Renew Ambassador in hotel?

[AnotherUser]

My Ambassador status is ending soon after I’ve got an IC stay booked. IHG have offered 15k points to renew, and I likely will renew.

Some people have talked about renewing in an IC. Do I just email to say I’m due to renew, IHG have offered me an incentive, but I was wondering if the hotel could offer anything if I upgrade there? Or is there a better way to approach this? I’ll be checking in with a toddler who has been on the train for slightly too long, so it’s likely best if I can agree (or not) any renewal offer before I arrive 🙂

[BBbetter]

Both options have same renewal benefits. I paid cash at hotel and received 15k points.

[Lady London]

100% always do the hotel a favour and see if they come up with something.

I might even email them about something such as a cot request to make sure indicating my arrival and departure times (this is helpful to a hotel) and incidentally also mentioning you are considering signing up for Ambassador and will it be possible to do this at the hotel when you arrive.

Though I do believe it’s only an Ambassador payment by cash that gets you the 15,000 no matter by which method you renew, paying it in points would not get the 15k.

[memesweeper]

The only reason not to renew in the hotel is the inability to use the ambassador weekend voucher on that particular stay.

Note: some hotels are blocking the voucher completely it seems, others restrict availability. If you value a future 2-4-1 weekend stay make sure it’s actually available at the time and hotel of your choosing. You can book at the ambassador rate before signing up to ambassador.

[AnotherUser]

Thanks – that’s really useful! I’m using the 2-for-1 voucher on my stay, but this is from the Ambassador membership that’s just about to expire (will expire around a week after my stay). Using the voucher shouldn’t be a problem in these circumstances?

[memesweeper]

AnotherUser wrote:

Thanks – that’s really useful! I’m using the 2-for-1 voucher on my stay, but this is from the Ambassador membership that’s just about to expire (will expire around a week after my stay). Using the voucher shouldn’t be a problem in these circumstances?

Absolutely fine in those circumstances. Confirm on check-in the upgrade you have in the bag, and then ask if they have anything to offer as an incentive to renew your soon-to-expire membership on the spot. It might be a further upgrade, or something else. Dropping hints by email ahead of time might not hurt either.