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IHG Rewards Club is running a bonus point promotion that is valid at its Intercontinental brand only. The promo will run from 26 September until 30 November, 2019.
Members can earn 3,000 points per stay at an Intercontinental hotel. A maximum of 15,000 bonus points can be earned – i.e. 5 stays. Unfortunately award stays using points will not qualify; you must book one of the standard points-earning qualifying rates.
Registration is required. You can do that by clicking here.
Sign Up for Ambassador and Earn More
If you enroll in the Ambassador programme, you can earn additional bonuses:
- 10,000 bonus points
- An additional 3,000 bonus points per stay (5 stay maximum)
If you sign up to Ambassador and complete 5 stays, you would earn 40,000 bonus points in total. This would essentially offset the cost of signing up for Ambassador, which is $200 (£160) or 40,000 IHG points.
What Else Does Ambassador Get Me?
When you sign up for Ambassador, you also receive complimentary Platinum status in IHG Rewards Club. Moreover, 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)
Sign Up and Stay for the Weekend
This promotion could be quite interesting for anybody planning a weekend trip away this autumn. By spending £160 upfront, you could then:
- Receive 10,000 points straight away
- Book a “2 nights for the price of 1” weekend at an Intercontinental hotel
- Receive an additional 6,000 bonus points when that stay credits to your IHG account
If you value those IHG points at 0.4p, you’d be paying a net cost of £160 – £64 = £96 for that free weekend night. Plus all of the benefits of Ambassador / IHG Platinum for all of 2020…
The Bottom Line
I’ve never really understood the strategic reasoning behind IHG running two separate loyalty programmes. But when IHG promotes its Ambassador programme with an interesting promotion, it’s time to take another look at it…
What do you think? Are you an Ambassador who thinks it is worthwhile? Let us know in the comments section…
I’m following this because I’m interested in other comments and opinions. Thanks for the heads up.
Just took a quick look at ‘view available dates’ for the weekend offer, in 2 different cities, and there are no valid dates… EVER! Don’t think I’ll be joining.
I have never had that experience. Just to be sure: you are checking Intercontinental hotels and not other brands?
Ah, so I emailed them for clarification (wasn’t clear in their T&C’s). The availability won’t show unless you are already Ambassador, so I can’t check if it’s worth it for my dates I’m already planning. But then they said it’s a 2 night minimum, but both dates need to be a F, Sa or Su (my dates fall on a Sun & Mon), so not for me then! Shame as I will be booking Intercon for 4 nights with just Gold status.
Hi Craig,
>Ambassador status also comes automatically with Platinum status in IHG Rewards Club.
Not true, you have to pay extra to enrol .
Not quite sure I follow… Pay for Ambassador, get IHG Platinum. Is it not clear in the post that you have to pay for Ambassador? I’m not aware of having to pay for Ambassador and then pay on top to get Platinum.
The confusion is from the ambiguity of the language. That sentence can be read to mean that once you have IHG Platinum you automatically get Ambassador. I know that you meant the reverse – but both interpretations are linguistically valid.
LOL. Cheers. I’ll try to re-word.
Yes that’s what I thought, apologies
Not at all. It’s always appreciated when readers point out things that aren’t written clearly enough.