Same hotel, different reservations, to maximise Ambassador $20 credits?
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Myself and my partner are ambassador members.
Is it ok to book on separate reservations on alternate nights? For example night 1 and 3 under my name and night 2 on my partners name?
Would like to make maximise value with the $20 f&b credit. Would the IC hotel be fine with that?
Of course it is fine, but a number of different scenarios could play out.
As you would have three separate bookings for 3 nights (and they would be unaware that the two of you are together as it’s two different people unless you mentioned at check in), you could initially be allocated a different room for each night. It is possible the hotel could force you to check out and in 3 times as 3 separate reservations and you’d be in 3 different rooms. However you could mention at check in the 3 reservations and at their discretion, they could merge the reservations into one so you would be in one room for the 3 nights. However there is a risk here that as result of merging the reservations you would only get one lot $20 FB Credit. I think trying to game the system to get 3x$20 goes against the spirit of $20 FB credit per ‘stay’. If you’re prepared for the hassle of potentially changing rooms then fine, but imho not worth it.Two bookings will be fine – I do this a lot as I often want to mix cash and points and we might have different offers to use. I just email the hotel and ask them to keep us in the same room – this is actually easier for them as they don’t have to send housekeeping between the stays. They don’t “merge” the reservations, these will keep the original booking references, they just keep you in the room – some hotels also require you to get you key re-activated when the second stay starts.
I would expect 2 lots of F & B credit at the most, it’s not enough to be worth haggling over and very possibly causing some awkwardness at check-in. If you have Platinum or Diamond IHG status you’ll probably be given drinks vouchers as well (and breakfast if Diamond), plus they usually leave plenty of free F & B treats in the room.Last time I merged individual reservations at an IC, I sadly only got 1 Ambassador $20 credit. But I did get a welcome amenity of a large posh choc bar every day which I then had to hide in a drawer so as not to catch their attention the next day. It was very exciting for me as good chocolate is so much better than being left a bottle of wine that I won’t drink anyway nor will I risk packing wine in my case to take home for others
And remember that $20 at an IC usually gets you one coffee, so probably not worth chasing.
You have two options for me here:
Check Out Each Day: On Day One you check-in and ask for a late check-out. Use your credit, then check-out, and then your partner checks in, and continue the cycle for the next day. If you both stay separate from one another at check-in and checkout, you might/should get 3x $20 credit.
Merge Bookings: If you ask, either before or arrival, to merge the bookings and stay in the same room for 3 days, you will only get 1x $20 credit unfortunately.
That is way too much hassle for what $20 will get you! It’s easier just to ask the cleaners for extra snacks if you’re that bothered about getting value.
Also there’s nothing wrong with pointing out at check-in that you have booked on 2 separate accounts and would appreciate 2 lots of drinks vouchers!That is way too much hassle for what $20 will get you! It’s easier just to ask the cleaners for extra snacks if you’re that bothered about getting value.
Also there’s nothing wrong with pointing out at check-in that you have booked on 2 separate accounts and would appreciate 2 lots of drinks vouchers!And of course if people are so short of $20/night that they need to contort/embarrass themselves by attempting to diddle the system, cheaper hotels are available.
I think suggesting this is “diddling” is a bit emotive/misleading. The OP was checking what benefits they would get in the situation described within the terms of the hotel (so… Following their T&C/policy).
If it’s two separate people booking alternate nights, then it’s several “stays” and should be entitled to whatever each “stay” is entitled to. If it’s one person booking multiple nights concurrently (whether the bookings are merged or not), then the total length is “one stay” and they’re entitled to “one stay” benefits.
Whether it’s worth the hassle/risk of changing rooms, checking in/out, etc, is a personal call, but the act in itself isn’t “diddling”.
@alig4th – however anyone tries to dress this up, it’s clearly a single stay, so attempting to turn it into multiple stays to derive a financial benefit to which you aren’t actually entitled is clearly rather sus, but you can use any description you wish. It all seems so demeaning, a bit like the poster a few days ago who wondered if it was OK to hang around outside the F lounge begging passengers to guest them in.
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