Originally Posted by
IAN-UK
The headline benefit of Ambassador status is the room upgrade. You can generally leverage a far nicer room than a standard one. Which is good because standard rooms at ICs can be pretty unimpressive. But beware, upgrades can famously be to rooms with a better view etc etc. Bottom line, if you stay at ICs a lot, this benefit is probably worth the investment. If it's only a couple of stays a year, spend the $200 on better rooms......or treat yourself to dinner
The almost guaranteed late check-out can also be useful for frequent stays.
Normally the free weekend night attracts attention, but it's not exactly free - you have to book the first night at a more expensive flexible rate.
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Actually, the BOGO is always used at the Ambassador Certificate rate using the link to that rate. It's flexible, and usually higher than the lowest rates available, but, just to make things absolutely clear, the first night doesn't have to be higher. In fact the SECOND night is the free night, which usually can be made to work well, i.e. my January stay Fri+Sat at the IC SF, Fri was $160 and Sat was $300 (football playoff game that weekend or some such nonsense.) I was planning on a two night stay in town anyway, so getting the IC was great, as the other SF hotels while OK are not as good IMHO. I didn't get my favorite East Bay view room, but the room was fine for me, with a north view and much of the city and hills. Not bad for $200 all in for 2 nights and the AMB amenity F&B certificate came in handy for some snacks, as I was eating meals with my son and his wife.
So, I find the BOGO (and the 10% rebate on award stays,) to be the value points in AMB, as the UPG as you said, can be an illusion. Oh, and it always extends my Spire another year as well. We'll see how that works in 2021 as I'm extended to 6.21.