I’ve seen a few posts about this already, but wanted to report on the IHG Priceless Surprises promotion. The actual promotion, as apparently intended, is nothing special – for each stay at an IHG property, you can earn 500 points (or more).
But buried in the official rules was the fact that you could MAIL IN 94 envelopes, with each one good for one entry. The entries will get you an entry where you will win AT LEAST 500 points, with the chance to win more (1 commenter I saw has already won 1 of the 2 million point prizes)
Some posts on the subject
- Deals we Like – Spend $46 and get at least 47,000 IHG Points
- Deals we Like – Preparing for LOTS of IHG Points
- Rene’s Points – Embracing my inner “Pudding Guy” with the IHG Mastercard promo. This one is just fun!
How to get your points
First, and most importantly, you MUST REGISTER for the IHG Priceless Surprises promotion! You’ll also need to make sure that you have an IHG account.
Then, on a 3 x 5 piece of paper, handwrite the following information:
- Full Name
- Complete Mailing Address
- Day Phone Number
- Evening Phone Number
- Email Address
- IHG Number
- First 6 Digits of MasterCard
- Date of Birth
We used blank 3×5 index cards. Mail the index card to IHG and MasterCard® Priceless Surprises® Promotion, c/o HelloWorld, Inc., P.O. Box 5996, Kalamazoo, MI 49003-5996
I’ve read of people that used address labels instead of handwriting the address, but personally we hand-wrote everything, just to be safe.
The full terms and conditions are here.
Here are a few pics of my “minions” writing our 188 index cards and envelopes, assembly-line style. We did 188 – 94 for me and 94 for my wife. I considered opening up accounts for each of my 6 kids and doing it, but you do technically have to be at least 21 years old, so for now we’ve stopped at 2.
Or… if you’re lazy
If you want the points but don’t want to put forth the effort hand writing envelopes, some entrepreneurs have come up with a system where they will fill out the index cards and envelopes for you. The service costs $136, which is about $50 in materials and $90 in labor. You can see this View from the Wing post for more information.
We just sent in our envelopes over the weekend, so I’ll look for a bunch of emails in a few weeks. People that sent their envelopes in on the first day of the promotion (November 15th) have already started receiving promotional emails. The contest runs through March 15th, but mail-in entries must be postmarked by February 15th and received by February 22nd.
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Supposedly HelloWorld is now saying 6 weeks, rather than two. I mailed mine 11/30 and no emails yet. Maybe Friday, when all the emails seem to go out.
I bet IHG and HelloWorld don’t know what hit them with this sweepstakes. 🙂
My mom, who doesn’t like writing, got up early one morning and wrote 40+ index cards for this promotion. I was impressed and surprised. It’s been fun and I’m looking forward to the emails…which I am sure won’t come for another few weeks. (the 5 day turnaround is definitely out the door…)
Yeah – it does always amaze me when companies offer amazing deals and then act surprised when everybody wants to get in on it :-). I have often thought of volunteering myself to large companies as a CLO (Chief Loophole Officer), to go through promotions and vet them before they let something like this out the door 🙂
Hidden in the official rules under section 9b at the end it specifically says that each person can only win one prize from group A and 5 prizes from group B. So you will not win 500 points per entry x 94 b/c you can only technically win 6 out of your 94 entries. Probably only worth it to send in a few entries. Has anyone actually said they have one more than 6 times per person?
@Kelly, the 500 points prize is category C, it does not state a limit and on flyertalk, several people report that they have won 500 points for each entry they’ve sent in.
Thank you Renee and Carl…. I overlooked the C on the chart, and thanks for being kind in your reply.
Yes, other blogs have had people report getting an email for every envelope sent all the way to 94.
I thought about doing this for my son but my understanding is that he would need to be a IHG mastercard holder as well.
I did 30 early on and got 500 points for 29 and 1,000 for the other.
My wife just got two entries from regular hotel stays. She won 500 for one and 5,000 for the other. Makes me wonder……
No – I don’t think you need to be an IHG Mastercard holder. You do need to have a Mastercard or just the first 6 digits (which are pretty much the same for each card type – my wife’s and my IHG credit card have the same first 6 digits). You do technically have to be 21 or over though, though I’m sure nobody is checking birth dates.
Are you putting each index card in a separate envelope for mailing, or putting them all in one?
I put 94 index cards in 94 envelopes
The problem I have with this is IHG has 2 promotions running at the same surprises and accelerate and now cant even get people’s stays posted. I have many stays starting in Nov and have not received the credit for either as a spire elite member its very frustrating to see people mailing in cards getting prizes before those with actual stays. I am mailing in cards too now. Maybe IHG should stick to one promo at a time !!! I have tried contacting IHG and nothing
given the chaos and the widespread chatter about, I’m anticipating that IHG is going to declare the promotion over early…. kinda like Hyatt offering then retracting that diamond status match.
As such, dawns on me I better get to the envelopes asap. Knowing my luck, the plug will be pulled just as I start.
My wife has had fairly good success getting the promo entries from actual stays but…..remember you have to pay for the stay with your IHG Mastercard to qualify. There is also a delay like other promos in getting the points to post or even the email entry.
I am relieved that the turn around has taken longer then expected because two weeks after mailing 40 of them I realized I hadn’t actually registered for the promotion yet. EEK!
Now this was a photo-op waiting to happen. 🙂 (now a nominee for the points & miles hall of fame, right up there with Drew M. and his wheelbarrow full of coins)
btw, John over at LoyaltyLobby is rightly lamenting how IHG once again has gone awol when it comes to reporting stays for people completing this promotion the ole’ fashioned way — by actually doing hotel stays.
No doubt the staff that can’t keep the tech running right at IHG is now opening envelopes.
Into the chaos with the IHG gang that can’t shoot straight.
I only did 5 or 6 and already got my emails and got 500 for each of them but nothing has posted to my account and this was a few weeks ago….so not sure when they are supposed to actually end up in your account.
Thanks for the idea. However I do not know how to use the 100k points. What are they worth. What can they be redeemed for? thanks
The main thing IHG points can be used for is to stay at IHG hotels. Their award chart starts with 1 night costing 10,000 points at a Category 1 hotel, though every few months they have some hotels on “sale” for 5000 points / night. These are called IHG Point Breaks and you can find more information and a Point Breaks map here.
Does anyone know if this will work with a MasterCard Debit card? I don’t have a MC CC, bur rather just debit cards.
Has anyone found an answer for this question? I only have MC Debit also
I’m not sure, but one thing I do know is that all IHG Mastercards have the same 6 digits (at least mine and my wife did). So as long as you can even see one, you could use that?
Just an FYI, the debit card did work. We received some replies with rewards today.
So my question is: the person who wrote this article said that they would’ve sent in entries in under their kids had it not been for the fact that the rules stated they had to be 21 years old…so does the master card not have to be in each persons name? I have a Master Card & so does my husband, but if it doesn’t matter who’s name the card is in as long as each person has their own rewards account & has entered the sweepstakes, then can my mother-in-law enter using my master card number?
It’s just asking for the first 6 digits of the Mastercard which is not unique by cardholder. For example, both my wife and my IHG Mastercard has the same first 6 digits
47 emails just came in – won something every time including a 5000. I used two emails but only one of them came in so far. NOT gmail.
I sent in 94 envelopes, received 90 emails but after opening 86 of them it told me that I do not have any instant win chances. I still have emails that I have not opened yet. Any suggestions as to what went wrong here?