IHG's Japan Go To-Campaign 35% Off Discount Voucher

Japan launched in late-July a Go To-campaign (read more here) whose purpose was to stimulate intracountry travel.

Now, IHG has a dedicated page for this offer and allows eligible guests to download a voucher that will be applied towards the guest folio (to my understanding) at the time of checking in.

You can access IHG’s page for the Go To here.

Here’s how Go To-works:

You can get a 35% accommodation rebate per person per night for up to 20,000 yen (7,000 yen rebate), and another 15% in some sort of local vouchers later.

How to get the certificate:

Conclusion

The method that IHG uses is convenient to guests because they don’t need to file for the rebate later, but the discount is applied instantly at the property.

This entire Go To-campaign has been a very controversial in Japan and renamed to “Let’s Go To Spread Covid” by some. It currently excludes hotels and residents who live in Tokyo prefecture, but not those in nearby cities such as Yokohama.

I got a 35% discount for a local hotel stay in Yonaguni last weekend, but no extra savings for hotels that I have booked directly, and there doesn’t appear to be a way for non-residents to claim the cash. I would otherwise get back perhaps $1,500.