HadesNL

Also most people (especially the newly minted Diamond+Ambassadors) need to manage their expectations
and fine tune their thoughtprocess...
that:

Concerning status, those that are per invitation only by IHG corporate, granted:
- Royal Ambassador, still trumps highest in upgrade chain at IC hotels
- Inner Circle, still triumphs highest in upgrade chain at Kimpton hotels


Diamond is though the highest in rank at the other IHG-brands for upgrades.

No blogger, be it the US titans or the niche regionals, have mentioned this at all!

jiunsoh

weekend cert 30-nov-2023

saecotech

I don't think you really understand what the large influx of customers really mean to a PNL let alone giving them all status. The industry is hospitality and it's competitive. If someone has the choice to stay at a property as the highest status of membership over a property over little to moderate level of membership they will choose to stay with the highest property of membership. I see this as being very successful in terms of profit for these hotel brands at IHG. Sure, they offer a measly breakfast (sometimes actual quality) but then they actually have that room that would usually go unsold actually booked. Status means something to consumers and in this case that is primarily why IHG has not reversed their choice to bring in all of these new consumers to the brand.

HadesNL

Not being the bearer of bad news, but giving our welcomed new Diamond-AMB friends an essential tip:

For those in need of using the late checkout as:

- Diamond AMB or as Diamond or as AMB
ALWAYS email the hotel's reservations in advance,
after you've made your booking,
so they are aware of your needs concerning late checkout,
so they can allocate you the right room that you can keep till late checkout,
so they can keep track of room inventory management and code the keys properly for late checkout!
(nobody like to be locked out their rooms when the keyencoding expires)

From personal experience:
- I do this all the time and late checkout is then always no problem/hassle
- see elite members at checkin asking for late checkout, which hotels can give but guests might have to switch rooms
(Can happen if a RA or InnerCircle wants their preferred room for early checkin)
- see elite members after noon time clustering at reception demanding keys recoded for access being locked out of their rooms but having never informed the hotel (in advance / at checking/ anytime during the stay) that they were using the benefit of late checkout


Emailing the hotel in advance about your needs saves so much anguish for both parties involved and makes a stay at an IHG-hotel very pleasent.


And this also applies for our RA + InnerCircle per invitation only friends.....
Although the hotel will usually jump into hoops to accomodate their best guests,
Emailing them in advance results in never a dissapointment.


And as always: happy face + positive thinking

flyertalker00133

If only he could learn to be clear and concise, I have the mental image of someone jumping up and down screaming as he smacks every letter on the 3rd replacement keyboard of the day defending Hilton.

saecotech

Do you have a template you use to send to the properties and request for late check out?

Thanks

UKtravelbear

You don’t need a template. It’s not complicated.

You just type a sentence or two giving them the booking reference, dates, your IHG number and say you’ll like late checkout.

scwam

Just checked out from a 3 day stay on ambassador + diamond. Compared to our first visit exactly 2 years ago (no ambassador and platinum), the status didn't seem to make any difference other than the 2,000 Yen credit. The food wasn't as good and more expensive this time as well as being more limited. The last visit brought us such good memories that we wanted to experience it again. They were also a newly opened property back then and probably trying to make the best impression. They are just sticklers on any perks and are not fully aware of the benefits. They came to my room at 2am for a fire check because I smogged out the place with their 70c shower to humidify the room before sleeping.
A submarine was docked just 20 meters from our hotel window in clear view, and I'm guessing the hotel was on high alert notice for suspicious activities. That sub left last night and a destroyer docked up today with either ICBMs or tactical warheads. I can't tell the difference. Those were some sights to see.
November is a gorgeous time to stay a weekend in Yokohama in whatever hotel you choose. The Hyatt is also a comparable choice.

dineaux

I may just be thick headed. I already hold diamond status. Any thoughts on if this status extension would work even if I didn’t obtain diamond status through the promo on this thread? I am going to be about 10 days short of qualifying for Diamond next year. No way to get the points to qualify either. I do have 5 nights stay coming up at the Kimpton Gray hotel. So at least I would get the 20K points.

JeaJea

Yes, dineux. I the extension for me worked without having used the status promo. I just did it.

dineaux

Thanks. Worked perfectly. Hopefully with travel close to normal at work, I’ll get lots of use out of it. Too many issues with Hilton the past year. Including having to be moved to four different rooms in one night for different reasons; food sofa, a/c in bedroom not wrong, Andy, Wi-Fi not working. Worn out by all of that.

donasaur

Congrats! Just curious, when is your Ambassador expiration date?

It looks like you can see your Ambassador expiry date by clicking on the Milestone Rewards Progress link. It is on the right side of the overview screen.

dineaux

Diamond: 12/31/2023
Ambassador: 01/01/2024

kevino

Shouldn't you have gotten free bf this time?

HadesNL

IHG's Japanese hotels (all brands) are notoriously famous among
IHG-regulars for being extremely strict by the book and following the rules.......

YMMV