NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - This summer, the InterContinental Hotels Group launched a new rewards program for its frequent guests, one that expands the plan's usefulness.

Points accumulated in the group's "Priority Club" by business travelers and other frequent stayers may now be redeemed at any hotel, even ones not part of the InterContinental family, anywhere in the world. The hotel merely has to accept American Express cards to be eligible.

"We can't have hotels in every location; no hotel company can," said Steve Sickel, a senior vice president with InterContinental, in a statement. "To provide the ultimate flexibility to our members, we allow them to redeem their points at virtually any hotel in the world – even our rivals' hotels."

To publicize the "Any Hotel, Anywhere" program, InterContinental representatives hit the business districts of several American cities on Tuesday. They distributed luggage tags, of which one out of every six had a winning numeric code entitling recipients to free stays in the chain's hotels. Those receiving a luggage tag could go on the priority club Web site to see if they were a winner.

The plan was InterContinentals's response to recent surveys indicating that frequent travelers feel many loyalty programs are made too difficult to redeem miles or points.

Since the program's July debut, more than 23 million points have been redeemed, according to the release.

Many hotels are going to extreme to attract guests with services such as tanning butlers. For more, click here.

But some chains are cutting back on services such as daily linen changes. Click here for that story.