Holiday Inn Hotels

Holiday Inn Hotels are part of the Intercontinental Hotels Group, along with InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. Intercontinental’s rewards program is called the Priority Club. Priority Club points can be collected toward free hotel nights or converted into miles for your favorite member airline. Holiday Inn will entice you with things like free drinks at the bar or free breakfast if you’re a member, both of which are really nice. Most of the properties are good enough, but a few could use a little update.

Earning Miles

You can earn miles by resting your head at any of the above listed hotel chains. Priority Club is pretty generous with airline miles conversions, earning you approximately 2.5 miles per dollar spend with member airlines from Holiday Inn Express. That is not too shabby, especially compared to hotels in the same class (like Hampton Inn). In order to receive miles for your points, you must save your airline of choice as your earning preference. Each type of hotel provides a different number of miles for each program.

Intercontinental has a limited number of non-airline partners, including Hertz car rentals and Office Max. They do have a dining for points program, of which I’m a big fan. In addition, you can earn extra points by using your member credit card.

Airline Partners

Aeromexico, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, LAN Airlines, GlobalPass, Mexicana, Northwest Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways and VARIG.

Redeem Points

Points can be redeemed for nights at thousands of hotels around the world. Or, you can redeem your miles for Brand Merchandise, CD Rewards, Charitable Donations, Online Auction, DVD Rewards, Gift Certificates, Airline Rewards, Car Rental Rewards, Meeting Credits, Personal Shopper, Golf Pro-Shop or Ultimate Experiences.

Elite Members

Gold and platinum members receive points bonuses for their respective levels, but there is a catch. In order to receive the bonus points, you must be hotel points rather than airline miles. You don’t get a bonus if you’re set up on an airline miles program, which is not good for those of us who covet our miles.