IHG Ambassador Program

[Cyberon]

Hi, just a few questions on this program

1. Are there 4 tiers? Ambassador, Gold Ambassador, Platinum Ambassador, and Royal Ambassador being the highest?
2. If one wanted to jump straight through to Platinum should they buy those referral vouchers on ebay (approx $700) and also sign up for the $200USD membership fee (assuming they are not already a member)?

I'm wondering if this would be a more cost effective way of getting suite upgrades if one was to say for more than 2 nights at an Intercontinental hotel.

Thanks in advance.

 

[markis10]

There are two tiers, Ambassador which comes with free PC Club Gold status and Royal Ambassador which includes free Platinum Status in PC. if you re an RA you may get either Club or Suite upgrades and sometimes both, however the room upgrades are so so in general, to me the worth of RA is in e early checkin and late checkout which are set in stone, and the complimentary mini bar.

 

[Cyberon]

There are two tiers, Ambassador which comes with free PC Club Gold status and Royal Ambassador which includes free Platinum Status in PC. if you re an RA you may get either Club or Suite upgrades and sometimes both, however the room upgrades are so so in general, to me the worth of RA is in e early checkin and late checkout which are set in stone, and the complimentary mini bar.

thanks. I'm currently a Platinum PC member, so does it mean if I pay the $200 I will still be an Ambassador and not Royal Ambassador?


I was tempted to use the 30% off family and friends rate link, but I'm worried whether this might negate any Ambassador benefits, and whether it was wiser to use the 25% off weekdays from this link

IHG | InterContinental Hotels Group

so one could also use the Ambassador benefits?

Basically I'm trying to score a suite upgrade in Hong Kong for the cheapest possible price.

EDIT:
BTw, I got the above links from this site

http://thepointsguy.com/2011/07/how-to-maximize-priority-club-points-and-save-on-stays/


But I wonder whether the 25% off link doesn't work anymore?

 

[markis10]

The Ambassador program is different to PC status levels, the only way you can get RA is to be invited or get a referral, currently it looks like you need 20 or more IC nights and around 60 to 70 IHG nights in total. It's fair to say that at ICs your Ambassador status counts while at other IHG hotels, it's the PC status that matters.

 

[Nigelinoz]

The Ambassador program is different to PC status levels, the only way you can get RA is to be invited or get a referral, currently it looks like you need 20 or more IC nights and around 60 to 70 IHG nights in total. It's fair to say that at ICs your Ambassador status counts while at other IHG hotels, it's the PC status that matters.

So basically unless you are someone who stays at Intercontinental Hotels like the Rialto in Melbourne then there is little point signing up
for Ambassador as there is no benefit at other IHG properties ?
Cheers
N'oz

 

[markis10]

So basically unless you are someone who stays at Intercontinental Hotels like the Rialto in Melbourne then there is little point signing up
for Ambassador as there is no benefit at other IHG properties ?
Cheers
N'oz

Correct, if you can get the value from the BOGO it's not too bad, but it's something of a hangover from the previous Six Continents Club which previously was the worlds longest running frequent guest program that also catered for the other hospitality components of Bass, the former entity.

 

[Cyberon]

and to add further confusion, there's also something called a Priority Privilege program as well!

 

[markis10]

and to add further confusion, there's also something called a Priority Privilege program as well!

That's a discount program, not a frequent stay program as such, and is a hangover from the old Parkroyal/Centra/Travelodge chain who started it as Pacific Privilege, in reference to the chain being owned by South Pacific Hotels Corporation before it was sold to Bass. I love the program because it's regional and I get full benefits from status and qualifying nights despite it often being deep discount, around $90 a night at Crowne Plaza and $150 at Sydney IC is often possible. As an RA it's not hard to get $150 of value with a free club upgrade and minibar as well as the odd movie and welcome bottle of plonk. If you do join, as a tip put a fake telephone number on the app, the telemarketers at renewal time are painful and do the program a great disservice with the lies they speak when the benefits should be enough incentive as they stand.

 

[Cyberon]

That's a discount program, not a frequent stay program as such, and is a hangover from the old Parkroyal/Centra/Travelodge chain who started it as Pacific Privilege, in reference to the chain being owned by South Pacific Hotels Corporation before it was sold to Bass. I love the program because it's regional and I get full benefits from status and qualifying nights despite it often being deep discount, around $90 a night at Crowne Plaza and $150 at Sydney IC is often possible. As an RA it's not hard to get $150 of value with a free club upgrade and minibar as well as the odd movie and welcome bottle of plonk. If you do join, as a tip put a fake telephone number on the app, the telemarketers at renewal time are painful and do the program a great disservice with the lies they speak when the benefits should be enough incentive as they stand.

I'm seriously thinking of joining the RA and getting the referral voucher from ebay.
I'm wondering whether I could use the above in addition to the price guarantee?

 

[markis10]

I'm seriously thinking of joining the RA and getting the referral voucher from ebay.
I'm wondering whether I could use the above in addition to the price guarantee?

If your RA, as I said above, you can use Priority Privilege no issues at all, tread carefully with the referral vouchers, a few have been burned and reported it on FT.

 

[yorgerg]

Hi markis10, can you share your secret of $150 at Sydney IC with me? For example, the cheapest flexible rate for Jan and Feb is around $270, using priority privilege newsletter's 15% or 20% off will still only get you around $210. The only thing I can think of is using the 25% off certificate or BOGOF certs, but obviously I have a limited number of those. How is $150 possible? If you don't want to share it openly, happy for you to PM me. Many thanks.

That's a discount program, not a frequent stay program as such, and is a hangover from the old Parkroyal/Centra/Travelodge chain who started it as Pacific Privilege, in reference to the chain being owned by South Pacific Hotels Corporation before it was sold to Bass. I love the program because it's regional and I get full benefits from status and qualifying nights despite it often being deep discount, around $90 a night at Crowne Plaza and $150 at Sydney IC is often possible. As an RA it's not hard to get $150 of value with a free club upgrade and minibar as well as the odd movie and welcome bottle of plonk. If you do join, as a tip put a fake telephone number on the app, the telemarketers at renewal time are painful and do the program a great disservice with the lies they speak when the benefits should be enough incentive as they stand.

 

[markis10]

Hi markis10, can you share your secret of $150 at Sydney IC with me? For example, the cheapest flexible rate for Jan and Feb is around $270, using priority privilege newsletter's 15% or 20% off will still only get you around $210. The only thing I can think of is using the 25% off certificate or BOGOF certs, but obviously I have a limited number of those. How is $150 possible? If you don't want to share it openly, happy for you to PM me. Many thanks.

Using your BOGO of course, and it's not unusual for PP to have a month where the certs are not required.

 

[yorgerg]

Using your BOGO of course, and it's not unusual for PP to have a month where the certs are not required.

Thanks markis10. Let's hope that sydney has a BOGO keep your cert soon.

 

[Rick93]

I just secured a RA referral for 236 Euros ( includes Air Freight ) = $AUS 301.

did a lot of emailing and paid by PAYPAL. I'm reasonably confident of getting the goods !!

GORDO

 

[markis10]

Hi markis10, can you share your secret of $150 at Sydney IC with me? For example, the cheapest flexible rate for Jan and Feb is around $270, using priority privilege newsletter's 15% or 20% off will still only get you around $210. The only thing I can think of is using the 25% off certificate or BOGOF certs, but obviously I have a limited number of those. How is $150 possible? If you don't want to share it openly, happy for you to PM me. Many thanks.

Here is an upcoming stay for next month as an example:

Check-In Date: Fri Apr 2012

Check-Out Date: Sun Apr 2012​

​

Room Type:
1 KING CLUB DELUXE EASTERN HARBOUR ROOM

Number of Rooms:
1

Number of Persons:
1 Adults 0 Children



[h=3]Guest Information[/h]MARKIS10



[h=3]Reservation Price Summary[/h]View Price Details
Best Price Guarantee – find a lower price for our hotels elsewhere and your first night is free.



Average Nightly Rate
$174.50 AUD


Price for 1 rooms 2 nights
$349.00 AUD


Total Tax †
$0.00 AUD

Service Charge †
$5.24 AUD


Estimated Total Price †
$354.24 AUD



Additional Charges May Apply

The following fees will be added to your total hotel bill only if they apply to your stay.

Valet Fee
$45.00 AUD

 

[Cyberon]

I just secured a RA referral for 236 Euros ( includes Air Freight ) = $AUS 301.

did a lot of emailing and paid by PAYPAL. I'm reasonably confident of getting the goods !!

GORDO

nice! let us know how the upgrades (if any) are like!

 

[froggerADL]

Here is an upcoming stay for next month as an example:

Valet Fee
$45.00 AUD

Hi markis10,

Is that valet fee for both nights or per night? I ask because I have a BOBO stay coming up at Crowne Plaza Darwin and it has a valet fee of $25 and I'd like to know if it's going to cost me $25 or $50 for the two nights.

 

[Pumbaa]

I've just came back from a trip to Sydney and Melbourne. My partner and I stayed at the Intercontinental Sydney (we have been staying here for all our past Sydney trips) and it is still our favourite hotel in Australia. If you stay here, you MUST get a club room so you have access to the Lounge on the top floor.

Service is exceptional, everyone smiles and are so helpful. The location is hard to beat, and surprisingly or not every time we stay there, we manage to meet some celebrities! This time we met some of the cast from American Pie

 

[Cyberon]

...

Average Nightly Rate
$174.50 AUD
..

that's a relatively good price.

Why is the Hong Kong Intercont around $400AUD per night for the cheapest room? It is rediculous!

 

[markis10]

Hi markis10,

Is that valet fee for both nights or per night? I ask because I have a BOBO stay coming up at Crowne Plaza Darwin and it has a valet fee of $25 and I'd like to know if it's going to cost me $25 or $50 for the two nights.

I don't know , I never Valet a car at an IC, Mel is the one hotel I will often have a car and I just park it at Crown. For the CP Darwin, I would not bother, there is usually good street parking after 4 and there is a council car park near parliament house that's free on weekends and empty. All day parking is also available in the esplanade at a cheap rate.

Edit - I often get street parking around 4PM in the red area (meters stop at 5 but work Saturday AM) and my fallback is the carpark in blue around the corner thats free all weekend and all day for I think $8 during the week).