Ambassador free night

[pbcold]

In my account it says:

Ambassador Complimentary Weekend Night
Valid until 31/03/2023

Do I need to book or have stayed by end of March? Thank you.

[pbcold]

I should re-phrase this. Can I use my voucher for the weekend beginning 31/03/2023?

[NorthernLass]

It’s use by for the Ambassador voucher so I think the last night it will be valid is 31/3. Voucher validity seems to be 12 months from the month after you joined as far as I can tell.

[pbcold]

Thank you very much indeed. I can go ahead then, counting the Friday as the “free” night, I presume. I shall try, anyway.

[Lula]

pbcold wrote:

Thank you very much indeed. I can go ahead then, counting the Friday as the “free” night, I presume. I shall try, anyway.

I think the terms of the voucher are that the second night of a 2 night stay is free. And unfortunately you won’t find out until you go to pay on check out whether they deduct the voucher or not. So your strategy might be a bit risky.

[pbcold]

Lula wrote:

pbcold wrote:

Thank you very much indeed. I can go ahead then, counting the Friday as the “free” night, I presume. I shall try, anyway.

I think the terms of the voucher are that the second night of a 2 night stay is free. And unfortunately you won’t find out until you go to pay on check out whether they deduct the voucher or not. So your strategy might be a bit risky.

Ah! That is extremely helpful, thank you so much. I`ll find another weekend…..

[NorthernLass]

I meant the same as @Lula, apologies if it wasn’t clear. There might be a problem if the hotel looked to redeem your voucher at checkout and it had expired the day before, but it’s worth asking if you really want to travel that weekend. Some hotels adjust the charge before you actually stay (it will show in your booking if they have done), so it’s theoretically doable.

[pbcold]

Lovely, thank you. I`ll contact the hotel directly if I choose that weekend.

[RonnieB]

pbcold wrote:

In my account it says:

Ambassador Complimentary Weekend Night
Valid until 31/03/2023

Do I need to book or have stayed by end of March? Thank you.

Just for clarification – I thought you had to BOOK by the expiry date. Is it STAY by the expiry date or not??

[Lula]

RonnieB wrote:

pbcold wrote:

In my account it says:

Ambassador Complimentary Weekend Night
Valid until 31/03/2023

Do I need to book or have stayed by end of March? Thank you.

Just for clarification – I thought you had to BOOK by the expiry date. Is it STAY by the expiry date or not??

Stay by

[JohnG]

I checked the terms out of interest and I think the voucher only needs to be valid at check in. One relevant extract: “ The second night is credited to your bill when the member has an un-redeemed and valid Complimentary Weekend Night available upon check-in.”

I think a lot of people equate the voucher with the free night, but you are booking the entire start using the voucher, the benefit of which is that the second night is gratis.

With that said I personally wouldn’t just book it and turn up. I’d message the hotel or ambassador team and ask.

[Rob]

I would book it and turn up, because the published rules trump any nonsense the call centre gives.

However I would flag at check in that the voucher should be taken immediately.

It took IHG 3 months to deduct my last one – I thought I’d be able to reuse it!

[Lula]

I was able to reuse my vouchers in 2019 and 2020. Sadly that gift has stopped giving.

[tiriavpo]

Can someone confirm please, that the ‘second night free’, for a 3-night stay over Fri/sat/sun nights, would be the saturday – and not the cheapest night of the three.

[NorthernLass]

You can’t book a 3-night stay, you’d need to make the Ambassador booking then a 3rd night separately. Check the individual price for each night – it’s 2nd night free so Fri/Sat might be best use of the certificate. Also if you book a cheaper room for the 3rd (or used points) you’d most likely get to stay in the same room.

[tiriavpo]

Oh – it seems to let me book 3 nights through the ‘redeem’ option:

[NorthernLass]

I’ve never seen that – interesting to know! You would assume it’s the 2nd night they actually deduct then, as per the voucher terms. I would still check out other options to book the 3rd night separately in case they are pricing all 3 nights at the Ambassador rate which can be quite a bit higher than the standard one (and points may be a better option).

It would be interesting to know if they price all 3 nights at Ambassador rate using this option – let us know!

[tiriavpo]

Yes, good point. That particular one doesn’t seem to be happy with a one-night stay on the 3rd night but another one does work out slightly cheaper to book the 3rd night at the best available rate.

[NorthernLass]

I was intrigued so I did couple of dummy bookings (Kimpton Clocktower and IC Park Lane). The 3rd night is definitely being charged at the Ambassador rate, though the price differentials aren’t nearly as bad as I’ve seen previously – over £100 pn in some cases.

Not sure why you would have any issues booking extra nights separately? I’ve done this loads of times (with cash and points, and even via Emyr), and always found the relevant hotel happy to link bookings and keep us in the same room.