirmed IHG cutoff.
One night is enough, but spending must exceed USD 30
A qualifying stay requires at least one night at a participating hotel on a qualifying rate, with total spend exceeding USD 30 or its local equivalent for each night. Exactly USD 30 is not enough, and a multi-night bill over that amount does not establish that every night meets the threshold. Cancellation, prepayment and refund terms still depend on the rate you choose.
Reward Nights, Points & Cash stays and bookings through third parties such as Booking.com or Expedia are excluded. Under IHG’s membership rules, consecutive nights at the same property form one stay, regardless of how often you check in or out. Night two of a three-night visit is not your ‘second stay’ for this promotion.
If multiple registered members share a room, only one can earn the promotional bonus for it. If one member books several rooms on the same night, only one qualifying room counts. Check participation property by property for Six Senses, Iberostar and Ruby; the brand name alone is not enough. Iberostar properties in Cuba are excluded.
Three app stays do not mean 3X overall
Take three separate qualifying one-night stays, each with USD 100 in eligible room charges, at properties earning 10 base points per dollar. Stay one earns 1,000 base points and no promotional bonus. Book stay two in the app and you get 1,000 base plus 2,000 bonus points, or 3,000. Book stay three on the website and it earns 1,000 plus 1,000, or 2,000. Across all three, that is 6,000 points: 3,000 base and 3,000 extra, an effective 2X overall.
If all three are booked through the eligible app, the total becomes 1,000 plus 3,000 plus 3,000: 7,000 points, made up of 3,000 base and 4,000 promotional points. Including the first stay brings the effective return to about 2.33X, not 3X. An expensive first stay or fewer subsequent stays makes that initial hurdle more significant.
These are illustrations, not room-rate quotes. They count only the assumed eligible room charges, excluding taxes, other spending, elite bonuses, credit-card rewards and other offers. Not every brand earns 10 base points per dollar: Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites, for example, generally earn five. Use the base earning rate for the property you actually book.
The bonus does not help with elite qualification
Promotional bonus points are not elite-qualifying, so ‘3X points’ does not mean three times the progress toward status. These promotion terms do not give a uniform bonus-posting timeline. Keep your registration confirmation, booking-channel record and hotel bill, then check the base and promotional points after checkout.
Contact IHG promptly if something is missing; inquiries about this promotion must be made by March 25, 2027. Check other offers separately before assuming they will pay out alongside this one. Our examples do not include any additional stacking benefits.
A useful extra for repeat stays, little help for a single visit
I would rate this a moderate offer, with more appeal if you already have repeated paid IHG stays and can book through a 3X channel. On later stays, the app bonus is worth twice your base points, compared with a bonus equal to your base points through the website. Still, the first stay earns no promotional bonus, so multiplying your whole hotel budget by three overstates the return.
I would register, then compare the same dates, room type, breakfast, tax-inclusive price and cancellation terms. If the app has a suitable direct rate, the bonus is worth collecting. If you have only one trip, or would need to buy an otherwise unnecessary stay to clear the first-stay hurdle, there is little reason to change your plans.
We checked IHG’s Simplified Chinese, English and Traditional Chinese promotion pages and official membership terms on October 4, 2026. The cover is an AI-generated fictional autumn lakeside resort scene and does not depict a specific participating property.
Official offer pages
See these official pages for offer details, eligibility and full terms.
Prices, eligibility and deadlines are set by the hotel. Check the specific offer terms before booking.
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