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Buy InterContinental Ambassador to extend your Diamond status
In addition to its One Rewards program, IHG has a separate paid membership InterContinental Ambassador designed exclusively for its luxury brands. The value of this membership is arguable, as you can already earn free breakfast and even club lounge access with One Rewards, however its true merit is unpublicised.
The Ambassador membership comes with complimentary One Rewards Platinum status. If you are already Diamond however, joining or renewing your membership has a certain chance of extending your Diamond status by another year.
It’s not guaranteed to work, and since it’s just an Easter egg you can’t complain to IHG if the trick fails. I just renewed my Ambassador online for £200 and it worked (again) like a charm, phewww!
(The bug has been around for at least five years, so it would be really naive to think that IHG isn’t aware.)
There are some rules of thumb though based on many real-life reports:
- Paying £200 at an InterContinental hotel directly, whether it’s a sign-up or renewal, stands a very high chance (if not 100%)
- Renewing online for £200 is also fairly probable
- Signing up online, whether for £200 or 40,000 points is the least likely option
When purchasing the membership at a hotel, since they get a commission you could possibly negotiate additional benefits (e.g. suite upgrade or lounge access) in the meantime.
Diamond members are entitled to free breakfast when staying at IHG hotels so it actually means something now, compared to the old Spire tier. If you have Diamond status but cannot requalify, it’s well worth considering booking an InterContinental hotel and purchasing the Ambassador membership there.
Hilton luxury hotels complimentary night offer
Hilton is running a complimentary night offer for its luxury brands – LXR, Waldorf Astoria and Conrad. You can check the details and book here.
The promotions is advertised for “Fourth Night Free”:
- Book between 4 and 7 nights at participating hotels
- Enjoy 25% off the Best Flexible Rate
- Use the promo page to book, or enter promo code PBBOG1
Here are some nightly rate examples:
- Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh – £264
- Waldorf Astoria Berlin – €321
- Conrad London St James – £326
- Conrad Istanbul Bosphorus – €245
- Conrad Algarve – €245
Remember to check the cancellation policy when you book.
Hyatt selling points at 30% off
Hyatt has brought back its best-ever promotion for buying points. Until September 30th, you can enjoy 30% off when buying at least 3,000 points, and the annual cap is 55,000 points.
The promotion used to come in the forms of 25% off or 30% / 40% bonus in the past, so 30% off is as best as it gets.
However, GBP and EUR are extremely weak at the moment, which means buying points in USD may not be ideal. With the discount 10K Hyatt points cost $168, or £145.5.
Coming soon: Join or renew InterContinental Ambassador for 20K bonus points
(Now live)
I’ve been holding off renewing my Intercontinental Ambassador membership in the hope of another renewal offer. The offer is indeed coming back finally, however…
Refer to the following image for details:
Basically, join or renew your Ambassador membership between September 2nd and December 31st to activate the offer. Once enrolled, stay two nights at any InterContinental, Regent or Kimpton hotels by January 31st 2023 to receive 20K bonus points. The offer is not live yet, but I expect the t&c to reflect it very soon.
The two nights must be paid, but redeeming the Ambassador BOGOF voucher also counts. If you are unfamiliar with InterContinental Ambassador you can read my review here – in my opinion it’s a great program and you can earn the annual fee back from one BOGOF stay already. 20K bonus points is another reason to join.
You can renew your membership online 92 days before it expires by paying $200 or 40,000 points, and the former option comes with a bonus of 15,000 points. You can also pay to renew it when staying at an InterContinental hotel, but not all of them know how to do it.
The problem is, my membership expires on September 1st! Of course I can wait one more day to re-join and take advantage of the offer, but I don’t want to risk not renewing my Diamond status, which is worth much more than 20K points.
A friend has called IHG’s customer service who confirms the authenticity of this promotion. What they’ve also said is re-joining on the same month (in my case September) is also considered renewal, but I’m not sure if I want to take the punt.
Live: IHG 4x bonus flash sale
We wrote about IHG’s new targeted offer for 30k points last week. There is another offer that has gone live which you may double dip.
The offer is only publicised on China’s Wechat platform but you can read some details from the poster above.
- All IHG members in Greater China (Mainland / Hong Kong / Macau / Taiwan) can participate
- Stays at any IHG hotels globally are eligible
- Book between August 29 and 31 (Beijing Time)
- Stay in September
- Earn quadruple points on all stays
- Bonus is capped at 100k
Note that only stays booked on those three days count. It’s basically an extension of the expiring Q2 offer, although there’s no longer a milestone requirement to accrue the full quadruple points.
You can register to the offer here. Upon successful registration you should be able to find it in your account’s Offers section:
In theory, your IHG’s account address needs to be in Greater China to be eligible, however people with overseas address appear to be able to enrol too. My speculation is, although it’s a regional campaign, IHG didn’t bother to enforce the address check technicality.
Anyway, temporarily “moving” your IHG account to China is simple, and as hotel stays globally can trigger this offer it’s barely a hurdle.
I’ve managed to snap both the 4X Flash Sale and 10K Points for Every 5 Nights offers. It could work very well for September stays, especially if you are hoping to mattress run 40 nights for the annual lounge pass.
Related:
Afternoon tea at the Ting restaurant, Shangri-La the Shard
I accrued a lot of cheap Shangri-La points when The Economist had a great deal, but sadly didn’t have much chance to burn them. I spent some of them on a buffet in Beijing a few years back, but am still left with a stash of 2,500 points. Before the devaluation kicked in, I converted all into vouchers for Shangri-La the Shard, London.
A friend is visiting, which reminds me of redeeming those vouchers. Being in the Shard, the Shangri-La possesses an advantage that no other five-star hotels in London can ever compete.
It has four restaurants: Bar 31 and Sky Lounge are more like bars, whereas Ting and Gong are proper restaurants. I’ve got a few friends who’ve had an afternoon tea at the Ting, and I will follow them for the experience although I don’t like afternoon teas that much.
Coming out of the London Bridge station you can’t possibly miss the Shard.
The building has three entrances and the middle one is for the hotel.
The receptionist checks our reservation and then show us the lift, which leads straight to the 35th floor.
The hotel reception.
Our reservation is checked again when entering the Ting restaurant.
The restaurant is not as busy as I thought on a Sunday, as there are still a few window seats available.
There’s a theme for the Queen’s Jubilee.
Live music from a band:
Pick your tea from an iPad, otherwise the set is the same for everyone.
Savouries are served first. I don’t quite remember what they are except for the duck cake, but they are all pretty good.
Followed by the scones and cakes. I don’t have sweet teeth so won’t comment 😛
This Shard-like chocolate dessert is obviously their signature dish, and was created for the sake of Instagram. The chocolate exterior is fine, but the raspberry filling is way too sour for my taste. It’s probably more an art work than food.
Great view from the table.
And from the bathroom too.
The afternoon tea is priced at £65 pp, or £75 with a glass of Prosecco, and service charge is 12.5% on top. The Shangri-La voucher is in USD and they converted it at the rate of 0.8, which isn’t terrible.
Remember to book your table with OpenTable or SquareMeal to earn some IHG / Virgin points or cashback. I got 100 Virgin points from the reservation.
My friends had a very bad experience when they visited before in terms of service, but it’s quite a positive one for us. It’s a very expensive afternoon tea, but spending your Shangri-La points here isn’t a bad idea considering how limited their footprint is outside Asia.
My review of Crowne Plaza Liverpool City Centre
It’s been years since I visited Liverpool, and I reckon it’s about time I come back. I was leaning towards the Doubletree hotel at the beginning, but then it turned out that although the hotel has a great pool and spa, all guests have to pay £25 per person per visit which is too steep.
Therefore I’ve chosen the Crowne Plaza instead, which has a riverbank location, a club lounge and a swimming pool. According to recent reports, Diamond members are being granted club lounge access and free breakfast, which also weighed in my decision process.
The hotel sits on the Princes Dock, which is about 15-20 minutes walk from the Lime Street station. It’s ideal for a stroll by the river, or visit to the museums (for example the Tate).
The lobby features a glass ceiling, which presents it like a greenhouse when it’s sunny.
Check-in is quick. I’m asked to choose a welcome amenity between points, drinks voucher or breakfast. Besides that there’s no greeting, no breakfast hours, no introduction to the hotel facility and no smile. It appears to me that the staff aren’t happy working here and not friendly to the guests.
Contrary to what I read online, although Diamond members can choose breakfast as a welcome amenity, club lounge access is not offered unless you have the annual lounge pass. The manager explains that they were all confused by the new rules at the beginning and offered club lounge access to Diamond members by mistake. Oh well, this is the first time I’m refused lounge access at a Crowne Plaza hotel, so the new IHG policy is not all good.
I’m upgraded to a King Premium Club room with River View, but since I’ve no lounge access the main difference it has over a standard room is just the river view.
The room is okay, just about an average four-star hotel you anticipate in this country.
River Mersey from the window.
Somehow the bathrobe is missing from my room – I thought it’s not provided (which is common in the UK) but then see other guests wear them. After request it’s brought to my room.
The wellness centre is located on the ground floor. I was worried that it may only have a swimming pool, but gladly the jacuzzi, sauna and steam room are not missing.
I’m not sure how amazing the Doubletree’s spa is, but I’m quite happy with what I have here already. Like many hotels the pool becomes quite busy in the evening, so it’s best to come here during the day.
There’s a gym with river view on the first floor.
Breakfast is served in the restaurant in the form of a buffet.
The quality is decent. I quite enjoy the salami, hash brown and pork sausage.
Club lounge is right by the lobby. Surprisingly, I’ve gone past it numerous times during my three-night stay, and I’ve never seen a single person in the lounge at any time.
The stay posted as non-qualifying. It’s not the first time it happened to me but previously it was all because I booked a special rate (partner discount or Ambassador BOGOF), whereas this time I booked a normal Advance rate. I only need to submit a claim to get it rectified, but it’s very annoying and I’m not sure if the hotel is trying to save money by not posting the points or what.
I think it’s a solid Crowne Plaza given its location and facilities, but the service still leave much to be desired.
Act NOW: IHG hotels for 16,000 points globally
IHG’s IT system has been playing up quite a lot recently. There was a global “Flash Sale” where you could get InterContinental and Regent Hotels for 40,000 points or under, and it even happened twice. It appears that a new Sale is going on, and this time it’s even better.
In a nutshell, many many hotels are available at 16,000 points globally on August 5, 2023.
This is regardless of the hotel brand, and available across many cities including London, Paris and New York. Not all hotels are on offer though, for example Amsterdam and most Berlin hotels are excluded (barring InterContinental Berlin).
I myself have provisionally booked the InterContinental Madrid / Lyon, and Kimpton Barcelona.
The date is very far out, so I’d suggest to lock in a few hotels for now and decide later. Unfortunately it’s only valid on that one date only, so you won’t be able to try out more hotels – unless of course, that the error fare appears again later…