Priority Club® Rewards Launches Hotels Anywhere™

World's first and largest hotel loyalty program debuts industry-first redemption booking tool

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May 18, 2010, 03:59 ET

ATLANTA, May 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IHG's (InterContinental Hotels Group) Priority Club® Rewards today announced the global launch of Hotels Anywhere™, an industry-first redemption option that enables members to instantly redeem their Priority Club points, or combine points and cash, for hotel stays virtually anywhere, even at direct competitors. An expansion of Priority Club Rewards' innovative pre-paid lodging card called Any Hotel, Anywhere, the new product gives consumers even greater flexibility and immediate booking capabilities at non-IHG hotels.

"Even with more than 4,400 IHG hotels worldwide, we know we can't be everywhere," said Don Berg, vice president, Loyalty Programs, IHG, "Yet, we understand that flexibility and choice are invaluable to our members. Hotels Anywhere gives our members the freedom and convenience to instantly book at tens of thousands of hotels worldwide using their Priority Club points; that's more hotel choices than all of our major competitors' hotel portfolios combined."

Hotels Anywhere makes it simple for members to find the hotel they're looking for, using best in class tools to filter their results by price range, star rating, neighborhood and hotel amenities. The site also offers easy access to extensive hotel photos, Trip Advisor® reviews and even virtual tours for many properties. Hotels Anywhere even gives members the flexibility to select exactly the room they want, offering instant redemption for upgraded room types (e.g. an ocean view room in Honolulu).

In 2001, Priority Club Rewards was the first hotel loyalty program to offer instant online point redemptions for IHG hotels, and with the launch of Hotels Anywhere, it is the first hotel loyalty program to offer immediate, online redemptions for competitors' hotels.

The Hotels Anywhere option is currently available in English to all Priority Club members worldwide via www.priorityclub.com/hotelsanywhere. IHG will continue working with technology partner ezRez Software to rollout Hotels Anywhere in additional languages later in 2010.

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.

About ezRez® Software, Inc.

Founded in 2003, ezRez Software, Inc. is a San Francisco-based software company that enables its partners to sell any combination of travel products, including flights, hotels, car rentals, trip activities, travel insurance and packaging, to anyone, anywhere in the world. Its 'plug and play' platform, combined with access to more than 200,000 suppliers, gives clients the ability to quickly launch full online travel agency functionality. ezRez clients include some of the world's largest airlines, hotels, travel agencies and banking loyalty programs.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [LON: IHG, NYSE: IHG (ADRs)] is the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms. IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns, through various subsidiaries, over 4,400 hotels and more than 650,000 guest rooms in 100 countries and territories around the world. The Group owns a portfolio of well recognized and respected hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites® and also manages the world's largest hotel loyalty program, Priority Club® Rewards with 48 million members worldwide. IHG has 1,300 hotels in its development pipeline, which will create 160,000 jobs worldwide over the next few years.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

IHG offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at www.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards program at www.priorityclub.com. For the latest news from IHG, visit our online Press Office at www.ihg.com/media.

SOURCE InterContinental Hotels Group