Update: no longer working as of Oct 2018.
I always assumed room availability for the Chase free night certificate and IHG's Reward/points are the same. Turns out they aren't. In fact, there can be WAY more availability for the Free night, in highly, advantageously important ways.
Recently I was looking to use a Free night certificate from the IHG Select card (RIP) in Moorea. Checking availability, I was seeing very limited availability for the next few months, and nothing in 2019. After some research, I learned the IHG Moorea and Bora Bora hotels don't release Reward space more than a few months out.
So I was surprised when my friend told me he booked one of the dates I had failed to find availability for. I assumed he made an inexperienced mistake, but he showed me his booking, and indeed, it said Intercontinental Moorea, in mid 2019, using a Chase Free night. How was this possible? Turns out, I was looking at Reward space, thinking it's a perfect substitute for Free night space, while my friend checked Free night space and found a goldmine.
You can select up to 3 guests in a room at Thalasso. It might cause one of the screens to suggest no availability unless you go down to 2 guests, but if you click on the standard room (Emerald OWB), the next page should happily reveal availability again.
Free night from the discontinued IHG Select card issued before May 1, 2019 is good at any IHG property, including Thalasso. Free night from the new Premier card can only be used at properties up to the 40k level.
You need to book by the Free night expiration, but the stay can be up to end of schedule whenever you book. This is very generous and unique to IHG Free nights.
I don't believe it's possible to search Free night availability unless you have a Free night cert.
The consensus seems to be that Conrad is the nicest property on points or free night in Bora Bora (80k Hilton/night year round). Summer (peak season) availability is extremely scarce, but I was able to get 2 nights on points. It has awesome grounds and snorkeling, while Thalasso has almost no snorkeling.
There are budget-friendly accommodations in Moorea and Bora Bora. For example, there's this lagoon-side bungalow for under $200/night for 3 guests in peak season. Free night certs from IHG and Hilton are hard to beat, but these aren't bad alternatives/supplements at all IMO.
Intercontinental Thalasso is probably the most sought-after Reward/Free night in the IHG system. It only has a total of one standard room, and Reward night inventory doesn't become available until a few months in advance. Being able to book it 50 weeks in advance using the Chase Free night is a colossal advantage. I'm not sure whether this is an advantage of Free night across IHG. If you know, please comment. Good luck to everyone planning a trip to French Polynesia, the most beautiful place I've ever been and look forward to returning to!
Congrats on the amazing use of the cert! This is something I've learned after our stay at this property. I just assumed that free night cert was tied to points availability. Wrong. I did use the cert for IC Tahiti which at the time cost 40k points (it's 50k points now), so I could have saved 20k points. Oh well, I still got an amazing deal, all things considered.
I am enjoying your trip reports. That grumpy greeter needs to be fired though!
Thanks! You know, it was so weird how she went nuclear on me. The more I think about it, maybe it was a language barrier or something? I didn't report her to management because I kept thinking that she might be a single mom who badly needs this job. But why the hotel would put her to greet guests is beyond me. Overall, I found service in French Polynesia very spotty. Some were extremely friendly and personable, others downright rude, no in-between.
That's a shame. I experienced universal kindness from the natives last time; the only bad experience was with tourists. Maybe I got lucky.
For a while they really weren't releasing nights for certificates too, due to limited hotel space during the lead up and during the new construction of some bungalows. Now, they are done and at the same time more are seeing other resorts that have re-opened after a complete re-do. On top of that, the manager that was there when I was there is no longer there (they were stingy with Ambassador members and wouldn't even give me the points I earned on food purchased. I recently heard they are now again honoring loyalty and things are getting better. I've been to FP 5 times and the the Thalasso at least twice. Nice view, but probably won't go back (gets boring after a while unless you book excursions). Although, boring can be a good thing too…looking at the view. Just wish there was more sealife in that area, but too sandy for that.
Thx for the history. I'm looking forward to Conrad after IC, which should have more marine life.
In contrast, this is what I experienced when trying to book annual free night certificate for Hyatt Place Waikiki. December 29- January 1 are available with points when booked as a single stay. However, when you book 12/29 or 12/30 or 12/31 as single night, they're not available on points making the annual free night certificate useless for these dates for this hotel. The good thing with IHG is that there are standard rooms available when booking annual free night certificate even if they're not rooms I want because of only one bed.
That's what I've found. When hotels require minimum stays, like around New Year's Eve or for college football games, you can often book on points, but the free night will not work since you did not meet the minimum stay requirement.
This work around is now gone. The farthest you can book a free night is 4 months. The same as the points rooms.
Bummer if that's the case.