Originally Posted by
demue
Overall on the IHG Rewards topic, I'm pretty much with khabah on this and can see the point LL is highlighting. IHG is okay for me these days for certain properties I frequent and like, but they lost my loyalty in general over time with me dropping from 100+ nights a year to 10-20 (Covid times aside) these days.
I have been AMB since 2003 and was RA for ~10-11 years and the program just doesn't work that well for my purposes any longer. Spire as an IHG Rewards top status is totally underwhelming and flaky on guaranteed benefits and not worth any effort on its own.
AMB is okay if I got stays planned where it may get me a decent 1-category upgrade and I do appreciate the 4pm late checkout, but the new rules to have hotels get away with 10k points for not granting certain benefits encourages the wrong behavior in some properties that like to play games.
I'm also ticked off about the crappy way IHG handled AMB certificate extensions so far with the absolutely laughable 2x 3 months extensions being all they have done so far. One family member already lost a certificate after 4 tries to use it failed and mine will be next soon. Appeals fell on deaf ears so IHG will move further to the bottom due to what I consider a sh**ty approach to that topic. Other chains have shown how to go about that, IHG did not care so far.
We mirror experiences. I started with Six Continents, remained RA for over 12 years. RA is a delight, but the frills meant I really never got why those outside a world cushioned by reimbursed expenses would pay IC prices if they aren't RA.
The test for me came when I was booted out in a year where I'd chalked up just over 100 paid IC nights at hotels on all continents, and another 50 or so in other IHG brands. I got a free year as Ambassador, delivered with IHG's wish that I would continue to strive towards a return Royal Ambassador status. I'm afraid they're disappointed there: my pastures new are Bonvoy and HH.
Now I'm down to a half a dozen HI and HIX nights each year and a couple of stays at ICs where they continue to treat me well, an RA manqué. I note that RA privileges have been cut in quite a few areas, but I'm pleased to report "my" hotels continue with the earlier system of benefits. I'm pretty sure Nicolas continues to receive benefits of the
ancien régime: I remember an elegantly dressed Frenchman next to me at the Semiramis reception, arguing forcefully that his RA status demanded club access (that was back in the days when such luxury was not guaranteed to us RAs). Maybe that wasn't our valued contributor Nicolas, but the chap gave me a valuable lesson in how to secure my rights
Any residual bitterness about my sacking aside, and as someone tangentially involved in marketing, I'm puzzled by a couple of things in IHG's loyalty programme:
- the bonkers split into two separate programmes, one for IC (and above) brands and another for lesser brands;
- the parsimony and inconsistency of the upgrades and frills the two programmes offer;
- the lack of any "lifetime" element to the programme;
- that hotels accept the bonkers incentive for an infrequent guest to pay $200 to IHG corporate to upgrade, rather than simply pay the hotel for a better room.
At the end of the day Ambassador membership might work for some, just not for me.