Soft landing with IHG One Rewards?

[d1ps]

Having been given Diamond from the old Spire, but also having had my IHG Mastercard cancelled like a lot of other people, I am wondering if we have details on how the status downgrades will work in years to come.

Considering I dont have the IHG Mastercard to collect points, I need to decide how much “effort\money” to put behind IHG stays in the coming year relative to their new scheme. Any thoughts?

• This topic was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[Pangolin]

My Creation card was cancelled last year but I’ve kept Platinum and when I log into my account it shows my status as ‘Cardholder’ 🙂

[Rob]

What IS still working is that if you pay $200 for Ambassador whilst still Diamond, it appears to lock in your Diamond status for another year and expiry will show as 12/23.

This worked for years as Spire and anecdotal evidence is that it continues to work.

[dst87]

Rob Burgess wrote:

What IS still working is that if you pay $200 for Ambassador whilst still Diamond, it appears to lock in your Diamond status for another year and expiry will show as 12/23.

This worked for years as Spire and anecdotal evidence is that it continues to work.

Does that effectively give permanent Diamond, so long as you renew Ambassador every year? Or have I misunderstood what you’re saying?

[John]

dst87 wrote:

Rob Burgess wrote:

What IS still working is that if you pay $200 for Ambassador whilst still Diamond, it appears to lock in your Diamond status for another year and expiry will show as 12/23.

This worked for years as Spire and anecdotal evidence is that it continues to work.

Does that effectively give permanent Diamond, so long as you renew Ambassador every year? Or have I misunderstood what you’re saying?

It’s permanent until IHG decides to crack down on it, which they can do any time as it’s unofficial and you will only find out when your account doesn’t stay diamond

[dst87]

John wrote:

It’s permanent until IHG decides to crack down on it, which they can do any time as it’s unofficial and you will only find out when your account doesn’t stay diamond

I guess I’ll find out, then! Thanks.

[NorthernLass]

OH and I are currently Diamond and planning to rejoin Ambassador later in year for the free night cert so we’ll see if it extends our status for another year. We’re almost certain to lose it otherwise due to no more Creation points and finding Hilton preferable for a big chunk of our hotel stays.

[alig4th]

Rob Burgess wrote:

What IS still working is that if you pay $200 for Ambassador whilst still Diamond, it appears to lock in your Diamond status…

Anyone know if this is also true if you buy status with 40k points rather than $200?

[Harrier25]

alig4th wrote:

Rob Burgess wrote:

What IS still working is that if you pay $200 for Ambassador whilst still Diamond, it appears to lock in your Diamond status…

Anyone know if this is also true if you buy status with 40k points rather than $200?

Spending 40,000 points to secure Diamond to the end of 2023 sounds like a good deal to me, if it works.

[d1ps]

I will be doing the same for OH and I whilst the Ambassador route works.
We are staying in the IC Barcelona on combo of reward + free night certs so will probably do it in the next month and share what happens w.r.t Diamond expiry.
Will probably try and use 40K points to pay for Ambassador!

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[Aston100]

Is Ambassador status only relevant for IC hotels, or can it get you anything with the rest of the IHG chain?
Say you are already diamond, would having Ambassador give you an additional benefit if staying at a Kimpton for example?

[dst87]

I assume if you renew early it adds 1 year to your Ambassador expiry? There’s no benefit to waiting until the last minute to renew?

That should be obvious, but with travel industry tech I don’t like to assume! 😆

[dst87]

Aston100 wrote:

Say you are already diamond, would having Ambassador give you an additional benefit if staying at a Kimpton for example?

I don’t believe so, no. For this year you can use the Ambassador free weekend night at Kimpton properties though, so if you’re planing a stay you may be able to get $200 value from that?

[NorthernLass]

Aston100 wrote:

Is Ambassador status only relevant for IC hotels, or can it get you anything with the rest of the IHG chain?
Say you are already diamond, would having Ambassador give you an additional benefit if staying at a Kimpton for example?

It’s Intercontinental Ambassador so the benefits are only guaranteed at IC hotels. You can currently use the free night certificate at some Kimptons and Regents but they don’t guarantee upgrades or any of the other perks. That said, I did use certificates at Kimptons Charlotte Square and Clocktower last year when foreign travel was out of the question and got very nice upgrades and free goodies, but I don’t know if that was due to Ambassador or (then) Spire status.

[ChrisC]

Aston100 wrote:

Is Ambassador status only relevant for IC hotels, or can it get you anything with the rest of the IHG chain?
Say you are already diamond, would having Ambassador give you an additional benefit if staying at a Kimpton for example?

Ambassador also gives you Plat under the main IHG scheme so you’d get the benefits of that if you had a lower status than that.

As mentioned above until the end of the year you can also use the weekend voucher at Kimptons and Regents for any night of the week not just the weekend.

[Aston100]

Thanks all.
40k points to maintain Diamond for a further year seems a no brainer.

[alig4th]

dst87 wrote:

I assume if you renew early it adds 1 year to your Ambassador expiry? There’s no benefit to waiting until the last minute to renew

Apart from having a longer expiry on your free night voucher…

[alig4th]

d1ps wrote:

Will probably try and use 40K points to pay for Ambassador!

Would really appreciate the update as and when you do, thanks!

[dst87]

alig4th wrote:

dst87 wrote:

I assume if you renew early it adds 1 year to your Ambassador expiry? There’s no benefit to waiting until the last minute to renew

Apart from having a longer expiry on your free night voucher…

Oh, interesting. I assume the expiry is the same, but you use it sooner than the natural start to your membership year. 🤔

[alig4th]

dst87 wrote:

Oh, interesting. I assume the expiry is the same, but you use it sooner than the natural start to your membership year. 🤔

I think (someone please correct me) the voucher has a one year expiry from the date of issue, irrespective of when your Ambo year ends

[Supergers49]

I’ve always been reluctant to renew with points. My understanding is that if you renew for cash ($200) you receive 15k points, which effectively means renewal costs ~ £100. Whereas renewing for 40k points equates to ~£160. Both calcs assume 0.4p per point value and an fx rate of £1:$1.25.

[PeteM]

Rob Burgess wrote:

What IS still working is that if you pay $200 for Ambassador whilst still Diamond, it appears to lock in your Diamond status for another year and expiry will show as 12/23.

This worked for years as Spire and anecdotal evidence is that it continues to work.

Can confirm this worked today on the USD 200 option.

[Flying Moonwards]

PeteM wrote:

Rob Burgess wrote:

What IS still working is that if you pay $200 for Ambassador whilst still Diamond, it appears to lock in your Diamond status for another year and expiry will show as 12/23.

This worked for years as Spire and anecdotal evidence is that it continues to work.

Can confirm this worked today on the USD 200 option.

Can confirm this worked today on the 40k option.

[YC]

Not great news that LL is reporting this… Pushing me to renew sooner rather than later

[Zara]

YC wrote:

Not great news that LL is reporting this… Pushing me to renew sooner rather than later

But if it’s extended to dec 2023 irrespective of when you choose to purchase ambassador then does it matter if you renew sooner, or is it a case of not knowing travel patterns for next year to justify having it.
I am diamond but have never had ambassador but am considering it for the extension as I will lose it this year also.