How to check InterContinental Ambassador free weekend nights before joining

InterContinental Ambassador is IHG’s ‘pay to join’ loyalty programme.

On the face of it, the fact that it is only valid at InterContinental-branded hotels and costs $225 (or 45,000 IHG One Rewards points) per year to join does not sound attractive.

In reality, it can pay for itself very quickly – especially if you are the sort of person who prefers to book deluxe rooms or suites.

What are the benefits of InterContinental Ambassador?

The key thing about Ambassador is that, once you are a member, the benefits are virtually guaranteed on paid stays. They are NOT guaranteed on reward stays but most properties do let you have them.

These benefits are:

• A certificate for a free weekend night when you join and each year when you renew. In one swoop, you can save your entire membership fee with this benefit. To use the voucher, you need to book a two-night weekend stay and pay the Ambassador Weekend Rate, which is usually equal to Best Flexible Rate.

• A GUARANTEED one-level room upgrade on every InterContinental stay – this is usually processed before you arrive and is visible online.  If the hotel cannot provide an upgrade, you receive 10,000 IHG One Rewards points compensation or a $50 food and beverage credit.

• 4pm check-out – this is a GUARANTEED benefit and comes in very handy on a weekend break or on a trip with an evening flight back home.  If the hotel cannot provide late check-out, you receive 10,000 IHG One Rewards points compensation or a $50 food and beverage credit.

• A $20 food and beverage credit per stay

• Free mineral water in your room

• Platinum Elite status in IHG One Rewards, which usually requires 40 nights or $4,000 of qualifying spend

The benefits package is slightly different for stays in Mainland China, including free restaurant breakfast for one person.

You will also receive selected benefits at Six Senses hotels, although that is outside the scope of this article.

How to check free weekend night availability before joining

The real value from InterContinental Ambassador comes from the ‘two for one’ weekend night voucher.

You REALLY maximise value if you use the voucher at a hotel which allows it to be used for premium rooms and suites, not just standard rooms.

However ….

• some hotels now cap the number of Ambassador voucher bookings they accept each weekend

• you don’t know which hotels offer premium rooms and suites without checking

The good news is you can check voucher free night availability before you join Ambassador.

Even better, you can book your free night before joining!

This allows you to delay signing up until a couple of weeks before your stay, maximising the amount of time you will have the status.

How to check Ambassador free night availability

You need to go to this page of the IHG website.

Let’s look at Paris for Friday 6th to Sunday 8th June.

Quelle horreur!

Both InterContinental hotels have sold out of their allocation of Ambassador weekend voucher rooms. This is why you should check before buying Ambassador.

Let’s move on to Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd August.

Good news – both hotels have availability for Ambassador free weekend night vouchers. The best hotel of the two is Le Grand.

Virtually every room category is available for Ambassador vouchers, from the very tiny rooms:

…. to the one bedroom suites:

What rate do you pay?

The headline rate shown on ihg.com is NOT the rate you pay, because the website usually shows the cheapest non-refundable rate. Ambassador voucher rooms are priced off refundable rates, and are refundable with 24 hours notice.

The suite you see in the list above at £1,222 is actually, when you click through:

…. £1,356 per night.

Even this is not necessarily correct though!

£1,356 is the average cost of the two nights you are looking to book. However, this isn’t how the Ambassador voucher works. In reality, your second weekend night is free:

• stay Friday and Saturday, and Saturday is free
• stay Saturday and Sunday, and Sunday is free
• stay Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and Saturday is free

(In the Middle East some hotels may define the weekend as Thursday, Friday and Saturday.)

You need to look at the price for EACH night of your stay to know exactly what you will pay.

In my example, it turns out that the one bedroom suite rate is identical – £1,356 – for both Friday and Saturday, so this is what I will pay in total for a two night stay at check-out.

How does Ambassador membership work?

IHG used to send out paper vouchers for free nights, but this is no longer the case.

The free night voucher is added to your online account automatically, and you can see it at ihg.com. The hotel deletes the voucher from your account when you check out.

Because it is now a totally electronic process, you can delay buying Ambassador until a couple of weeks before your stay. You can make your 2-4-1 Ambassador weeekend night booking at any time via the special link here. Just don’t forget to join!

Conclusion

The Ambassador free night voucher can save you a LOT of money on a weekend stay at an InterContinental hotel – especially if you book a premium room or suite.

Your stay will also come with other Ambassador benefits such as a guaranteed 4pm check-out and a $20 food and beverage credit. You can easily recoupt the $225 annual fee in one stay, and even if you never stay at another InterContinental you will benefit from Platinum Elite status in IHG One Rewards for a year.

You can find out more about Ambassador on the IHG website here.