IHG offers Priority Club Rewards members a chance to recoup points they “lost” with Hilton HHonors’ recent point devaluation

IHG’s (InterContinental Hotels Group) Priority Club Rewards, the world’s largest hotel loyalty programme, today launches its worldwide “Luckiest Loser” competition. In response to the recent increases in Hilton HHonors’ hotel rewards rates, which effectively devalued their members’ points by about 20 percent, Priority Club Rewards is offering consumers a chance to gain back their “lost” loyalty points. The Priority Club Rewards member who has the highest-verified Hilton HHonors points balance will be the “Luckiest Loser” and gain two million Priority Club points; enough to redeem for about 80 free hotel nights at more than 4,000 of IHG’s hotels across the globe. Another 20,000 “Lucky Losers” will be awarded up to 400 million total Priority Club points to help compensate for what they are “losing” with Hilton HHonors.

“If you want your loyal customers to stick with you during tough times, it’s vital to show you appreciate them and give them more value, not less. So it’s no wonder there was such a negative reaction to Hilton devaluing their points programme,” said Tom Seddon, chief marketing officer, IHG. “Some of our customers, particularly ones we’re talking to on social networking sites, asked us if there was anything we could do to help - so we’re offering to replace their lost Hilton HHonors points with Priority Club points, giving them the opportunity to stay for free at any one of our 4,400 hotels around the world.”

The current loyalty market is arguably as crowded and competitive as it has ever been, and savvy travellers are taking notice. In fact, during 2009, Priority Club Rewards members redeemed 10 percent more points than in 2008, making the most of new reward options such as Flights Anywhere and Points & Cash to maximise the value and versatility of their points for everything from travel expenses to everyday purchases such as groceries and gifts.

“We know from research that the value of loyalty points currency is paramount to members,” said Don Berg, vice president, Loyalty Programmes, IHG. “Travellers depend on their rewards to help them cover the costs of their summer vacations and weekend-getaways, and they don’t expect their points to suddenly lose value overnight.”

To enter the competition, participants must be registered Priority Club Rewards members as of 31 Jan 2010 and follow the verification process.

Simply supply their Hilton HHonors points balance at www.priorityclub.com/luckiestloser
Each qualified participant will automatically get 1,000 Priority Club points just for entering
The top 20,000 “Lucky Losers” will “gain back” up to 20 percent of their current HHonors balance in Priority Club points (up to 20,000 points)
The “Luckiest Loser” will win two million Priority Club points - enough to stay with us for free for almost three months!
The competition will run through to 28 Feb, and is exclusive to current members of both Priority Club Rewards and HHonors programmes.