IHG Food and Beverage Rewards: A New Perk for IHG Members

In early 2022, IHG revamped its loyalty program to add new elite tiers, enhanced earning rates and new benefits — one of which was IHG Milestone Rewards.

After staying 20 nights in a calendar year, IHG One Rewards members now have a choice between three reward options, one of which is IHG Food and Beverage Rewards.

After a delay, IHG launched the ability for members to use these rewards as of February 2023.

IHG Food and Beverage Rewards are earned through Milestone Rewards — one of IHG's new perks for frequent guests. IHG One Rewards members can choose their first Milestone Reward after earning 20 qualified nights in a calendar year.

At 20 nights, members can choose 5,000 bonus points, one confirmable suite upgrade or two Food and Beverage Rewards. 

After that, members earn another Milestone Rewards choice (or two, depending on the level) every 10 additional nights.

Each Food and Beverage Reward is worth up to $20, and NerdWallet values 5,000 IHG points at $35. That means the points and the Food and Beverage Reward options provide nearly similar value. It just depends on which perk you want to use.

However, the rewards options can vary between reward levels — including how many selections you can make, the types of rewards and how many rewards you'll receive. You can see all Milestone Rewards choices here.

Here's how many Food and Beverage Rewards can be earned at each milestone:

That means an IHG One Rewards member who stays 100 nights a year could collect up to $980 in Food and Beverage Rewards. 

Since IHG doesn't limit how many Food and Beverage Rewards can be used per stay, you could conceivably use all of your rewards to offset one luxurious meal or an epic bar tab.

However, any traveler staying that many nights at IHG would likely benefit from other Milestone Reward options — such as an annual lounge membership for you and one guest.

» Learn more: Your complete guide to earning IHG Rewards points

How to choose IHG Milestone Rewards

Once you reach a Milestone Reward threshold, IHG will email you to let you know it's time to choose your reward. Click the "Select now" button in the email to begin the selection process.

Alternatively, you can log into your IHG One Rewards account and browse IHG's Milestone Rewards page to review your options and make a selection.

Timing your IHG Milestone Rewards selection

Keep in mind that you have 90 days to make a Milestone Reward selection after earning it. You'll lose the benefit if you don't choose one in time. Unfortunately, IHG won't default to giving you a particular option — like with Marriott Annual Choice Rewards. Keep track of your emails from IHG and set a calendar reminder so you can make your selection in time.

Once selected, IHG Food and Beverage Rewards are valid for 12 months.

» Learn more: Your guide to booking award nights with IHG Hotels

All IHG Food and Beverage Rewards are issued at the same value — regardless of which Milestone Rewards level you select.

IHG One Rewards members based in select other countries will be issued Food and Beverage Rewards in their local currency. The six currency options are as follows:

• 20 U.S. dollars.

• 15 pounds sterling.

• 15 euros.

• 125 Chinese yuan.

• 2,000 Japanese yen.

• 70 Saudi riyal.

Members based in a country with another form of local currency will receive Food and Beverage Rewards worth up to $20.

When you're ready to redeem your reward, IHG will convert the credit value to the hotel's local currency. That means members based in the U.S. will get up to $20 in value no matter where they use an IHG Food and Beverage Reward.

» Learn more: The best hotel credit cards right now

Rewards can be used on hotel restaurant charges, in-room dining, minibar items, or related tax and gratuity. Any third-party restaurants, third-party food delivery services or marketplace items aren't eligible.

These are now available to use at luxury, lifestyle and premium IHG hotels in U.S. and Canada, with more properties being added throughout 2023.

Redeeming IHG Food and Beverage Rewards is done through the revamped IHG One Rewards app. You'll need to charge purchases to your room throughout your stay. Just make sure to redeem your reward before checkout.

Note that I got a sneak peek of how this process would work during a visit to IHG's U.S. headquarters in Atlanta.

At the time, only the Crowne Plaza Ravinia had Food and Beverage Rewards redemptions enabled.

Start by opening the "Reward Wallet" in your IHG One Rewards app.

Expand the "Rewards to enhance your stay" section and click "Redeem" on the Food and Beverage Reward you'd like to redeem. On the next screen, IHG will show you the details of this reward. Click "Redeem this reward" to begin the redemption process.

Next, IHG will show a list of stays eligible for the Food and Beverage Reward redemption. Confirm that your hotel and room are accurate and click "Continue to redeem." Next, IHG will confirm yet again that you want to redeem this Food and Beverage Reward and apply the $20 credit to your hotel bill.

Since this is a new benefit, it seems IHG wants to make sure you don't redeem this reward accidentally. So you'll need to confirm you want to redeem one last time before the credit is applied to your bill.

Full disclosure: IHG provided two $20 Food and Beverage Rewards for me and my wife to test this new benefit. In 2022, I earned more than 40 IHG elite night credits. However, I opted for confirmable suite upgrades, bonus points and an annual lounge membership instead of selecting Food and Beverage Rewards.

» Learn more: The best airline and hotel rewards loyalty programs this year

Restrictions on redeeming IHG Food and Beverage Rewards

Now for the fine print. Although IHG Food and Beverage Rewards are easy to use, here are some restrictions to keep in mind:

• Rewards can't be transferred or applied to a secondary room in multi-room reservations.

• You must redeem the IHG Food and Beverage Reward before checkout.

• Food and Beverage Rewards can't be used at Holiday Inn Club Vacations, Mr and Mrs Smith properties or at InterContinental Alliance Resorts in Las Vegas and Macau.

• Charges must be billed to your room to be eligible. That means restaurants that don't allow charges to a guest room, vending machines or outside vendors aren't eligible.

Food and Beverage Rewards are a nice new perk of the IHG One Rewards program. This reward essentially lets you rack up food credits that you can redeem whenever you want.

Be sure to consider other Milestone Rewards options, too. Travelers get two Food and Beverage Rewards upon reaching 20 and 30 elite nights, respectively. That's a modest $40 per milestone reward.

Starting at 40 nights, being able to choose five Food and Beverage Rewards can really start adding up.