IHG Announces 'Luckiest Loser' Results; Top Loser Gains Two Million Priority Club(R) Points

Atlanta, April 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IHG's (InterContinental Hotels Group) Priority Club^® Rewards today reveals that Charles Rosenay of Orange, Conn., is the grand prize winner of its "Luckiest Loser" competition. Launched in February, the "Luckiest Loser" campaign responded to major increases in Hilton HHonors' hotel rewards rates by offering consumers a chance to gain back their "lost" loyalty points.

Rosenay beat out nearly 70,000 other entrants – enough people to fill a typical NFL football stadium – to emerge as "The Luckiest Loser."  He had a verified HHonors balance of nearly five million points, surpassing 114 other "HHonors millionaires" in the competition.^*  As the grand prize winner he was awarded two million Priority Club^® points, enough to redeem for about 80 free hotel nights at the vast majority of IHG's more than 4,400 hotels across the globe.

"I had never seen a competition like this before -- I actually wasn't even aware of the changes that were made to Hilton's program prior to entering the Luckiest Loser," said Rosenay, also a Priority Club Rewards Platinum member. "I travel frequently for my business, mostly taking Beatles fans on tours to Liverpool. We also take several family vacations a year, including an annual trip to Dracula's castle in Transylvania. I never thought all of my travels would get me here and I plan on staying with a lot more Crowne Plazas and Holiday Inns in the future. "

Beyond the grand prize, Priority Club also awarded nearly 400 million points to another 20,000 "Lucky Losers." Each gained back up to 20 percent of their Hilton HHonors balance in Priority Club points. ^‡ Plus, every entrant received 1,000 Priority Club points just for participating.

The loyalty program recently asked the members of its online public community what they would do if they won the grand prize. While most said they would take a "dream vacation," a large percentage indicated they would prefer to redeem the two million points on electronics from the Priority Club Rewards Catalog, such as HDTVs, home theater and music systems, GPS devices, flip cams, and laptops.

^* Entrants with verified HHonors balances of one million points or higher

^‡ The Lucky Losers were awarded a maximum of 20,000 points

About Priority Club Rewards

With 48 million members globally, IHG's Priority Club Rewards is the first, largest and fastest-growing guest loyalty program in the hotel industry.  Named Best Hotel Rewards Program in the World five years running by Global Traveler magazine and Best Hotel Loyalty Program for three consecutive years by Business Traveler magazine, Priority Club Rewards offers more sought-after benefits and the greatest ease of use of any hotel loyalty program.  In addition to flexible features like No Points Expiration, No Blackout Dates, Points & Cash and Flights Anywhere™, Priority Club Rewards members have more options for point redemption than any other hotel loyalty program, including redemption at more than 500,000 lodging establishments worldwide – even at rivals' hotels – through the industry-leading Any Hotel, Anywhere reward.  Members can redeem points not only for hotel nights, but also for airline miles on more than 40 partner airlines, for auto rentals, for gift certificates and for hundreds of products available in the Rewards Catalog.  And Priority Club Rewards is the only hotel loyalty program to offer a Personal Shopper program that allows members to exchange points for items not found in the Rewards Catalog. Enrollment in Priority Club Rewards is free. Guests can enroll by logging onto priorityclub.com, by calling 1-888-211-9874 or by inquiring at the front desk of any of IHG's more than 4,400 hotels worldwide.

Note

Hilton^® is a registered trademark of HLT Domestic IP LLC and HHonors^® is a registered trademark of Hilton HHonors Worldwide, LLC.

SOURCE InterContinental Hotels Group