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Last week Craig published an article about a new Intercontinental Ambassador offer from IHG, explaining how it effectively reduces the net cost of membership to £96.

I’ve got a few Intercontinental stays coming up, so decided to take advantage.

Ambassador membership normally costs ~£160 and the benefits include:

• Guaranteed one category room upgrade
• Extended 4pm check-out
• Complimentary weekend night (2-4-1 Certificate)
• Dedicated check-in area
• Restaurants & bars credit of up to USD20 for every stay
• Complimentary mineral water
• Complimentary internet

Ambassador membership also comes with Platinum Elite status in IHG Rewards Club. I already receive Platinum status through my IHG credit card, so wasn’t particularly interested in that – but it seems there is a quirk to how that status is processed that is well worth knowing about.

Sounds intriguing…

A couple of months ago, I enrolled in a status match/challenge offered by IHG, that granted applicants top-tier Spire status for 90 days. In the end, I didn’t complete the 10 nights required during that period which would have allowed me to keep Spire status until the end of 2020.

I did pay for Ambassador membership while my status was temporarily Spire though, and it seems that doing so has indirectly maintained my Spire status. Well over 90 days have now passed since I enrolled in the status match, and my account shows the following:

In his article Craig had already shared the tip that “if you currently have Spire status but don’t seem likely to re-qualify, signing up for Ambassador at the end of the calendar year often has the effect of making you a “Spire Ambassador” for as long as you continue to pay for Ambassador status. (YMMV as this glitch may not continue indefinitely)“.

It’s interesting to see that this applies even when the account in question was only temporarily Spire by virtue of a status match.