IHG One Rewards has launched another promotion to encourage you to join or renew an Ambassador membership for another year. It requires that you stay two nights by the end of January, but there should be a way to do that at a lower cost than you might expect.
The Deal
Key Terms
- To participate in the “Renew Ambassador, stay two nights, earn 20k bonus points” offer (the “Offer”), an individual must be an existing InterContinental Ambassador member and must first renew their membership in the InterContinental Ambassador programme. Renewal of their membership must be completed before their current membership expires OR by 31 December 2022, whichever will occur sooner. Additional information regarding the duration and renewal of memberships is provided in the terms and conditions for the InterContinental Ambassador program, which can be obtained here. No registration is required for this Offer. Members who are invited to participate in this Offer may also participate in other IHG offers. This Offer is not applicable for Royal Ambassador members. This Offer is not valid for InterContinental Ambassador membership enrolments or renewals obtained on a complimentary basis or using the IHG Employee discount.
- If a member renews their InterContinental Ambassador membership by paying USD200, they will receive 15,000 IHG One Rewards points upon renewal. An additional 20,000 bonus points will be deposited into their account after they stay two qualifying nights, between their renewal date and 31 January 2023, at participating InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, or Regent Hotels & Resorts.
- Members who renew by redeeming 40,000 IHG One Rewards points will receive 20,000 bonus points after completing two qualifying nights, between their renewal date and 31 January 2023, at participating InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, or Regent Hotels & Resorts.
- To qualify for the additional 20,000 bonus points, each of the two nights must be part of one or more Qualifying Stays. A Qualifying Stay is defined as a minimum 1-night stay booked under a Qualifying Rate, with total spend exceeding $30 USD (or local equivalent) per night. Only one room per member per Qualifying Stay will be eligible. If more than one member checks into the same room, only one member is eligible to claim the night for purposes of the Offer. No retroactive credit will be awarded for stays prior to a member’s renewal of their membership or prior to this Offer. The “Ambassador Complimentary Weekend Night” rate is a Qualifying Rate, and the complimentary night may be counted towards the two nights needed to qualify for the additional 20,000 bonus points.
- This Offer can only be redeemed once per member and a maximum of 35,000 IHG One Rewards points can be achieved for renewals based on the payment of USD200 or a maximum of 20,000 bonus points for renewals based on redeeming 40,000 points. Please allow up to six (6) weeks for bonus points to be posted to the recipient’s IHG One Rewards account.
- Participating Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants and Regent Hotels & Resorts will accept redemption of the InterContinental Ambassador Complimentary Weekend Night through 31 December 2022, excluding Regent Hotels & Resorts in Greater China. The Complimentary Weekend Night is valid on the second night of a paid stay on the “Ambassador Complimentary Weekend Night Rate” and is subject to the standard rules and restrictions in the InterContinental Ambassador Full Terms and Conditions, as outlined here. Such rules and restrictions include but are not necessarily limited to the following: Rooms at the “Ambassador Complimentary Weekend Night” rate are subject to limited availability; advance reservations are required; the complimentary weekend nights may only be redeemed via the member’s IHG One Rewards account; identification and member number must be presented upon check-in; the member must have an un-redeemed and valid Complimentary Weekend Night available within their IHG One Rewards account; valid for room and tax only; weekend is defined to include Friday, Saturday and Sunday, except in the Middle East where properties may define the weekend as Thursday, Friday and Saturday and at participating Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants and Regent Hotels & Resorts where the Ambassador Complimentary Weekend Night is defined as Any Day; and when joining the Ambassador program in hotel, the weekend night cannot be redeemed for the current stay. All InterContinental Ambassador program benefits are subject to the InterContinental Ambassador Full Terms & Conditions, which can be found here.
Quick Thoughts
One of the useful features of the promotion is that the free weekend night certificate you receive as part of your Ambassador membership counts as one of the two eligible nights required to earn the 20,000 bonus points. That cert is valid for the second night of a two night stay, so paying cash for the first night and using the certificate for the second night will be sufficient to earn those bonus points.
That’s specifically listed as being eligible in the terms of the offer and I can confirm that it does indeed work because I took advantage of a similar promotion earlier this year. We booked a stay at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco and our first and second nights were booked using the free weekend night certificate I received when joining the Ambassador program just hours before making that reservation. Sure enough, 20,000 bonus points posted to my account after that stay.
20,000 IHG One Rewards points are worth at least $100, so paying $200 for an Ambassador membership can be worthwhile provided you can book a qualifying two night stay at an InterContinental, Kimpton or Regent property by the end of January and can get at least $100 of value out of the program in the next year.
Here are the benefits you can expect to receive with Ambassador status:
At Intercontinental Properties, an Ambassador receives:
- A guaranteed one category upgrade
- Complimentary internet and bottled water
- A $20 Food and beverage credit
- 4PM late check-out
- Complimentary weekend night certificate
- Platinum Elite status in IHG One Rewards
At Six Senses properties, an Ambassador receives:
- Complimentary breakfast for two each day
- Signature Amenity of either a complimentary 50 minute Six Senses Spa massage for two or local experience (once per stay)
- Complimentary one category room upgrade
- Extended check-out of 4PM subject to availability
- Early check-in of 10AM subject to availability
- Complimentary internet
- Wellness Platter on day of arrival
A past unofficial benefit of Ambassador membership was that it seemed to extend what was then IHG’s top elite tier status – Spire Elite. This wasn’t ever listed as something that should happen, but was a nice perk for those who otherwise wouldn’t have requalified for Spire. What I’m not sure about is if that will continue with IHG’s revamped IHG One Rewards program now that Spire Elite status has been replaced with Diamond status.
h/t OMAAT