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Old Jun 18, 2016, 4:39 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: HadesNL
Update 2023:
- it seems no new RA have been invited by IHG
- criteria for RA requalification are still unknown
- geographical location of member / country account registration seems of some impact due of covid19(restrictions/availability)
- RA is processed in weekly batches starting december 2022
- proof by nicolas75 shows RA qualification for 2024 seems to be strictly based on IC hotels only (not Regent, Kimpton, SixSenses anymore)

As per Tim O'Brien's post about IHG-corporate explaining RA criteria:

As you are aware,
Royal Ambassador is our invitation only tier with the number of members invited each year
limited to ensure our hotels are able to consistently deliver on the benefits promise,
elevating your stay experience at InterContinental Hotels & Resorts.

Although we do not currently have a published criteria for Royal Ambassador,
consideration is determined by variable activities within a members account such as
- qualified paid room nights & spend across our luxury brands (, 2023 EDIT: Post-Pandemic from 2024 InterContinental only : Pre-Pandemic also Kimpton & Regent ) ,
- member region,
- primary hotels,
- category (of the hotel class / €$¥£ price levels compared to currency rates / competition / city / region / country / continent )
- tenure (repeat custom / average spend at hotel)
Accompanying or adjoining reservations,
such as the additional rooms of your family etc are not included for Royal Ambassador consideration
but are included in determining Spire Elite status within IHG Rewards Club
.


* FT:IHG forum community group consensus / empirical evidence shows
- that members must have stayed at different unique hotels per city / country / region / continent
the amount of uniques needed for RA qualification is unknown but generally extended long stays at just 1 hotel do not qualify
- IHG-corporate showing keen interest in how much guests are spending €$¥£ at hotel's own operated F&B / Spa / transport / extra services / other venues
atacama40 has given us insights that extra spend at the hotel charged to the hotelfolio generates EQP but also flags the database as high valued spending guest
- one must have AMB to get considered for RA invitation by IHG as they seem to evaluate over a longer period the length of one's tenure / devotion / spend / undisclosed criteria at stayed IC-hotels

2024
Royal Ambassador 2024 (Re)Qualification - statistics

Thank you everyone who graciously shared their status and statistics. I took the liberty to compose an overview.
The common factor that is instantly recognisable is:
  • everyone has a valid AMB membership
  • everyone has spent a good amount in €$£
Shoven
IC: 69 N - 4 unique IC - $17400 - 2 unique country

AndyMick
IC: 96 N - 10 unique IC - 7 unique country - 164778 EQP

Ithink
IC: 78 N - 10 unique IC - £27000

Richelieu
~

ProjectSunburst
15 unique IC (USA) - $35000
Kimpton spend: $11000

Milleage Millionaire
IC: 100 N : 58 revenue & 42 award - 166514 EQP

Raynyan
~

Nicolas75
~

ILS2
$20000

HadesNL
IC: 41 N - 8 unique IC (2x USA, 1x UK, 3x EU, 1x Indonesia) 250458 EQP

Marlin1978
IC: 40 N - 9 unique IC (USA + EU) - $13000

HClee01
IC: 30 N - 6 unique IC - $8700
2x Kimpton / 1x Regent : 22 N - $7400

VAbeachgirl
IC: 88 N - 14 unique IC - 8 countries
2x Kimpton : 7 N
total $20000 (IC + Kimpton)

PremexecSNA
IHG : 85 N - 147000 EQP of which
90% revenue stay
85 % IC + Kimpton
10 unique IC
15 unique Kimpton

Darby1970
IC 100 N : 59 revenue of which
37 N : 11 unique IC (USA)& 4 (non-USA)
187682 EQP

Atacama40
IC + Kimpton : 40 N : UK, ME, Asia
Roomrate > £1000

EmeraldLady
11 unique IC : 4 continents
IHG: 87 N
$20000

Dmac1418
IC: 3 N - 2 unjque (IC Houston MC & IC San Diego)
6S Fiji $22000 (room: $10000 + spend $12000)

Smythmeister
~

Additional statistics can be found in the comments of LL
https://loyaltylobby.com/2023/12/03/...4-share-yours/
The only other place on the whole interweb that has an interest in Royal Ambassador.
============================

2023
Below our FT-members from the IHG forum with RA status
some of whom have graciously shared their statistics to shed some light
-----------------------
Mileage millionaire: 155359 EQP - IC nights 58 - total nights 108 - unique IC 15
Shoven : $16000 - IC nights 49 - Kimpton nights 8 - total nights 57 - unique IC 5 - unique Kimpton 2 - [unique countries UK/Thailand]
Stimpy: overall stats higher than Shoven
Nicholas75 : 230236 EQP - 93 EQN
Raynyan : 190000 EQP - IC/Kimpton nights 90 - unique IC/Kimpton 10
Vsevolod4 : $24000 - IC nights 67 - total nights 87
Vabeachgirl : $17500 - IC nights 75 - Kimpton nights 4 - total nights 79 - unique properties 13 [unique countries 7]
Hclee01: >$12600 - >156K EQP - 54 EQN - unique IC 3 - unique Kimpton 1 - unique Regent 2 [unique countries Singapore/Thailand/Taiwan/Japan]
Chinatrvl :
Ithink : 220.000 EQP - 47 EQN
Ninjalad : 150000 EQP - IC nights 34
Andymick : 145000 EQP - IC nights 100
Gentleman adventurer :
Marlin1978 :
Pseudo nim :
Hadesnl : 250000 EQP - Kimpton/IC nights 30 - 44 EQN - unique IC 3 - unique Kimpton 2 [unique countries UK/NL/FRA/Indonesia]
Itadakimasu : 120000 EQP - IC nights 12 - 51 EQN
Atacama40 : >£25000 - IC nights 60 - unique IC 8 - unique Kimpton 1
Eein : corporate rates global & local
Raynyan's friends : RA extension because their account is Japanese registered
Tim O'Brien: after own friendly persuasion effort : $8,500 - IC nights 79 of which 49 at pres.suite - unique IC 4 [unique countries US/AUS/CAN]


----------------
The only other place on the internet that has an interest in RA (re)qualification statistics is at the comments at Loyaltylobby,
more 2023 RA datapoints can be found there:
https://loyaltylobby.com/2022/12/09/...re-your-stats/
https://loyaltylobby.com/2023/01/18/...re-your-stats/



==============================================

Update 2020 / 2021:
RA status was extended due to the global pandemic of covid19


================================================== =======

Update 2019: The RA status granted at the start of the calendar year 2017 and 2018 has been based on IC revenue. As from 2019 criteria again have become vague. RA is not achieved through IC spend only. Other, unknown elements are taken into account as well. (Fact: Some users with very high +25k IC spend were not renewed in 2019.)

Update December 2018: it looks like some accounts are proactively being renewed in December 2018, well ahead of the stated expiration of Jan 31, 2019. It is currently unknown what criteria were used, but previous years appeared to indicate around $10K++ in IC spend only.

As before, please Divide EQPs by 10 to get $$$ Spend
================================================== =====
December 2019 / January 2020 Link to RA Renewals & Upgrades
================================================== =====
================================================== =====

JANUARY 2019 RA RENEWAL STATS [put total IHG vs. IC if you can]
================================================== =====
NAME.... IHG total (paid)/IC/EQP, break out IC spend if you can
Pseudo Nim 73 IC nights, $14.6K IC spend ($17.7K total),
Shoven 70 (50) IC nights, $17.3K IC spend ($17.3K total),
Unterwegs 52 IC nights, approx $12K net IC spend. No other brands this year! No more mediocre HIs to make status.
Kaix 63 IC nights, $14.4K IC spend ($15.1K total)
Tim O'Brien 26 IC Paid Nights as at Dec 27, when notified of RA renewal, 140,171 EQP, IC Net Spend 14, 017.
Vsevolod4 IHG total 132, IHG total paid 101, IC nights 85, IC Qualified Spend $16.5K, total EQP 398,800, Kimpton nights: 3, RA Ambassador Kit renewed Dec 27, RA renewal (again) and Kimpton Inner Circle upgrade Jan 4.
kaka(mom) 34 nights 1 country (all IC), IC spend:23k USD
Lewis42 / 81 Total (unknown IC) / $16k IC / $2k Kimpton / 4 Continents
81 nights total
$18k Kimpton / IC (about $2k kimpton)
stays in 4 continents

been Ra for ~3-4 years

ID;Name;Confirm;Kit msg; Revenue ;Nights;Challenge?;Additional Info

40;stimpy;+;none; $9,000.00 ;50;?;RA since 2001 - exceptional renewal
38;turner32;-;none; $9,000.00 ;?;?;8/9 years as RA
49;hannes08;+;01/16/2019; $9,990.00 ;52;2000;renewal probably because of challenge
17;Lewis42;+;12/27/2018; $10,000.00 ;?;2000;renewal probably because of challenge
27;scienm;+;none; $10,032.00 ;32;?;8 years RA
25;hclee01;+;none; $10,142.16 ;37;?;current RA since 2014 - manual renewal
18;annihilation;-;none; $10,605.00 ;39;?;
51;crosskonaftw;?;none; $10,700.00 ;35;?;not yet RA
30;Land-of-Miles;+;none; $10,999.00 ;19;?;
16;Kimsbrand;-;none; $11,297.88 ;5;?;not RA yet. 13,532.92 USD total?
48;Urby38;+;12/27/2018; $11,300.00 ;47;?;Royal since 2012
42;SAWorldVoyager;?;12/21/2018; $11,391.52 ;?;?;
14;Cielito_;+;none; $11,511.00 ;62;no;77/62/8 with 12042 USD after batch
45;whimike;+;none; $11,700.00 ;?;?;RA for about 7 years
10;Unterwegs;+;12/27/2018; $12,000.00 ;52;yes;
44;serendipity1211;+;01/16/2019; $12,300.00 ;45;no;first-time RA
28;cazane;+;12/27/2018; $12,600.00 ;61;no;4 prepaid nights not posted until 27th 11890 -> 12600
11;VaBeachGirl;+;12/27/2018; $12,750.00 ;68;no;
50;lukah;?;none; $12,800.00 ;80;?;3 years RA
15;336;-;none; $12,900.00 ;16;2000;NOT completed challenge / Lots of adjusted stays
1;DonPedro;+;12/21/2018; $12,971.00 ;49;no;
47;SD2019;+;none; $13,000.00 ;35;no;stays erroneously adjusted or marked as overlapping
36;BRUSS;+;01/16/2019; $13,001.00 ;?;?;
13;Tim O'Brien;+;12/27/2018; $14,017.00 ;26;?; Kimpton;
33;marlin1978;?;12/27/2018; $14,182.00 ;46;no;
26;Kaix;?;12/27/2018; $14,400.00 ;63;?;
9;Pseudo Nim;+;12/27/2018; $14,600.00 ;73;?;
41;PMMMDL;?;?; $15,000.00 ;50;?;
23;nicolas75;?;12/27/2018; $15,000.00 ;81;?;
5;sharps1337;+;12/21/2018; $15,200.00 ;79;no;
3;Raynyan (friend2);?;12/21/2018; $15,500.00 ;69;no;
22;pantanal;+;12/27/2018; $16,000.00 ;?;?;
24;vsevolod4;+;12/27/2018; $16,319.00 ;84;no;
34;boekel;?;12/27/2018; $16,950.00 ;60;no;
21;ILS2;+;none; $17,000.00 ;40;?;
8;skaya (2x);+;12/27/2018; $17,000.00 ;?;?;
7;shoven;+;12/27/2018; $17,304.00 ;50;?;
51;EmeraldLady;+;12/27/2018; $18,000.00 ;47;?;
32;Mr. Chan;?;12/21/2018; $19,582.00 ;45;yes;completed challenge
46;kaka;+;12/21/2018; $20,001.00 ;34;no;
31;christenlabelle;?;none; $22,000.00 ;51;1k + Kimpton;
39;marcel.baden;?;12/27/2018; $22,000.00 ;77;?;
35;Flying Lawyer;?;12/27/2018; $22,135.00 ;70;?;
37;Roey007;?;none; $25,000.00 ;42;?;9 years RA - 9k adjustment: no kit message with 11k before
12;IThink;+;12/27/2018; $25,000.00 ;85;no;
19;HadesNL;+;12/27/2018; $28,273.90 ;52;?;
4;Raynyan (friend3);?;12/21/2018; $30,000.00 ;73;no;
29;btravers33;?;12/27/2018; $30,000.00 ;98;?;
2;Raynyan (friend1);?;12/21/2018; $32,000.00 ;75;no;
20;Raynyan;+;12/27/2018; ? ;70;?;~30 nights not counted somehow
6;samjnz;?;12/21/2018; ? ;?;2000;


04 JAN 2018 RA RENEWAL STATS [put total IHG vs. IC if you can]
================================================== =====
NAME.... IHG total (paid)/IC/EQP, break out IC spend if you can
Pseudo Nim 139 (116)/85/192K, of which $18K in IC
Boekel 85 (70)55/170K, of which $15K in IC
Tim O'Brien 29 IC Nights 2 Non IC IHG nights, 341,976 EQP
scubaccr 55 paid IC Nights , us$13,000++ / 4paid non-IC nights us$900++ (plus 8x IC reward nights, 20x non-IC reward nights) <== Sorry.. forgot to cop exact EQP values before 1/1/2018 acct zeroing
Cielito_ 81/77/5 - $7,353 F&B + $11,656 Room = $19,009 IC net spend - EQP 468,000 (First Time RA)
hclee01 50 IC us$13k++
Land-of-Miles ?? IC us$10.5k++
cazane 60 IC us$11.8k++
VaBeachGirl 54 IC us$13k++
PiffPaffPuff 60IC us$25k++
??????? 35 IC us$10.2k++ <== first time RA ref PiffPaffPuff colleague
Spitcool 40 IC us$15k++
Eltham 40 IC us$12k++
shoven 43 IC us$15k++ <== first time RA
skaya (partner) ?? IC us$10.2k++ <== renewed
darby1970 62 IC us$13k++
The Mileage Millionaire 102 paid IHG nights / 100 paid IC nights / 229k EQP / $22.7k++ IC spend
Orion_1 8 nights at IC, spent at 2 properties - USD 10,200 in total at ICs (honeymoon...)
HadesNL Elite qualifying points: 239,095, Qualifying nights: 39
Aussielori 50 IC us$8k++ 9.2k overall renewed on 16 jan

04 JAN 2018 RA LOSS STATS [put total IHG vs. IC if you can]
================================================== =====

tarek.h ?? IC us$9.1k++

sharps1337 IC us$9.9k++ (and 129 non-IC us$17k++ )

04 JAN 2017 RA RENEWAL STATS (Please include 2016 y/end EQP count)
================================================== =====
NAME.... IHG/IC/IC's EQP $$$$s
SCUBACCR 80/56/13 EQP=14,979 (Split $12864 + $2115)
HANNES08 76/46/10 EQP=11,200
OZ_CATALYST 75/63/8 EQP=14,700 (first Time RA) ($12414 at ICs)
TAREK.H 46/37/4 EQP=14.500 ($10,917 IC Spend)
TravelTheWorld66 147/33/11 EQP=27.972 ($8500 IC Spend)
HCLEE01 67/50/6 EQP=14880
ATACAMA40 82/56/10 EQP=??,???
VaBeachGirl 84/42/12 EQP=15,000
Land-of-Miles 87/73/10 EQP=40,000
SSH4POOH 132/99/28 EQP=50,000
???????? 75/35/8 EQP=??,??? (First Time RA, ref SSH4POOH)
iThink 82/36/11 EQP = 18,200
aussielori 75/45/5 EQP =15,100
1010101 50/48/4 = 12,500
MYSTERY7 63/45/? EQP=25,000 (First Time RA)
EmeraldLady 68/42/10 EQP=15,500
NKU 86/80/5 EQP=20,000
Petrus 110/40/3 EQP=20,000 ($8500 IC Spend)
JOHHENRIK 74/65/10 EQP=16,800
SyLance 76/76/4 EQP=17,500 (RA again after 3years missed)
Pseudo Nim 90/58/15 IC spend $9,500, $17K across chain (175K EQP)
Tim O'Brien 58 nights, EQP 474,576 , July 31, 2017 Year End, renewed to Dec 29, 2017
HadesNL 22/20/7 and us$20,000 ref two posts.
PROTEOME 53/36/? $25,000 (Plus further 30x IC Non-qual nights and 18 IC Award nights) <== nb Maybe/Maybe-Not the IC Non-qual $$'s count as about half EQPs spend, probably > 10k IC qual spend
Chinatrvl 88 nights (in all brands, but c. 75 in ICs), 300,000 EQP, ADR c. 115 USD as I stayed mostly on a locally negotiated rate (spend c. 10k USD)
Unterwegs 78(my count 86)/63/10/285.000 (according to email, I would have expected less. my spending estimate is 15-20K$)
Lewis42 77/39/10 EQP=16010
Whimike 88/35/12 EQP=14220

04 JAN 2017 RA Demotion to xxx Ambassador stats (if > 75/30/3)
==================================================
NAME IHG/IC/IC's EQP $$$$s

[Archived - no longer valid] New (Royal) Ambassador Criteria

A document was unintentionally available in the internet about changes to the (Royal) Ambassador Qualifying and Re-Qualifying criteria.
The document is available on

http://viewfromthewing.img.boardinga...Ambassador.pdf

Older discussion
There was an ongoing discussion about the criteria for some time. This thread is now closed.

update from Executive Liaison Sept, 2023,
spend at other IHG luxury brands does count for RA, and Renewal.
Brands weren't stated, but reasonable to assume Six Senses, Regent, and Kimpton.

















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New RA qualifying criteria based on IC Revenue

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Old Oct 29, 2016, 10:49 am
  #796  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: MAN and LON
Programs: Mucci, BAEC LT Gold, HH Dia, MR LT Plat, IHG Diamond Amb, Amex Plat
Posts: 13,773
Originally Posted by stimpy
As if on cue, I'm at the W Barcelona now and in the past the staff has given me great upgrades when I show them my heavy metal Starwood lifetime platinum card. And this time at check in it worked again and I got a better than expected upgrade at a nearly sold out hotel. When I walked up they said they had no upgrade for me except to a higher floor. But after they saw the card, they got on the phone and found a large suite. You cannot count on that happening every time or most of the time, but it does happen.

Please Ambassador managers, start a lifetime RA program! You will get lots more business from me, that's for sure.
You really carry that metal thing around with you and show it at check in? Mine is framed with the personalised stay history.

For now there is probably more rarity value in being LT elite with a programme. Hope it isn't a very short lifetime once the Marriott programme merger starts
Land-of-Miles is offline  
Old Oct 29, 2016, 12:46 pm
  #797  
Kyo
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Singapore
Programs: Ex-BD55 + KF*G + BA Gold + IC RA(?) + OZ*G + SPG*P
Posts: 156
I called again, and again, and all they would say is they definitively can see my RA has been extended to 01st Jan 2017 and they won't say anything more.

If these clowns move the goalpost, that's it for me - I'm swinging to Hyatt (and back to SPG).
Kyo is offline  
Old Oct 29, 2016, 4:09 pm
  #798  
NKU
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Programs: Qantas Gold / ROP Gold / RA Spire -IHG/ Diamond Hilton
Posts: 20
Originally Posted by scubaccr
Really sorry to hear that bad news,try Amb line again and ask for a Supervisor

Many initial Amb Line helpline operators are not that great when it comes to RA eligibility.
If you are are not showing RA, thyen the operator stupidly reads scripted replies and parrotts something like "you need more stays / you have not qualified at this mmoent" etc etc

You need ring up the Amb Line, and then say you need to speak to a supervisor and then you ask the supervisor for a manual nights count.
(Did you have some nights manually adjusted to qual-stay after failing to post correctly ? Such manually adjusted nights are ignored by RA auto-counter... ONLY a Supervisor manual count overcomes that issue)

The Manual count is always for the 365nights to the day you contact the supervisor. At least then you know if IHGs count agrees with your own !

Once Supervisor confirms your count as 79/30/3 then ask why you have not yet made Royal Ambassador status as you know the previously published 60/20/3 was increased from March2016 ... BUT you know IHGers who are being made RA at 75/30/3 which you have already exceeded

Let us know how you get on
Hey !

Thanks for your reply!

Just called them again , got supervisor on the line. She confirmed that I have qualified nights of 77/75/3 excluded all rewards nights.

I then asked her that other IHG -ers got upgraded to RA with this numbers previously, she refused to make any comments.

I tried and tried then I got tired myself.

I just gave up! Maybe for renewal it is 75/30/3, maybe newly qualification is different?

I only joined AMB in April 2016, I think staying at IC for 75 nights in the past 6 months would be sufficient, obviously not...

Thanks all anyway!


NKU
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Old Oct 29, 2016, 4:52 pm
  #799  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: IHG, RC, HH, AA, QF, UA, Aeroplan
Posts: 2,690
Originally Posted by stimpy
As if on cue, I'm at the W Barcelona now and in the past the staff has given me great upgrades when I show them my heavy metal Starwood lifetime platinum card. And this time at check in it worked again and I got a better than expected upgrade at a nearly sold out hotel. When I walked up they said they had no upgrade for me except to a higher floor. But after they saw the card, they got on the phone and found a large suite. You cannot count on that happening every time or most of the time, but it does happen.

Please Ambassador managers, start a lifetime RA program! You will get lots more business from me, that's for sure.
+ 1 here here^
Tim O'Brien is offline  
Old Oct 29, 2016, 7:26 pm
  #800  
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Amsterdam, Asia, UK
Programs: IHG RA (Spire), HH Diamond, MR Platinum, SQ Gold, KLM Gold, BAEC Gold
Posts: 5,072
Originally Posted by NKU
Hey !

Thanks for your reply!

Just called them again , got supervisor on the line. She confirmed that I have qualified nights of 77/75/3 excluded all rewards nights.

I then asked her that other IHG -ers got upgraded to RA with this numbers previously, she refused to make any comments.

I tried and tried then I got tired myself.

I just gave up! Maybe for renewal it is 75/30/3, maybe newly qualification is different?

I only joined AMB in April 2016, I think staying at IC for 75 nights in the past 6 months would be sufficient, obviously not...

Thanks all anyway!


NKU
Truly shocked, as will be other RAs who read this thread, that 75 paid qualifying rate Intercontinental Brand nights (not random IHG brands like CP, HI) in 8months is not enough to earn RA for the first time.

Not like only cheap IC hotels stayed at, as you mentioned just two main IC's, IC Paris Le Grand that must have been at least 300usd/night, and Melbourne IC is not cheap either. Remaining 2nights at IC O2 London would possibly be cheapest (due to GBP collapse) but thats only 2nights and again not one of the budget IC's.

On the upside, you have 4months of your Mar2016-Feb2017 Ambassador left, so clocking up more nights is possible and I am sure RAstatus will be yours sooner than later. Unfortunately it is the hidden/opaque nature of re RA goal that alienates those such as yourself from trying to become RA in the first place.

nb
Out of interest what is your usd IC spend for the 75nights (net excluding taxes).

Last edited by scubaccr; Oct 29, 2016 at 7:36 pm
scubaccr is offline  
Old Oct 29, 2016, 7:50 pm
  #801  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Programs: IHG Royal Ambassador
Posts: 824
Originally Posted by scubaccr
Truly shocked, as will be other RAs who read this thread, that 75 paid qualifying rate Intercontinental Brand nights (not random IHG brands like CP, HI) in 8months is not enough to earn RA for the first time.

Not like only cheap IC hotels stayed at, as you mentioned just two main IC's, IC Paris Le Grand that must have been at least 300usd/night, and Melbourne IC is not cheap either. Remaining 2nights at IC O2 London would possibly be cheapest (due to GBP collapse) but thats only 2nights and again not one of the budget IC's.

On the upside, you have 4months of your Mar2016-Feb2017 Ambassador left, so clocking up more nights is possible and I am sure RAstatus will be yours sooner than later. Unfortunately it is the hidden/opaque nature of re RA goal that alienates those such as yourself from trying to become RA in the first place.

nb
Out of interest what is your usd IC spend for the 75nights (net excluding taxes).
75/30/3 is renew criteria, not for newbies. No need to worry about it.
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Old Oct 29, 2016, 8:17 pm
  #802  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: VPS
Programs: IHG Diamond, Delta PM, Hilton Gold, Accor Gold, Marriott Silver
Posts: 7,269
Kimpton Karma is still its own little bubble in the bigger IHG sphere. It's a wild guess, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were eventual plans to bring the Karma program into the RA/Ambassador realm- ICs to ICs- and part of the current RA instability was about laying ground for that program merger/realignment.
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Old Oct 29, 2016, 11:05 pm
  #803  
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: IHG, RC, HH, AA, QF, UA, Aeroplan
Posts: 2,690
if 75/30/3 is the correct current criterion for nights renewal, it's well out of line with the majority of the competition.

Hyatt now 60, 55 for renewal, Lifetime USD200K spend;
Marriott, Ritz, SPG 25 stays, or 50 nights with SPG, and status match to Marriott/Ritz, 500 nights SPG for Lifetime;
Hilton 30 stays, 60 nights, or 120,000 base points USD12K spend, Lifetime 1K nights, 10 years Diamond;

and keep in mind Hyatt give lounge access, suite upgrade, early check in, late check out, breakfast , and parking.

and the other programs offer the Lifetime option.

Last edited by Tim O'Brien; Oct 29, 2016 at 11:32 pm
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Old Oct 30, 2016, 1:43 am
  #804  
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Korea, USA
Programs: IC Dia RA / Marriott LT Plat / WOH Globalist / Hilton Diamond / OZ Diamond Plus
Posts: 340
Originally Posted by Tim O'Brien
if 75/30/3 is the correct current criterion for nights renewal, it's well out of line with the majority of the competition.

Hyatt now 60, 55 for renewal, Lifetime USD200K spend;
Marriott, Ritz, SPG 25 stays, or 50 nights with SPG, and status match to Marriott/Ritz, 500 nights SPG for Lifetime;
Hilton 30 stays, 60 nights, or 120,000 base points USD12K spend, Lifetime 1K nights, 10 years Diamond;

and keep in mind Hyatt give lounge access, suite upgrade, early check in, late check out, breakfast , and parking.

and the other programs offer the Lifetime option.
But I love RA because all benis are guaranteed! Minibar, upgrades and club.
(Some ICs don't offer club but most of them do.)

I've been Hyatt Dia and SPG Plat for a long time. But I don't have to worry about upgrades every time I stay at IC. I think It's huge differences. Hyatt's DSU is great option but it's hard to use during high season. I've never worried about it with IC.

But I also hope IHG makes Lifetime RA status... for.. maybe 500 nights at IC?

Last edited by scienm; Oct 30, 2016 at 1:49 am
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Old Oct 30, 2016, 2:33 am
  #805  
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Cologne
Programs: FB Plat, IHG RA Spire, TK Elite+, HH Diamond, LH SEN, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 972
just for an information point I qualified in May / June with something like 12x/26/5

I don't remember the exact details but it was definitely 26 IC nights.
Lewis42 is offline  
Old Oct 30, 2016, 1:59 pm
  #806  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: IHG, RC, HH, AA, QF, UA, Aeroplan
Posts: 2,690
Originally Posted by scienm
But I love RA because all benis are guaranteed! Minibar, upgrades and club.
(Some ICs don't offer club but most of them do.)

I've been Hyatt Dia and SPG Plat for a long time. But I don't have to worry about upgrades every time I stay at IC. I think It's huge differences. Hyatt's DSU is great option but it's hard to use during high season. I've never worried about it with IC.

But I also hope IHG makes Lifetime RA status... for.. maybe 500 nights at IC?
yes Lifetime RA for 10 non consecutive RA years, or 500 IC nights, or USD100K Spend^
Tim O'Brien is offline  
Old Oct 30, 2016, 6:22 pm
  #807  
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: ES
Programs: BAEC GGL, IHG RA, Globalist, ALL Diamond
Posts: 110
Originally Posted by Tim O'Brien
if 75/30/3 is the correct current criterion for nights renewal, it's well out of line with the majority of the competition.

Hyatt now 60, 55 for renewal, Lifetime USD200K spend;
Marriott, Ritz, SPG 25 stays, or 50 nights with SPG, and status match to Marriott/Ritz, 500 nights SPG for Lifetime;
Hilton 30 stays, 60 nights, or 120,000 base points USD12K spend, Lifetime 1K nights, 10 years Diamond;

and keep in mind Hyatt give lounge access, suite upgrade, early check in, late check out, breakfast , and parking.

and the other programs offer the Lifetime option.

Actually Marriott is 75 nights for the top tier (Platinum), so guess SPGers will need to get used to that number.
EmeraldLady is offline  
Old Oct 30, 2016, 8:07 pm
  #808  
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: IHG, RC, HH, AA, QF, UA, Aeroplan
Posts: 2,690
Originally Posted by EmeraldLady
Actually Marriott is 75 nights for the top tier (Platinum), so guess SPGers will need to get used to that number.
i believe they are status matching SPG members to Marriott/Ritz, currently 25 stays, or 50 nights, so potentially only 25 nights.


Marriott launched the option to link accounts and transfer points between SPG and Marriott Rewards. Members will receive an instant status match and points can be transferred at a very reasonable rate of 1 Starpoint to 3 Marriott Rewards points.

Last edited by Tim O'Brien; Oct 30, 2016 at 9:13 pm
Tim O'Brien is offline  
Old Oct 31, 2016, 10:31 pm
  #809  
Kyo
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Singapore
Programs: Ex-BD55 + KF*G + BA Gold + IC RA(?) + OZ*G + SPG*P
Posts: 156
Originally Posted by NKU
I then asked her that other IHG -ers got upgraded to RA with this numbers previously, she refused to make any comments.

I tried and tried then I got tired myself.
I called the UK number on Saturday, and got a very helpful lady in Makati. Anyway, this time she was patient and helpful enough to work with me to pinpoint the date that would give me the maximum number of stays - basically, 14 Oct 2015 - 13 Oct 2016, giving me 70/30/10+ nights within a rolling 365 day period, as my updated datapoint. So, some nights sacrificed in favour of reaching 30 IC nights.

She put on her Supervisor, as I was still was stonewalled much like yourself despite me using the "I have 6 hours to go til 01st of November" so I asked them to make a reference that the earlier agent had counted 70/30/10+ from the 14th of October 2015.

That's the only thing the Supervisor agreed to do. She then went on to say "Customers cannot demand Royal Ambassador be given to them". I had not demanded it - but I had mentioned other datapoints showing lesser amounts had requalified before being repeated advised that there was no more news to go and for me to wait til 01st January.
Kyo is offline  
Old Oct 31, 2016, 10:38 pm
  #810  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: IHG, RC, HH, AA, QF, UA, Aeroplan
Posts: 2,690
Originally Posted by Kyo
I called the UK number on Saturday, and got a very helpful lady in Makati. Anyway, this time she was patient and helpful enough to work with me to pinpoint the date that would give me the maximum number of stays - basically, 14 Oct 2015 - 13 Oct 2016, giving me 70/30/10+ nights within a rolling 365 day period, as my updated datapoint. So, some nights sacrificed in favour of reaching 30 IC nights.

She put on her Supervisor, as I was still was stonewalled much like yourself despite me using the "I have 6 hours to go til 01st of November" so I asked them to make a reference that the earlier agent had counted 70/30/10+ from the 14th of October 2015.

That's the only thing the Supervisor agreed to do. She then went on to say "Customers cannot demand Royal Ambassador be given to them". I had not demanded it - but I had mentioned other datapoints showing lesser amounts had requalified before being repeated advised that there was no more news to go and for me to wait til 01st January.
i thought the number being spoken about was 75/30/3, that may explain it, you may have been 5 nights short?
Tim O'Brien is offline  


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