IHG One Rewards is a Finalist for Best Hotel Loyalty Programme at the
2026 Travelling for Business Awards, and it arrives as the programme most thoroughly rebuilt for the current decade. IHG's relaunch turned a serviceable scheme into a genuinely competitive one: richer earning rates, milestone rewards that let members choose their own benefits as the year progresses, and an app experience that has become one of the category's slickest. For the British traveller, the network argument does the rest — with Holiday Inn Express blanketing the country's motorways and market towns, One Rewards points accumulate on the itineraries UK business actually runs.
The earning innovations lean distinctly local. The
partnership with Revolut launched UK debit cards that turn everyday spend into instant One Rewards points — loyalty earning without a credit application, aimed at exactly the younger business demographic banks fight over — while continental members gained parallel routes through major retail coalitions. At the other end of the relationship, the tie-up with Qatar Airways created an
integrated loyalty and corporate travel programme, linking Avios-earning flyers and One Rewards stays in a partnership with real utility for internationally mobile firms.
Redemption spreads temptingly wide. The same points bank funds the airport-adjacent Express night, the Kimpton weekend, the InterContinental anniversary and — at the summit — Six Senses sanctuaries and Regent suites, a spread from pragmatic to fantasy few programmes can bridge. Elite tiers keep their promises modest and kept: upgrades where available, late checkout honoured, breakfast at the levels that matter. The tier ladder's real virtue is pace: meaningful recognition arrives within a normal working traveller's annual volume rather than demanding a consultant's calendar.
For travel managers, the scheme's UK density makes it the default loyalty companion to any domestic programme, and its refreshed generosity keeps travellers content inside policy. The nomination recognises reinvention done properly — a legacy giant that rebuilt its loyalty engine and came back sharper than the disruptors. Momentum shows in the engagement numbers the group reports, but travellers feel it more simply — the programme now gives as good as it gets.
Winners will be announced at the 2026 Travelling for Business Awards, and the milestone-choice menu that night writes itself.
