Effective January 1 IHG Rewards Club says they’re introducing a late check-out benefit for all elites (Gold and higher).
The benefit is 2pm late check-out, not 4pm like at Marriott, Starwood, and Hyatt.
Hilton doesn’t guarantee late checkout for elites, and it’s not clear that IHG’s late checkout benefit is guaranteed either.
I don’t yet see any reference to late check-out in the terms and conditions (other than under Ambassador benefits).
Intercontinental Singapore: At Intercontinental Hotels it’s Ambassador Benefits That Apply, Not IHG Rewards Club Benefits
This 2012 .pdf of member terms still on the IHG website detailed a 2pm check-out benefit:
Special Services. You may be entitled to special services and benefits at IHG hotels. Benefits and services may change from time to time and may vary by hotel, country and geographical region. Club-level members receive free enrollment into the IHG Rewards Club program and may receive hotel benefits which vary by hotel and region. They include but are not limited to the following: complimentary weekday newspaper and extended check-out until 2 PM EST (based upon request and availability).
I’ve reached out to IHG to see whether 2pm late check-out will simply be subject to availability (which members can of course ask for now) or whether it’s a meaningful benefit with teeth.
The other changes listed here are newspapers on request only, rather than delivered to your room, and points-earning for direct bookings only, which has been the case for years.
(HT: Loyalty Lobby)
This simply means that IHG just got around to sharply limiting the upper time for which late checkout requests will be honored.
It is time to understand once and for all that the only a program would want to “guarantee” a perk when they do not have to is to limit it. That’s why HGP “guaranteed” their Diamonds just 4 suite upgrade awards per year, or WOH is going to “guarantee” their Explorists 4 Club Upgrade Awards per year. It is simply to limit the number of those perks those elites can have a year. How do we know? Simple: After they created a top elite status that only very few would be able to reach, HGP cum WOH will suddenly start to offer unlimited suite upgrades to those select few. It means that unlimited upgrades are considered superior to DSUs, which were “guaranteed” ONLY to limit how many members could feel “entitled” to a year.
Go on making up standards that are demonstrably inferior if you wish, but this development is bad news for IHG elites.
G’day!
Word missing: “… once and for all that the only REASON a program would want to “guarantee” a perk when…”
One of the nicest perks is the early check in and late check out. Late check outs are no longer a given and I am finding that not one hotel will give you a late check out prior to you asking the day of your departure. This is inconvenient if you are trying to plan something your last day.