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IHG has launched a new promotion to incentivise you to sign up for Intercontinental’s Ambassador programme. You can also participate if you are renewing your Ambassador status.
All you must do is:
- Sign up (or renew) Ambassador between 30 July and 15 November, 2020
- Complete ONE paid stay at an Intercontinental, Kimpton or Regent hotel before 31 January, 2021
You will then receive a free night certificate valid for ANY IHG hotel (except Six Senses or Mr & Mrs Smith), up to a maximum of 40,000 points. The reward night must take place before 30 April, 2021.
For those of you who are somewhat familiar with Ambassador, this free night certificate is separate and IN ADDITION to the free weekend night certificate that you automatically receive when joining the Ambassador programme. In fact, I see no reason why you cannot use your “buy one, get one free” weekend night certificate on the Qualifying Stay that you need to complete before 31 January in order to earn the 40,000 point reward night.
If you aren’t very familiar with Ambassador, you might want to re-read this old post.
But the highlights are…
- Signing up for Ambassador costs $200 or 40,000 IHG points
And you receive IHG Rewards Club Platinum status, along with…
I could not find a landing page for this promotion. Details are simply buried in the standard Terms & Conditions for Ambassador membership.
Ambassador Reward Night Enrolment & Renewal Offer:
42. InterContinental® Ambassadors who enrol in the program or renew their program membership between July 30, 2020 – November 15, 2020 and then complete one Qualifying Stay at InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton® Hotels & Restaurants, or Regent® Hotels by January 31, 2021 will be awarded a Reward Night redeemable for a Reward Night priced at 40,000 points or less. The Reward Night will be deposited into the Free Nights section of the member’s account within 72 hours after check-out from the qualifying, paid stay and will be valid until April 30, 2021. This Reward Night is in addition to the complimentary weekend night that is already included as an InterContinental Ambassador member benefit. Ambassador benefits are not honored at Kimpton® Hotels & Restaurants globally or at Regent® Hotels & Resorts in Greater China.
The Reward Night must be consumed by April 30, 2021 and cannot be extended or transferred. The number of points required for a Reward Night at IHG hotels varies by date, brand and individual hotel and is subject to availability. Taxes and fees apply and the member may be required to pay such taxes and fees even for a Reward Night. IHG® Army Hotels, Mrs and Mrs Smith properties, and Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas are excluded from this Offer.
This Offer is not valid for InterContinental® Ambassador membership enrolments or renewals obtained on a complimentary basis or using the IHG Employee discount. Ambassador members must be within their standard renewal window in order to take advantage of this Offer. A Qualifying Stay is defined as a paid, minimum 1-night stay booked under a Qualifying Rate, with total spend exceeding US $30 per night. Reward Nights do not count as Qualifying Stays. A Stay is defined per IHG Rewards Club Membership Terms and Conditions as one night or consecutive nights at the same hotel, regardless of frequency of check-in/out. Only one room per member per Qualifying Stay will be eligible to earn the member a Reward Night under this Offer. If more than one member checks into the same room, only one member may use it as his or her Qualifying Stay for this Offer. No credit will be awarded for Stays completed prior to the member’s enrollment or renewal.
This Offer is subject to standard IHG Rewards Club Membership Terms and Conditions and earning structure, which can be obtained here, as well as the InterContinental Ambassador Membership Terms and Conditions. IHG reserves the right to remove a member’s free night award or cancel a member’s account if fraudulent use of this Offer is detected. To the extent permitted by applicable law, IHG reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify this Offer at any time with or without notice, and IHG reserves the right of final interpretation of this Offer. Members must make any inquiries relating to this Offer by 60 days from the last date on which the Reward Night can be consumed (April 30, 2021).
A promotion for the paid-for Ambassador program, a program that is fundamentally about IC hotels, providing a “free night” that is limited such that you may well not be able to use it at many IC hotels ??
Indeed. At some point I’m planning to write a post about the complete mess that is IHG’s loyalty strategy.
The IC at the O2 is available in October for 37,500 points per night. It is intriguing to see the odd way reward nights are ‘priced’ as the Park Lane IC is nealy double in terms of points (70,000) but only 25% more expensive in cash terms (£164.20 v £214.50) for the same dates. If you want to take advantage of the offer, somewhat surprisingly when the leisure industry seems to be doing all it can to rake in as much cash as possible, as quickly as possible, you can’t volunteer to renew you Ambassador membership ahead of time. T&Cs state:
This Offer is not valid for InterContinental® Ambassador membership enrolments or renewals obtained on a complimentary basis or using the IHG Employee discount. Ambassador members must be within their standard renewal window in order to take advantage of this Offer. ”
I think I have seen somewhere that ” the standard renewal window” is 60 days before expiry.
Yes, I suspect there are lots of people whose COVID-related Ambassador expiry extension means that they cannot renew during the time period of this offer.
I would have been able to take advantage of this offer but Ambassador ‘kindly’ extended my membership by 6 months putting my renewal outside this period, therefore in effect making me worse off. Haha typical IHG ‘loyalty’. The Muppets would do a better job 🙂
No need to get way ahead of oneself. Paying 40,000 points to renew, then doing a paid night somewhere, just to get a limited-life 40k free night certificate back… you’re better off with the free 6 months (which might end up as longer…)
Obviously it might grate a bit, though, if your extended Ambassador expires a few weeks after this promo ends.
RIght, so what is the cheapest Intercontinental, Kimpton, or Regent Hotel in Europe?
Somewhere in Central / Eastern Europe I’d imagine. Warsaw, Sofia, etc.
If the free night were for any IHG hotel, it could be worth it. A 40k cap on the other hand means you’re getting maximum $200 of value…
When written:
“InterContinental® Ambassadors who enrol in the program or renew their program membership between July 30, 2020 – November 15, 2020 and then complete one Qualifying Stay at InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton® Hotels & Restaurants, or Regent® Hotels by January 31, 2021 will be awarded a Reward Night redeemable for a Reward Night priced at 40,000 points or less.”
might have appeared achievable. With the benefit of hindsight, not a chance for the average person. Have IHG put out anything to acknowledge this and offer revised dates? In the same vein, my Ambassador W/E certificate which was given a 6-month extension to 1 July 21, is now looking to be potentially unuseable within this timeframe.
I haven’t seen anything to suggest that another Ambassador extension is imminent. I’m in the same situation as you though, with a certificate due to expire unused on 1 July.
Not sure about the first point, but I suspect (and certainly hope from my own pov!) that we’ll see Ambassador Cert extended again.