IHG Rewards Club has a new promotion for those wishing to join the Intercontinental Ambassador program by March 31, 2022 offering 20,000 points for signing up after completing two nights by the end of April.
Meanwhile there is still a second offer for existing Ambassador members who renew their membership likewise by March 31, 2022 as they will receive an extra 20,000 points after completing two nights.
You can access and sign up or renew InterContinental Ambassador here.
READ MORE: IHG Rewards Rate & Bonus Points And Miles Promotions
Both offers are obviously intended to drive membership signup during a period where business- and to an extent, leisure travel is still comparatively low.
Keep in mind that IHG runs three loyalty and membership programs, of which one, InterContinental Ambassador, is a paid ($200) guest recognition one that comes with set benefits.
This is the offer for new signups I received today:
My Ambassador lapsed on November 1st and I decided not to renew for the time being as I had no IHG stays coming up where being Ambassador vs Spire had made a difference.
The renewal offer was slightly better than the sole signup, offering 15,000 additional points.
IHG Rewards has now run several promotions that have previously allowed new and existing members that buy or renew within a specific window to earn a free night certificate after a stay.
See their current renewal promotion I covered in December:
Previously, you could not renew until you were 60 days or less from the expiry of your Ambassador membership, but IHG has now changed this. You can renew up to 92 days before instead.
The sign-up and renewal transactions under both offers have to be completed by March 31st and the two required nights for the bonus have to be done by April 30th. Only InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton® Hotels & Restaurants, or Regent® Hotels & Resorts are eligible brands for consuming these two nights.
I realistically value 20,000 points at ~ $80 considering how many points you need for a decent award night and the average rates you’re able to book for the same hotels. There’re always exceptions to the rule of course.
Personally, I would have no concern to sign up for the Ambassador program again once more countries open up to utilize the membership to its full advantage. In my case, the Intercontinental hotels I love to use are in Korea (IC Grand Parnas), Japan (IC The Strings), and Singapore (IC Singapore Bugis). Aside from that, I did not stay at many others but in the past, I used to visit one of these three locations at least once a month if not twice.
Paying for the Ambassador was a no-brainer but right now I could maybe use it at a 2-3 properties in Thailand which are empty anyway and I’m sure I could get similar benefits just by being Spire.
Conclusion
IHG has a new Ambassador signup offer, giving members 20,000 points when staying two nights by April 30, 2022. The renewal offer for the same time period is still active as well.
Nothing prevents you from letting the InterContinental Ambassador lapse if you don’t have stays coming up right after the membership is about to expire, as it only lasts for 12 months, or taking advantage of one of the free renewal options (2 or 6 months) that are one time exceptions.
I don’t think the signup promotion is a very good offer considering it’s tied to staying 2 nights at a hotel first before receiving the points. In the past (quite a while ago) members received the points outright, that was before IHG eliminated this signup bonus and only offered bonus points for renewals. Better than nothing but not great.
These are the Terms & Conditions for the new signup promotion:
To participate in the “Join Ambassador, stay two nights, earn 20k bonus points” (“Offer”), you must enrol in the InterContinental® Ambassador program during the period of 18 January 2022 through 31 March 2022 and then complete two qualifying nights at participating InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton® Hotels & Restaurants, or Regent™ Hotels & Resorts by 30 April 2022 to be awarded 20,000 IHG® Rewards bonus points. This offer is not applicable for Royal Ambassador members. This offer is not valid for InterContinental ® Ambassador membership enrolments or renewals obtained on a complimentary basis or using the IHG Employee discount.
To qualify for the 20,000 bonus points, each of the two nights must be part of one or more Qualifying Stays. A Qualifying Stay is defined as a minimum 1-night stay booked under a Qualifying Rate, with total spend exceeding $30 USD (or local equivalent) per night. Only one room per member per Qualifying Stay will be eligible. If more than one member checks into the same room, only one member is eligible to claim the night for purposes of the Offer. No retroactive credit will be awarded for Stays prior to this Offer. The ‘Ambassador Complimentary Weekend Night’ rate is a Qualifying Rate.
This Offer is subject to the standard IHG Rewards Membership Terms and Conditions and earning structure, which can be obtained here . Please allow up to 4-6 weeks for bonus points to be posted to your account. The use of certain rates (if applicable) may be subject to applicable agreement(s). Any misuse of such rates is considered a fraud activity subject to IHG Rewards Membership Terms and Conditions. IHG reserves the right to remove a member’s bonus points award or cancel a member’s account if fraudulent use of the Offer is detected. To the extent permitted by applicable law, IHG Rewards reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Offer at any time with or without notice. To the extent permitted by applicable law, IHG reserves the right of final interpretation of this Offer. This exclusive Offer is valid and applies to the original recipient only. Members must make any promotional inquiries by 60 days from the end of the Offer period.
The Offer can only be redeemed once per member and a maximum of 20,000 IHG® Rewards points can be achieved for enrolments based on the payment of USD200 or redeeming 40,000 points. The bonus points awarded through this Offer are not Elite status qualifying. IHG reserves the right to recoup any points incorrectly awarded.
*Participating Kimpton® Hotels & Restaurants and Regent Hotels & Resorts will accept redemption of the InterContinental® Ambassador Complimentary Weekend Night from 30 July 2020 – 31 December 2022, excluding Regent Hotels & Resorts in Greater China. The Complimentary Weekend Night is valid on the second night of a paid stay on the “Ambassador Complimentary Weekend Night Rate” and is subject to the standard rules and restrictions as outlined here . Identification and member number must be presented upon check-in. The member must have an un-redeemed and valid Complimentary Weekend Night available within their IHG Rewards account. Weekend is defined to include Friday, Saturday and Sunday, except in the Middle East where properties may define the weekend as Thursday, Friday and Saturday. At Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants & participating Regent Hotels the Ambassador Complimentary Weekend Night is defined as Any Day. Advance reservations are required and when joining the Ambassador programme in hotel, the weekend night cannot be redeemed for the current stay. Ambassador benefits are not honored at Kimpton® Hotels & Restaurants, including the room upgrade. Participating Regent™ Hotels will recognise InterContinental Ambassador on-property benefits from 30 July 2020 – 31 December 2022. All Ambassador benefits are subject to the standard rules and restrictions for the InterContinental® Ambassador programme, as outlined here.