Update: Here is an updated Friends and Family rate
IHG Hotels Friends and Family Rate
We all have a friend who wants us to save up to 30%, per night, over the regular advertised advance purchase rate, at InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) hotels by using the IHG Hotels Friends and Family rate!
This is a great deal for your travel arsenal because IHG’s brands include Candlewood Suites, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo, Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts, and Staybridge Suites hotels!
The Friends & Family rate allows you to book a non-refundable IHG hotel for up to a 30% discount when compared to the regular advance purchase rate.
How The IHG Hotels Friends and Family Rate Works:
Step 1
The IHG Friends & Family rate started in 2009 during the economic downturn, as a way to get more guests in hotels and has continuously been extended. I suspect that this rate will eventually be discontinued, but it is still currently available.
Click on the Friends & Family page of Steve Sickel who is the Senior Vice-President at IHG hotels and who is our friend at large!
Steve’s Friend & Family link has been available for a long time online and you can even “friend” Steve on Facebook if you want a closer connection to him!
Step 2
Print out the rate voucher.
Now even though it says that the voucher is required at check-in, and many people have not been asked for the rate voucher, some folks on FlyerTalk and MilePoint have been asked for their voucher. So just fill it up and bring it along with you!
The voucher doesn’t require an employee ID or signature!
It just asks for:
- The employees name (Steve Sickel in our example)
- Destination hotel
- Number of nights stay
- Arrival date
- Reservation confirmation number (You’ll get this after you make the hotel reservation in step 3)
Step 3
Make your reservation by clicking on “Book Your Reservation Now”
It’s as easy as that!
If you do decide to make a IHG hotels Friends & Family rate reservation, do keep in mind that:
- You have to book at least 7 days in advance (some hotels may require a booking more than 7 days in advance or may not participate in the Friends & Family rate)
- The rate is Non-Refundable
- You won’t get Priority Club points or Stay Credit towards elite status
- Not all hotels will recognize your elite status on this rate, so you may want to check whether the hotel will extend elite benefits to you (if that is important to you). Personally, there are times when cash savings matter more to me than elite benefits! But as always, only you know what is more valuable to you.
- You should check the regular advance purchase rate in a separate browser window to ensure that the Friends & Family rate is indeed lower – it usually is!
Bottom Line: The Friends & Family rate is a great way to save money at an IHG hotel if you don’t care about earning points and getting stay credit and have the flexibility to plan ahead.
When would you use the IHG hotels Friend & Family Rate? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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I have earned and redeemed millions of airline miles and hotel points to travel the world for free. Now I'm blogging to help more people do the same! 
Thanks Daraius! I just booked a two night stay at a hotel indigo and saved a few hundred dollars. Keep up the good work!
@Brian – That’s great news! Enjoy your stay!
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I just tried to book using the F & F rate and it was exactly the same as the best rate on the IHG website–no 30% off. Is the F & F rate dead?
@Jonathan – You have to book at least 7 days in advance for the F&F rate, and some hotels can not offer a discount.
Thank you!!! I just booked a room in Times Square, New York last minute and saved over $150 (for one night). Without the code, they were going to charge me an extra $50/person over 2 (we have a total of 4). With the code, the rate was about $40 cheaper for a bigger room + no extra fee per person!
Its such as you read my mind! You appear to understand so much about this, like you wrote the guide in it or something. I think that you just can do with a few percent to power the message home a little bit, but instead of that, that is wonderful blog. An excellent read. I’ll certainly be back.
Be careful booking the friends and family rate. Due to abuse, some hotels are now asking for further verification including the location the employee works, a telephone number to verify employment, and are no longer accepting forms with Steve Sickel’s name on them without prior management approval (guests were going into hotels demanding free things since they were “friends” with Steve.)
I got the Priority club chase card and noticed when I was looking to book a room I couldn’t get a rate with the pts in the F&F discount page. Do we get credit with Priority club pts even if we pay?
@Grant - You don’t earn points if you use the F&F rate.
Hi Million Miles Secrets
Is this still working OK? The comments of Jay (December 12) has be concerned about using this.
Thanks!
@Jim – I don’t have personal experience, but would expect it still to work. Demanding free things because you’re friends with Steve is just silly, though.
THANKS YOU HAVE MADE MY DAY!!!
You don’t have permission to access /ihg/hotels/us/en/global/corporate/friendsfamily on this server.
Links dead?
@MYRflyer – I updated it with another link to the Friends and Family rate.
does the employee have to be present in order to use the friends and family rate/room?
@Lillian – I don’t believe so.