Priority Club® Rewards’ New Flights Anywhere Takes Off

First hotel program to offer the flexibility to redeem points and cash for flights

Atlanta .- Redefining “the sky is the limit,” IHG’s (InterContinental Hotels Group) Priority Club® Rewards, the world’s largest hotel loyalty program, today announced its newest reward option, Flights AnywhereTM. This new program lets members redeem Priority Club® points, or combine points and cash, to book flights on more than 400 airline carriers worldwide without restrictions on availability.

“Our customers are looking for ways to stretch their wallets when they travel; with Flights Anywhere they can now pay directly for airline tickets using Priority Club points,” said Don Berg, vice president, Loyalty Programs, IHG. “They’ll never have to worry about seat availability or blackout dates when redeeming Priority Club points for flights.”

Following the recent introduction of “Points & Cash,” a new program feature that allows members to combine points and cash for reward night stays at any of IHG’s more than 4,300 hotels worldwide, Priority Club Rewards is the first and only hotel loyalty program to offer the flexibility to redeem points and cash for flights. Priority Club points can be redeemed for the entire cost of an airline ticket (including all taxes and applicable fees), or combined with cash for a ticket, enabling consumers to “buy” a ticket at a significant discount.

Additionally, there are no blackout dates or limits on available tickets whatsoever. This means that if there is a seat available on any flight, the consumer can redeem for a ticket using Priority Club points. Consumers will also be eligible to earn airline miles from their favorite frequent flyer programs on most tickets booked with Flights Anywhere.

The program is currently available to consumers in nearly 20 countries, including the U.S., Canada and most countries in Europe, via www.priorityclub.com/flightsanywhere. IHG will continue working with technology partner ezRez® Software, Inc. to rollout Flights Anywhere worldwide in 2010. In another hotel industry first, the points and cash functionality for Flights Anywhere is offered in the user’s local currency.

To be eligible for Flights Anywhere, travelers must be members of Priority Club Rewards, living in one of the currently eligible countries. Enrollment in Priority Club Rewards is free, and guests can sign up at http://www.priorityclub.com/ or by calling 1-888-211-9874.

About Priority Club Rewards
With 44 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 four years running by Global 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 and Points & Cash, 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 members a Personal Shopper program that allows members to exchange points for items not found in the Rewards Catalog.