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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 / €$ĄŁ 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 €$ĄŁ 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 €$Ł
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 - Ł27000

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 > Ł1000

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 : >Ł25000 - 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 Dec 29, 2016, 11:39 am
  #1141  
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: IHG, RC, HH, AA, QF, UA, Aeroplan
Posts: 2,690
Originally Posted by stimpy

The thing is that no one here is qualified or informed enough to say that management is incompetent. You don't have the facts or know the details about the forces involved. All you can do is guess. Maybe it is an informed guess, but still just a guess.
i think anyone here who has paid attention to IHG management from a customer perspective can quite clearly comment on incompetence.

without going into all the detail.

their IT issues are infamous.

their management of their loyalty programs, Spire and RA is self evidently poor.

everybody know Spire offered nothing of any substance different to their previous top category Platinum, other than go them out of the credit card benefit of top status.

you may disagree, and that's fair enough, but i think the critical issue is no communication to members expiring in less than 36 hours, no matter if they lived in intercon properties for the past year.
Tim O'Brien is offline  
Old Dec 29, 2016, 12:11 pm
  #1142  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 1,481
Originally Posted by stimpy
The thing is that no one here is qualified or informed enough to say that management is incompetent. You don't have the facts or know the details about the forces involved. All you can do is guess. Maybe it is an informed guess, but still just a guess.
I disagree. I can see the output and the output is a F in school grades.

And if the output for such an expensive loyalty program is F for more than a year, the management performance is a F as well.

It is not too difficult to manage a loyalty program much, much better. There are expert for that. The Ambassador program is a very expensive one. Considering that high cost, the quality must be right.

Of course, we don't know their excuses for that extremely poor performance. But typically a poor performance like that comes from incompetence.
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Old Dec 29, 2016, 12:24 pm
  #1143  
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: UK
Programs: IHG
Posts: 1,316
A day of the working week left. Something surely has to happen by the end of tomorrow. Will their IT system allow December 31st to pass without changing?
turner32 is offline  
Old Dec 29, 2016, 12:38 pm
  #1144  
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,368
Originally Posted by thbe
I disagree. I can see the output and the output is a F in school grades.

And if the output for such an expensive loyalty program is F for more than a year, the management performance is a F as well.

It is not too difficult to manage a loyalty program much, much better. There are expert for that. The Ambassador program is a very expensive one. Considering that high cost, the quality must be right.

Of course, we don't know their excuses for that extremely poor performance. But typically a poor performance like that comes from incompetence.
If I get an email terminating me between now and the 3rd then my room/minibar will be the cleanest (read emptiest) it's ever been .... .... it's pretty patchy at the best of times!!!
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Old Dec 29, 2016, 12:45 pm
  #1145  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
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Originally Posted by Atacama40
If I get an email terminating me between now and the 3rd then my room/minibar will be the cleanest (read emptiest) it's ever been .... .... it's pretty patchy at the best of times!!!
yeah take those travel adapters too
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Old Dec 29, 2016, 12:51 pm
  #1146  
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,368
Originally Posted by mitpat474
yeah take those travel adapters too
^ .... maybe they will find it odd asking for a dozen beach bags in -3 deg
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Old Dec 29, 2016, 1:07 pm
  #1147  
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Posts: 17,008
Originally Posted by stimpy

The thing is that no one here is qualified or informed enough to say that management is incompetent. You don't have the facts or know the details about the forces involved.

Management is all about DEALING with those forces.




You don't need to be a brew-master to recognise the piss-up in this brewery hasn't been well organised. I think someone in IHG wants to make his/her mark, but lacks the muscle-competence combo required to get things done.

This could make a juicy MBA exercise for future years.




I'm still trying to get this year's kit, now 361 days late. I phoned yesterday to try for a weekend night stay without a certificate. After some time on hold ..... I'm told they'll try to liaise with the hotel

Playful as ever, I couldn't resist responding to the "may I help you with anything else...?" with a question about ... go on, guess

Today's answer is second or third week of January.
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Old Dec 29, 2016, 1:49 pm
  #1148  
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Originally Posted by turner32
A day of the working week left. Something surely has to happen by the end of tomorrow. Will their IT system allow December 31st to pass without changing?
you'd think so.

i'm half anticipating they'll renew all those with year ending 31st Dec, 2016 for another year^

or they cld just hedge their bets, and leave RA status on the accounts, without an end date.
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Old Dec 29, 2016, 1:54 pm
  #1149  
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Originally Posted by IAN-UK

Today's answer is second or third week of January.
a breakthrough, or the usual "anything goes" Makati rhetoric?
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Old Dec 29, 2016, 3:57 pm
  #1150  
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
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Originally Posted by Tim O'Brien
you'd think so.

i'm half anticipating they'll renew all those with year ending 31st Dec, 2016 for another year^

or they cld just hedge their bets, and leave RA status on the accounts, without an end date.
To consciously do that would be just crazy. Like several others on here, I've nothing at all booked for next year. At IC Boston currently, and thinking of asking about what to expect minibar charges when I checkout on January 2nd, considering I will not have been RA for 2 days.
Obviously they'll say, don't worry, but it's an opportunity to start a conversation.
Of course, one would at least expect Guest Relations to have been briefed by this late stage.. what are they meant to tell guests on January 1st? RA's checking in, what can they expect?
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Old Dec 29, 2016, 5:08 pm
  #1151  
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Originally Posted by turner32
To consciously do that would be just crazy. Like several others on here, I've nothing at all booked for next year. At IC Boston currently, and thinking of asking about what to expect minibar charges when I checkout on January 2nd, considering I will not have been RA for 2 days.
Obviously they'll say, don't worry, but it's an opportunity to start a conversation.
Of course, one would at least expect Guest Relations to have been briefed by this late stage.. what are they meant to tell guests on January 1st? RA's checking in, what can they expect?
do you think there's anything conscious about IHG's management of the RA or Spire programs?

i was going to suggest speaking to Ana Knipp, she used to be down here in DC, got married, and had a baby and migrated to BOS Intercon with her new beau, but she's just recently moved to the Wheatleigh. she would have been helpful. she's a lovely vibrant young lady.
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Old Dec 29, 2016, 6:11 pm
  #1152  
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Join Date: Jan 2006
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Originally Posted by stimpy
As RA is the best program in the industry, I'm going to have to completely disagree with you.

I just checked in under a classic booking and am upgraded into a huge Ambassador Suite with two mini-bars and a bottle of Champagne chilling on ice, etc. I don't get that with Starwood Platinum, Hilton Diamond, Accor Platinum, Hyatt Diamond, etc. The marketing VP's at those other chains wish they had as good a program as IHG.
I don't really agree with that. I still agree that RA is one of the best programs, but I'm not happy that everyone gets such randomly different treatments, which is severely disappointing. For instance, my best upgrades have always been...... at properties where I know managers. Which is sort of pointless. Granted - the reason I *know* those managers does tend to be because I'm RA, so they come to chat with me and we establish contact. However, as far as *consistency* goes, I'm not very happy with RA. For example, at IC ANA, I would get anything from a "Deluxe" room ("2 level upgrade") to a corner suite. Only when I actually met with the manager, had a chat and pointed out that I'm staying for dozens of nights there, did I start getting more consistent upgrades. At IC Madrid the other day, I got a "family room", which was basically two large double beds. I didn't have time to complain, so I left it at that, but I was certainly unimpressed. At Ishigaki, I consistently get the sunset facing Royal suite... but again, I know the manager, who is an awesome guy. At Bora Bora, I got the Mt. Otemanu villa... because the Ishigaki manager knew the Bora Bora manager!

At SPG, I know exactly what I'm entitled to, and I often know ahead of time what I will get. There is some variation, like getting a bottle of something, or not, but generally it's a fairly consistent slightly-better-than-average experience. It's nowhere nearly as out of this world as with RA, but the problem is, RA sets your expectations so unreasonably high that when you do not get recognised, you feel like the world has ended, and you go around huffing and puffing until someone comes and pets you on the head and gives you a freebie, like Times Square did when they sold my Manhattan suite to someone, and to placate me, gave me a stretch limo to take me to the airport.

So while I do agree that RA is a great program and I'm making efforts to requalify every year despite not knowing if I'm overdoing it or not, I sure as hell would like a certain base standard that I can expect (like.... now I can't even expect suites anymore? what gives? and club only in APAC? but not China? it feels like reading a programming decision flowchart).

Now, maybe, I don't do as many nights as some of the other RAs on here - I certainly don't do 200 nights in the program, I try to you know, be at home sometimes and so on. But if we're segmenting RA into sub-levels, where some will (automatically!) get Ambassador suites with minibars stacked one on top of the other, and others get Family Rooms and a pat on the back, then what's the point of having this "unobtanium" tier if you further segment it into "unobtainium platinum" and "unobtainium kryptonite"?
Pseudo Nim is offline  
Old Dec 29, 2016, 7:29 pm
  #1153  
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Originally Posted by Pseudo Nim
I don't really agree with that. I still agree that RA is one of the best programs, but I'm not happy that everyone gets such randomly different treatments, which is severely disappointing.
some of it has to come down to occupancy, and expected demand too.

i don't know that the upgrades are consistent for any of us?
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Old Dec 29, 2016, 7:42 pm
  #1154  
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Originally Posted by Tim O'Brien
some of it has to come down to occupancy, and expected demand too.

i don't know that the upgrades are consistent for any of us?
That's just it, though - a lot of RA diehards paint it like they always have the presidential floor with an army of maidens to serve their every wish. I consider myself an RA diehard, but I am banging the 'it's not all it's hyped up to be, although it's still pretty good' drum.

For instance, I couldn't even get the president of the Maldives moved from my suite in a hotel I was in recently. He took over the entire suite floor, and I complained to the manager that while he's a (supposedly) democratically elected official, I am a royal appointee (cf. the name!), and therefore should hold higher status. All it got me was a postcard and some free wine.
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Old Dec 29, 2016, 7:45 pm
  #1155  
 
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Originally Posted by Pseudo Nim
That's just it, though - a lot of RA diehards paint it like they always have the presidential floor with an army of maidens to serve their every wish. I consider myself an RA diehard, but I am banging the 'it's not all it's hyped up to be, although it's still pretty good' drum.

For instance, I couldn't even get the president of the Maldives moved from my suite in a hotel I was in recently. He took over the entire suite floor, and I complained to the manager that while he's a (supposedly) democratically
elected official, I am a royal appointee (cf. the name!), and therefore should hold higher status. All it got me was a postcard and some free wine.
You're correct. Once the RA changes are in place, they can certainly standardise RA treatment. If the top suites are empty for certain nights, why not give them to RA's
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