I wrote about this a few months ago, but someone over on the Points With a Crew miles and points Slack channel reminded me about it, so I thought it was worth a PSA reminder
You get free IHG points on your birthday
IHG has been giving people 1000 points on the date listed as your birthday in your profile.
So if you haven’t set your birthday in your IHG profile, it’s worth a quick click to make sure. Â Yeah it’s only 1000 points (per year), but hey, could it BE any easier?
How to set your birthday on your IHG.com profile
Setting your birthday in your IHG profile is pretty easy. Â Head over to ihg.com, log in and then click on your name in the top right corner. Â That will take you to your my account page. Â Personal Information is the 2nd choice on the left.
Down at the bottom, there’s a spot to (optionally) set your birthday.
Gaming the system?
Now I don’t know if you’re like me, but my first thought in such a situation was to immediately set my birthday to the current day, and then keep setting it to the next day after getting my 1000 points.
Well, IHG is on to scoundrels like you and I, because once your birthday is set, you can’t edit online any more
You’ll have to call in if you want to change it.  I don’t know how many times they’d let you change it over the phone, but I’d imagine it’s fewer than 365 😛
Did you know about the IHG birthday free points?
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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
I set mine shortly after you wrote about it last time. I set it for my bday at the end of October, but still hasn’t seen it. Do you know how long it takes to post?
same … september birthday …
Does it extend the expiration of your points? My IHG points are expiring on Dec 31 and would like some ideas to extend them.
Thanks
I had my birthday listed on my account was in September but I didn’t see the points…
Does earning the 1000 points count as activity in the account to extend expiration date of points? Meaning if I earn 1000 b-day points does it re-set my 12 month expiration date?
Yes, that was my first question, too! Any idea, Dan?
I am not sure
No birthday points here. Must be targeted.
Hi Dan,
Good reminder – I had forgotten about this.
On another note, I had to laugh at your photo because none other than Mike Gundy spoke those immortal words – head football coach at my alma mater at OSU. Ahh, no one rants like that anymore…
Safe travels
Carrick