This is the fourth post in our series about the IHG Rewards Club status levels. You can check out the other posts here:
- Club
- Gold Elite
- Platinum Elite
- Spire Elite
- Ambassador & Royal Ambassador (for stays only at the InterContinental brand)
The IHG Rewards loyalty scheme has four status levels, with the top tier being called Spire Elite.
When you earn Spire Elite status, you’ll receive all the same benefits that Platinum members receive along with a few other benefits.
Here’s a list of the additional IHG Rewards Spire Elite benefits and how you can earn this top tier status.
IHG Rewards Spire Elite Status Benefits
1) 100% Bonus On Top Of Base Points
Most IHG brands offer 10 base points per dollar spent at their hotels (5 points per dollar for Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites). Base points are doubled as a Spire Elite member, so most brands earn 20 points per dollar.
Free stays at IHG hotels can therefore be earned extremely quickly once you have this status, especially if you also own their credit card which offers 5 additional points per stay.
PointBreaks hotels only cost 5,000 points per night. Thanks to the 10% points rebate from owning the IHG credit card, that’s reduced to 4,500 points. You therefore only need to spend $180 as a Spire Elite member to earn enough points for a free night – here’s why:
- 10 base points * $180 = 1,800 points
- 10 bonus points * $180 from elite status = 1,800 points
- 5 points * $180 by booking stay using the IHG Rewards credit card = 900 points
Total = 4,500 points = one free night at a PointBreaks hotel.
That doesn’t even take into account all the other bonus points you’d earn from whatever promotion they have on at the time.
2) Exclusive Choice Benefit Upon Receiving Status
When you attain this status, you can choose a choice benefit. There are currently only two options, although that may change in the future:
- 25,000 IHG Rewards Club points
- Gift Platinum Elite status to someone else
Personally, I’d always choose the points as that’s enough for up to five free nights. Platinum status is nice for someone to have, but they can get that simply by applying for the IHG credit card.
3) Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Five Star Status
According to the Hertz website, this status is normally earned after renting with them seven times in a year. The benefits you receive on a Hertz rental with Five Star status are:
- One-car-class upgrades (subject to availability)
- 10% bonus on Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Points
- 675 Rewards Points after every 15 qualifying rentals per calendar year
- Plus, all Gold member benefits
This benefit’s nice to have if you’ll rent from Hertz, but not valuable otherwise.
These benefits are in addition to the benefits you receive with Platinum status:
- Collect points or miles
- Pay discounted rates
- Customer service phone assistance
- No blackout dates for reward nights
- Reward nights count towards elite status
- Free internet
- Extended check-out
- 50% bonus points (superseded by 100% bonus points)
- Priority check-in
- Points don’t expire
- Elite rollover nights
- Complimentary room upgrades
- Guaranteed room availability
- Unofficial benefits (e.g. welcome gifts)
4) Early Check-In
Added as a benefit in November 2017, Spire Elite members can now request check-in as early as 10am as one of their benefits.
This benefit is subject to availability though, so there’s no guarantee that your request will be accepted. Your best bet would be to request an early check-in when making a reservation, then following up with the hotel.
Be sure to get confirmation via email so that you have written evidence in case you have any issues when checking in.
How To Get IHG Rewards Spire Elite Status
There’s only a couple of ways to become a Spire Elite member:
1) Stay 75 Nights
This means you’d have to spend ~6 nights per month (or 20% of a year) in an IHG hotel. That may sound outrageous, but if you travel frequently on business and decide to be loyal to IHG, it’s certainly achievable.
Another scenario might be if you’re moving to a new area. Rather than buying a house or signing a lease before you move, a good option could be booking an extended stay in a Staybridge Suites or Candlewood Suites as they both include kitchens in every suite. A 2.5 month stay while you explore the area and decide where you want to live is feasible and would earn you Spire Elite status.
The 75 nights can also include reward nights, so it doesn’t have to all be paid nights.
2) Earn 75,000 Elite Qualifying Points
75,000 Elite qualifying points might be easier to achieve than 75 nights, although it’ll depend on how much you’re spending.
IHG define qualifying points in the following way:
Points earned from Qualifying Rates paid for hotel stays, spend on IHG Rewards Club credit cards, select partner activity, IHG Rewards Club Bonus Points Packages, and Qualified Spend through IHG Business Rewards.
Let’s say you’re a businessperson who’s able to book stays on your own credit card and get reimbursed. You own the IHG credit card and there’s a Holiday Inn Express near the office you’re traveling to. You’d therefore earn 10 base points per dollar for the hotel and 5 points per dollar by booking it using your IHG card.
75,000 elite qualifying points would therefore require $5,000 of spend (75,000 / 15 = 5,000). Assuming a room rate of $100 per night, you’d only need to stay 50 nights to earn Spire Elite status.
Summary
If you’re interested in earning a ton of points (and thereby free stays), Spire Elite status is awesome. It doubles your base points and gives you the option of 25,000 bonus points as your choice benefit.
As IHG’s top tier status though, the overall benefits are kinda crappy. You don’t get free breakfast as a standard benefit – that’s something that Hilton and Marriott offer to their Gold status members (and those aren’t even the top tiers with either of those two chains!)
Hilton and Marriott also offer free Executive Lounge access to their top tier members, even if they’ve booked the lowest price room available. An IHG Rewards Spire Elite member is entitled to nothing.
Spire Elite status is therefore incredibly disappointing in terms of member recognition for your loyalty, but great for people whose priority is free stays.
The priority for us on our 5 year, 50 state road trip is free stays. We’ll be maximizing our points by using IHG’s PointBreaks list and so will likely be redeeming most of our points at the following brands as they’re the most common options that appear on the list:
- Holiday Inn Express
- Staybridge Suites
- Candlewood Suites
The first two come with breakfast automatically and the latter doesn’t offer any breakfast options regardless. Due to the nature of these three brands, none of them offer much ability for top tier members to receive recognition anyway. If we achieve Spire Elite status on our trip, I’m therefore not too worried about the lack of benefits as I’m all about the points.
For the final installment in the series, we’ll look at IHG’s Ambassador and Royal Ambassador statuses which are only available at one of their hotel brands.
I am currently a Spire Elite ( as well as Ambassador Elite, but that provides no benefit whatsoever) I had over 300 nights with IHG last year and not only do I feel that the benefits are minimal, but they are rarely applied without my asking for them or my reminding someone that I should receive them. The customer service associated with the program is non-existent. I have repeatedly e-mailed, and even called, to inquire about missing points or rewards, or points and cash charged for the same nights, or poor facilities or breakfast bars without food or any myriad of other issues and I have been sent form letter replies or told, “thank you sir. We will pass this information on.” I am currently in the process of using up the half million points that I have remaining from last year and I will no longer support IHG properties. My dollars are going to Marriott and Hilton this year.
Hi John,
I am currently a Spire member too and yes, I agree that the benefits are minimal as compared to the other big brand. Even the so called room upgrade, as it is just moving you to a higher floor.
This is saddening to here. For the past decade, I have been been living in hotels due to business. This year I am scheduled to stay at a Holiday Inn Express for over 300 days. Like you, I too am having to repeatedly call customer service to have my status corrected or to receive missing points. These are problems that weren’t existent when I used Marriot exclusively. IHG step up your game by being more attentive to the needs of your clients.
I am a spire elite member . I don’t see much benefits. Every time I stay in the holiday inn . I don’t get a suite I just get a normal room . Why is that .
Unfortunately suite upgrades aren’t a guarantee with IHG, even with top tier status.
I am also a Spire member.
What is the “Guaranteed room”benefit ?
I thought if reservations were made 72 early, there would be a room available.
Well, it didn’t work .
I think IHG should keep up with the competition.
The terms of the Guaranteed Room Benefit state:
“Requires 72 hours advance notice. Platinum Elite and Spire Elite members are guaranteed one guest room for personal use for reservations made at least 72 hours prior to the date of arrival, except during special events that result in extraordinary demand, as determined solely by the hotel. Guaranteed room availability is not valid for Reward Nights. These reservations can only be made through the IHG Rewards Club Service Center.”
Is there an event at the hotel you wanted to book at or were you wanting to use points? If not, it might be worth calling them again and hopefully a different person will be able to help – the first person you spoke to might not have been aware of this particular benefit.
Lots of negative comments here. How about addressing these concerns, IHG?
I have been Spire Elite since they invented it. I agree that the benefits are minimal. Poor training of front desk personnel means they usually are unaware of what the benefits are supposed to be. They do not know what to do when you ask for them. Even if they have the upgrade available they do not know how to make the change in the computer. If you are using a reward night some of the hotels will gladly tell you when you arrive that they upgraded you before arrival because you are Spire Elite. Others will tell you that can’t be done even though the rooms are available because it is a reward night.
The one good thing is that Intravel a lot to places that do not have many other main brand hotel choices. At least not consistently.
So the main benefit for me is to be able to provide a free stay for my daughters and their families when they occasionally travel, and I save the cost of hotels when my brother and I make our annual 2 week motorcycle trip.
I’m a Spire Elite for 20 years and was refused free breakfast at Holiday Inn in Matamoros Mexico. I have always been breakfasts around the world. These guys are really arrogant.
Unfortunately Spire Elite status doesn’t offer free breakfast; it’s ridiculous that that’s the case though given that even Hilton Gold and Marriott Platinum members get free breakfast despite those not even being the highest tiers in those programs.
Spire elite didn’t exist 20 years ago. It was only started between 3 and 5 years ago, can’t remember exactly without looking it up
I am I spiral member since 1983 and I cannot get what I want when I went to Surfside beach in Myrtle Beach and booking a month in advance I requested a Room with an ocean view. I got a Room that literally stepped out on to the roof not impressed at all. No ocean. No balcony no view. I specified ocean view. Sad. Irritating. I should have stayed at. Marriot where my conference was.
Why are there no responses to Spire Elite member concerns regarding the benefits that should be automatically happening because the member has spent a great deal of money on IGH?
Those are concerns that would need to be addressed by IHG – this is a travel blog where I’d shared with our readers about the benefits of Spire Elite status.
It pains me to see that there are so many problems and issues with other ihg hotels, i say others because the one were i work we always, i mean always treat platinum and spire elite members with the status they deserve.
Do you get free room service if you eat in your room as a spire elite member?
Unfortunately not.
I am a Spire Elite member and, ok, the status recognizition is not there, but my main priority is to get free nights when I go on holidays with my family. For that, IHG is the very best in my humble opinion.