promotec1

My RA expired in May and I did receive a friendly letter telling me that I did not meet the required target so I will be Platinum Ambassador which they offer me for free.

I contacted the hotline and asked what was going on as I had just concluded the Crack The Case challenge with 50 night in 5 brands and 20 Saturdays.
They told me that I had "only" 46 IC nights which was not enough to requalify for RA.
After some long discussion we agreed that I will stay every single day of the remaining month of May (7 days) at a IC and they would reconsider ( but without guarantee).

As I had to spend some nights at a hotel anyways I rebooked my stays to IC hotels instead and .....

voila... I am RA again ^

Dave Noble

Yes; just before the end of the month in which the current royal ambassador status expires, there will be an Ambassador Renewal line

WilcoRoger

Luckily ICHG thought otherwise. First came the normal AMB kit, 2 weeks after renewal, than after 2 more weeks the RA kit. So 2x5k voucher + 2 BOGO. ^

Tump

My RA status goes through the end of August. Since 9/1/2010, I have had 52 nights at all IHG brands, with 11 nights at 6 IC's. By the end of this month it will be 59 and 12. The other day, I received a letter stating that I would be given a complimentary Platinum Ambassador but not RA for next year. I expect tht I will be close to 80 and 16 by the end of August, which seems to suffice what others have posted. I travel about 98% in the US/Canada, and in out-of-the-way locations, so many of the places I go do not have IC's, and often not even CP's.

Anyone had a similar experience? While the regular Ambassador is nice, it takes me less than a month to earn Platinum for the following year each year.

Jaimito Cartero

You'll probably have to ask for a review. Personally, I would wait until I get the Amb kit (2-3 weeks before your membership expires), and then call for a review. You numbers are fine, but if at first you don't succeed, call back again.

mnredfox

Ah yes, the PLEASE downgrade me trick for 2 kits.

aulrik

I have now spend quite some time reading through this thread but I can't really find a solid answer to my question, so I ask again even though I guess this have been covered numerous times before:

My Ambassador year run from August to August, while I got RA status in February. I usually got 60-70 nights a year, almost entirely in IC, so with other words I should meet the requirements for RA also in the future. My stays are spread equally over the year. Does this means I have to have 55-60 nights from February to August to maintain RA or do PC look at my overall stay history in addition? If I need 55-60 nights from February to August, wouldn't it be very difficult to ever obtain RA status if your Ambassador year and "RA year" are close to 6 months apart, as you have to meet the qualification requirements in just half a year?

McCoy

Your RA year is the same as your Ambassador year.

Towards the end of your year, IHG will look at your stays in the previous 12 months..
The date when you went from Amb to RA is irrelevant..

Tim O'Brien

Three months prior to your RA expiration PC will check your stays for the previous twelve months so if it is till end of Aug, they will look back from end of May back for twelve months, ie your stay history from June 1st last year to June 1st this year, if you satisfied the criteria you will receive automatic RA status for another year, if not you'll receive a downgrade letter. I would always suggest calling if you receive the downgrade if you believe there is any chance of renewal or just to inquire what additional stays maybe required to satisfy the criteria.

Banie

Sorry - misread earlier post ... deleting since my response was not correct

skeltonl

Just a quick checkpoint for everyone, was informed that 74 paid nights with 5 stays at Intercontinental hotels (10 nights in 3 countries) doesn't make the grade at the moment though they "are monitoring my account to see if they can offer me RA status in the future"

markis10

115 paid nights with 5 stays at three different ICs and got downgraded overnight (ironically while staying at an IC), with the third IC stay only in the last month I wonder if that was the reason?? Perhaps the automatic upgrade will kick in once this stay posts, could be lucky!

TheBeerHunter

Guys, were most of your stays non qualifying or deeply discounted, anything like that. Sure you are looking at RA year, etc?

aulrik

Or could it be that IC nights are counting much more than it used to do towards RA status compared to HI, HIX, etc? I got a colleague that just got renewed with 55 nights but almost all of these where IC nights and not the cheapest room rates either (usually standard club room).

stimpy

I've always though it was a combination of nights and revenue that decided who were the top 1%. Therefore, generally speaking, those who stay predominantly in America or Asia would have to do a lot more than EMEA travelers.