IHG Rewards has finally released its newest and highest elite status called Spire (does this mean: “stand out amongst the others”?) Personally, the name sounds a little bizarre, but I think I’ll get used to it. We have previously already discussed the different elite statuses with IHG Rewards, so today, we will put more emphasis on the Spire status.

Even though IHG Rewards changed its expiry policy, they remain one of my favourite loyalty programs because of the Pointsbreak promotion offered several times a year. Though if you have any elite status, you will never have to worry about your points expiring anyway. Otherwise you need to keep your account active once every 12 months.

Below is a chart of some of the significant benefits of each status and how to qualify for each status:

All Your Benefits	Club	Gold Elite	Platinum Elite	Spire Elite
Extended Check-Out
No Blackout Dates for Reward Nights
Priority Check-In
Bonus Earnings on Top of Base Points		10%	50%	100%
Elite Rollover Nights
Complimentary Room Upgrades
Guaranteed Room Availability
Exclusive Choice Benefit upon receiving status
Ways to Qualify
Qualified Nights (per calendar year)		10	40	75
Elite Qualifying Points		10,000	40,000	75,000

For Spire, you will need to have 75 qualified nights or earn 75,000 elite qualifying points. That may seem quite steep to some, but easy enough for others. Either way, I am glad that they implemented a higher requirement for its highest elite status. IHG Rewards has been known to have a watered down elite program, so hopefully this helps with that reputation. Now, with higher requirements, we expect to see better benefits and perks.

First of all, being able to earn 100% bonus points on top of your base points is an amazing deal. Earning points twice as fast is always great to see. The only other perk is an “Exclusive Choice Benefit” upon receiving status, which is such a wildcard. That could be hit or miss.

Hopefully we will eventually see some additional benefits, like free breakfast at some of the higher end hotels.

Either way, now that they have an additional elite status, they have some room to get creative over time.

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