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.

















Print Wikipost

New RA qualifying criteria based on IC Revenue

Old Oct 20, 2016, 9:38 pm
  #706  
 
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 aussielori
I have also been told my RA expires end of year instead of 30 nov. unfortunately this is be a problem as I had planned on prequalifying at end nov and all my stays will now drop off.
I have just read 75 nights! yikes! i was planning my usual 66
1. empirical evidence suggest the old 60/20/3 changed in MAR2016 to be 75/30/3. Yes the extension means you can not use NOV2015 nights to requal.

2. Your 1month RA year extension from year being 01DEC-30NOV to now being 01JAN-31DEC may not be quite so disastrous as RA Requal check is still performed TWICE...... Both your normal year and ALSO 1month early

So your RA now expires 31DEC2016 , and you need requal on periods
A)01DEC2015-30NOV2016 (1 month before RA year ends on 31DEC2016)
or
B)01JAN2016-31DEC2016 (your new +1month RA 365day year)

So alas (A) / (B) above will now NOT allow you to count NOV2015 nights, annoying if a nights heavy stay month.



nb Your Requal Conundrum Issue
o Nights stayed during NOV2015 no longer count for you to requal as RA
o Check your current counts for the two periods 01DEC2015-30NOV16 and 01JAN2016-31DEC2016
Then you'll know how short of 75/30/3 you will be, and can work out if chasing RA renewal this time around is worthwhile for you.
o under current RA qualification rules, IC/IHG nights in DEC2016 will/can help you renew both this year and next time. So loading DEC2016 with nights may actually be worthwhile?

Other Possibility
o RA is on rolling 365 night period including spans of RA years
o It maybe possible to stay a large number of nights during both/either JAN2017 if JAN2016 was light on nights for you, and regain RA with 75/30/3 for eg spanned Amb year period 01FEB2016-31JAN207 or even 14FEB2016-13FEB2017. ie can be partway through calendar months
You just need to look at which months/dates you early Jan/FEB/MAR2016 nights drop off your rolling 365 period.



ps My similar issue
o Unlike you, I actually had enough nights 80+/50+/8+ nights for my unextended RA requal year 01SEP2015-31AUG2016, and I got unwanted +3months (Sep/Oct/Nov) changing my RA year to 01DEC2015-30NOV2016
o As planned not staying in hotels 10AUG2016-DEC2016 my counts dropped for period 01DEC2015-30NOV2016 to 52/35+/3+
o NOV2015 was heavy IC/IHG wise for me, IC=16 IHG=3 so 1month early RA check period boosts things 01NOV2015-30OCT2016 jumps me from 52/35 upto 71/51 but still short of magic new numbers of 75/30/3+
... And my planned 6nights in Nov2016 won't help in this scenario.
o Helpdesk Supervisor agreed my situation is extremely unfair cutting 9months off my RA life and will supposedly review my account come my RA expiry on 01DEC2016. However am reading that RA renewals are now "centralised" and worrying Supervisor won't be able to follow up and give me either 9months or 12months RA extension from 1st Dec.
scubaccr is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2016, 11:09 pm
  #707  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: IHG, RC, HH, AA, QF, UA, Aeroplan
Posts: 2,685
Originally Posted by turner32
I predict all current RA's will get RA for 2017 when they introduce the revenue element to re-qualification, and this will be when they introduce a Jan-Dec cycle.
agreed, i expect they'll be liberal, and reasonable with a change in the criteria the potential fallout wld be too damaging otherwise^
Tim O'Brien is offline  
Old Oct 21, 2016, 12:44 am
  #708  
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: SYD
Programs: QF Emerald EY Plat HH D
Posts: 1,268
Im hoping you are both right here as I planned an unwanted 10 day bali trip in early Nov to qualify and cant do december. last year i stayed the whole month of november. lets hope they are generous!
aussielori is offline  
Old Oct 21, 2016, 2:18 am
  #709  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: N/A
Programs: 100m swimming certificate level 5
Posts: 1,456
Originally Posted by turner32
I predict all current RA's will get RA for 2017 when they introduce the revenue element to re-qualification, and this will be when they introduce a Jan-Dec cycle.
What do you mean all get 2017? auto requal?
mitpat474 is offline  
Old Oct 21, 2016, 2:25 am
  #710  
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: 13,758
Originally Posted by Tim O'Brien
agreed, i expect they'll be liberal, and reasonable with a change in the criteria the potential fallout wld be too damaging otherwise^
This implies a degree of clarity of thought, logic and basic fairness in RA qualification criteria which has been entirely absent to date.

It would be a brave punt that IHG will magically put this all right.
Land-of-Miles is offline  
Old Oct 21, 2016, 6:46 am
  #711  
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 5,585
So far all promises of great things for Spires has come to nought.I expect RA promises to go the same way.
rapidex is offline  
Old Oct 21, 2016, 7:02 am
  #712  
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: UK
Programs: IHG
Posts: 1,316
From what's been mentioned on other boards, it seems that Spire will receive lounge access from next year. Also, Spires who aren't Ambassador have been reporting upgrades at IC's. So, things do seem to improving on this front.
turner32 is offline  
Old Oct 21, 2016, 9:43 am
  #713  
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Join Date: Jan 2010
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Originally Posted by Land-of-Miles
This implies a degree of clarity of thought, logic and basic fairness in RA qualification criteria which has been entirely absent to date.

It would be a brave punt that IHG will magically put this all right.
i'm taking the view that it would be far to damaging to their program reputation, if they stuff up the transition.

i wld think by now they'd be fully aware of the implications of extending membership years by the three months, and how that's impacted renewals etc, in many cases to the detriment of the member.

let's see how it pans out, not long now. IIRC someone mentioned they'd been told of a formal announcement next month.
Tim O'Brien is offline  
Old Oct 21, 2016, 9:45 am
  #714  
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Posts: 2,685
Originally Posted by turner32
From what's been mentioned on other boards, it seems that Spire will receive lounge access from next year. Also, Spires who aren't Ambassador have been reporting upgrades at IC's. So, things do seem to improving on this front.
that wld be a good outcome for Spire RA's, guranteed lounge, and suite^
Tim O'Brien is offline  
Old Oct 21, 2016, 10:46 am
  #715  
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Join Date: Dec 2003
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Originally Posted by Tim O'Brien
i'm taking the view that it would be far to damaging to their program reputation, if they stuff up the transition.

i wld think by now they'd be fully aware of the implications of extending membership years by the three months, and how that's impacted renewals etc, in many cases to the detriment of the member.

let's see how it pans out, not long now. IIRC someone mentioned they'd been told of a formal announcement next month.
Really would it?

How many RA's are there? How much do they spend on average per year?

Would that be lost revenue or substituted by other guests/revenue?

If we were all that material surely IHG would have put in place measure to avoid peeing us off, I haven't seen any so far, have you?
Land-of-Miles is offline  
Old Oct 21, 2016, 11:28 am
  #716  
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Posts: 2,685
Originally Posted by Land-of-Miles
Really would it?

How many RA's are there? How much do they spend on average per year?

Would that be lost revenue or substituted by other guests/revenue?

If we were all that material surely IHG would have put in place measure to avoid peeing us off, I haven't seen any so far, have you?

the program has to be net positive for SCH, or they wldn't maintain it.

i'm not annoyed at this stage, and will be happy when the formal communication takes place to confirm tandem criteria, nights or spend.
notwithstanding they may maintain the mantra "the top 1% of our customers" but we'll be able to determine from the data points of our colleagues, and friends here, pretty quickly.

USD15K IC spend, 50 IC nights? from Jan 1st?

Lifetime RA 10 years non consecutive, or USD100K accumulative spend, or 500 IC nights^

a win win for SCH, and their most loyal customers.
Tim O'Brien is offline  
Old Oct 21, 2016, 12:57 pm
  #717  
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Join Date: Dec 2003
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Posts: 13,758
Originally Posted by Tim O'Brien
the program has to be net positive for SCH, or they wldn't maintain it.

i'm not annoyed at this stage, and will be happy when the formal communication takes place to confirm tandem criteria, nights or spend.
notwithstanding they may maintain the mantra "the top 1% of our customers" but we'll be able to determine from the data points of our colleagues, and friends here, pretty quickly.

USD15K IC spend, 50 IC nights? from Jan 1st?

Lifetime RA 10 years non consecutive, or USD100K accumulative spend, or 500 IC nights^

a win win for SCH, and their most loyal customers.
What is that to IHG though? Maybe $1k a year X 10? If that revenue was fully lost
Land-of-Miles is offline  
Old Oct 22, 2016, 5:02 am
  #718  
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 scubaccr
fyi, IC Manila (ayala) closed for good on 1st Jan 2016. So you would not be able to add 3x IC nights to boost to 83/30/10+ there.

1. As Tim suggests ring up and confirm your current Ambassador/RA year end date

2. per my personal experience, many RAs who's 2015 years ended 31Aug2015, 30Sep2015, 31Oct2015 have been extended without any communication by IHG, for mostly 3months (sometimes 2months) as a supposed gesture for IHG being unable to post RA packs our 3Q2015 until 1Q2016

3. Historically our RA platic cards had expiry 1st MMM of month following on from our Ambassador year, eg RA Year 01SEP-31AUG card expiry 01SEP

4. My new card says exp 01DEC2016 for unwanted 3month extension of RA year from 01SEP2015-31AUG2016 to now 01SEP2015-30NOV2016

Whereas RAs extended later are receiving plastic cards with EXP date of last day of the month ie 31DEC , 31JAN
This would maybe tie in with Makati 3x mentioning end December to you, ie 2month RA extension.


Important -
ASAP check/note your stays count for 01JAN2016 - 31DEC2016 as that period now determines if your RA status gets renewed after 31st December and not your previous 01NOV-31OCT cycle.
You will need 75/nn/3 and it seems since March2015 increase from 60/20/3 that 75/20/3 IC nights is not enough and 75/30/3 is new minimum required.

You can also check period of 01NOV2015-30NOV2016 as IHG still do a RA requal check 1-month out (IHG no longer check 2months out)

A possibly annoying scenario is your IHG/IC nights in OCT2015 no longer count towards your next RA requal check. Only annoying if loads of stays drop off from month Oct2015
Thanks to all who replied - yes, I'm aware IC Ayala is gone. Had to stay at the HI Glorietta end of Feb this year, so alas, I will never have a chance to try the Philippines' IC.

1. I'll ring up again and ask for reclarification of the current Ambassador/RA year and hope it's a different/more helpful agent, however I will do that on Monday when they are working as I've never tried on a Sunday.

2. If they've extended me for two months, I'm not so happy because... (see 4.)

3. I re-checked my RA Spire Elite black card and RA pack which arrived during March 2016. It says: Card EXP = 01 NOV 2016

4. I had a very heavy OCT15 IC stay month, all over China and Hong Kong, actually (it was even planned that way specifically for requalification purposes for 2014-2015!). It has significant IC activity, possibly more than 10 nights. So if the 75/30/3 requirement sticks, I may have a problem. Most of my travel in Nov and Dec are forecasted to give me 5-6 nights at present, at most. Living in SIN, there is an IC here but it is by no means cheap. The coming 9 days remaining in October will see me credit 4 more nights from HIX in Hong Kong. I can swap 3 of them to IC (the crappy IC 'down the road') , but their rates are not cheap either and I am hesitant to do so unless it reassures me 100% of requalification!
Originally Posted by Land-of-Miles
My feedback was that this is customer hostile and that I have zero intention of playing these games re: RA anymore and that I would be cancelling all forward bookings and shifting to alternative chains.........

It might well be that the new qualification criteria is better and/or that I have already qualified for next year (by any rational measure I certainly should) but until there are some tangible scheme rules I am no longer prepared to spend an additional penny at IHG hotels.
One would imagine 80 nights alone should be sufficient, for goodness' sake!! I'm completely fed up with playing these childish games with them... the above quote is exactly how I feel!!!
Kyo is offline  
Old Oct 22, 2016, 11:08 am
  #719  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
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Posts: 2,685
Originally Posted by Kyo
Thanks to all who replied - yes, I'm aware IC Ayala is gone. Had to stay at the HI Glorietta end of Feb this year, so alas, I will never have a chance to try the Philippines' IC.

1. I'll ring up again and ask for reclarification of the current Ambassador/RA year and hope it's a different/more helpful agent, however I will do that on Monday when they are working as I've never tried on a Sunday.

2. If they've extended me for two months, I'm not so happy because... (see 4.)

3. I re-checked my RA Spire Elite black card and RA pack which arrived during March 2016. It says: Card EXP = 01 NOV 2016

4. I had a very heavy OCT15 IC stay month, all over China and Hong Kong, actually (it was even planned that way specifically for requalification purposes for 2014-2015!). It has significant IC activity, possibly more than 10 nights. So if the 75/30/3 requirement sticks, I may have a problem. Most of my travel in Nov and Dec are forecasted to give me 5-6 nights at present, at most. Living in SIN, there is an IC here but it is by no means cheap. The coming 9 days remaining in October will see me credit 4 more nights from HIX in Hong Kong. I can swap 3 of them to IC (the crappy IC 'down the road') , but their rates are not cheap either and I am hesitant to do so unless it reassures me 100% of requalification!

One would imagine 80 nights alone should be sufficient, for goodness' sake!! I'm completely fed up with playing these childish games with them... the above quote is exactly how I feel!!!
you cld always call, ask for a supervisor, and see if they'll do a manual count from end of Sept, one month prior to your year end as it stood prior to them changing it.

they added time to benefit you, but in your case it was to your detriment, we went through this previously, scubaccr had the same issue, where the extension, intended to be a trade off for the late RA pack, worked against him. IIRC after a bit on persistence on his part, repeated calls, requests for supervisors, he made his case successfully.

recent data points suggest callers have been told all is upgrades, and renewals are being handled by the Ambassador office, presumably Salt Lake, and the UK.

will be interesting to see how you go. good luck^
Tim O'Brien is offline  
Old Oct 22, 2016, 11:27 pm
  #720  
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Dubai
Programs: Qatar Plat, EK Gold
Posts: 91
not all RAs got the same service as above

my RA term tolled in August 2015, my new card was not delivered until 6 months later (and IHG giving me 30k points for waiting) but the card still had August 2016 as an expiry date.

on the IHG app, my card now shows a December 31, 2016 expiry date

it does seem there will be a clean start as of Dec 16 / Jan 17 of any new RA renewal policies, whatever they may be
jonspencer is offline  

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