rumbataz

Check the wording on the letter that comes in the welcome pack for Amb very carefully.

It says 'now and every year you achieve Spire Amb' you get the £25K points. That's a little bit ambiguous but I think IHG will focus on the 'you achieve Spire Amb' wording to deny the 25K points.

Enigma368

Well first it says: "I'm delighted to inform you that your continued loyalty has resulted in an upgrade from Platinum Elite Ambassador to Spire Elite Ambassador status"

Then it immediately says: "As a Spire Elite Ambassador you will now receive a 100% bonus on base points at IHG hotels. Now and each year you achieve Spire Ambassador you may CHOOSE from...25k points or Platinum as a gift"

Then it says "Visit ihg.com/rewardsclub to select your new reward"

I don't think it is that ambiguous. They may say the letter is a mistake though. IHG customer service is pretty terrible unless you get a reply from a US based agent, so I don't hold out much hope.

Enigma368

Just as an update - they did give me the 5k but flat out denied the Spire benefit(no surprise). They did not address why the letter we were sent out said we would get the Spire benefit.

Modo

Thanks - not expecting the Spire 25,000.

Now got to work out how to contact them to expedite without wasting more time than the value of 5,000 points. Dealing with the Greater China team in English is painful...

UPDATE

Sent an email to ambassador and the 5K points were credited within 24 hours. I attached a copy of the welcome letter confirming the award of 25,000 points. The response completely ducked that issue.

It's IHG I wasn't expecting any better.

Enigma368

Yeah I sent them the letter and they totally failed to acknowledge it. I even pushed them on it and they just kept repeating that I was not eligible for the Spire benefit and did not even mention the letter.

I'm sure some people have pushed hard enough and got the 25k benefit since it is bad form to tell the customer they are not due something when you have already sent them an official letter making a big deal about how you are giving them that exact thing. That said, we should not really be eligible for the Spire benefit and letter was probably a mistake. Plus, I just cant be bothered dealing with IHG any more than necessary.

kerrigjl

Another data point/exchange:

"Lalalaine,

Thank you so much for expediting the delivery of the portfolio; it was received, and I hope you are well! A question for you - the welcome letter in the packet, dated 19 April, mentions "an annual 25,000 points bonus ... now and each year"; however, I do not see an option to take that at present (the option is "greyed out" at the link through my account at https://www.ihg.com/rewardsclub/us/e...elite-benefits , saying that it was redeemed on 13 July 2015) - is it possibly to manually add that to my account, and/or reset that clock? Also, when I enrolled, there was language on the website reading that an additional 5000 points would be added to the account upon the term starting ("When you become an Ambassador, you are automatically enrolled in the IHG® Rewards Club, earning 5000 points and Elite Status") - there is no mention of this in the packet, however; how does one get that added?"

Response:

"Hello Mr. (kerrigjl),

I hope you’re doing well today.

I would like to clarify that the 25,000 bonus points is not part of your benefit as an Ambassador member. This benefit is provided to our Spire Elite members who achieved/maintained the required number of nights/points for this Elite level.

You will have to stay 75 qualifying nights or earn 75,000 points within one calendar year. Once achieved, you'll be able to make your selection in your account.

With regards to your 5,000 IHG Rewards Club Bonus Points, it will be included in your Welcome Letter, in the form of a voucher code, which you can deposit online. The said Welcome Letter will be included in the Ambassador portfolio. You may deposit vouchers in thislink: https://www.ihg.com/priorityclub/rew...depositpoints/

Or, if you prefer, simply reply with your IHG Rewards Club membership number and point voucher number.  Once this information is received, we will deposit the points on your behalf.

Let me know if there is anything else you need in the meantime.

Speak to you soon,


Lou"

I reiterated:

"Lou,

Thanks for your reply. There was no voucher in the welcome packet other than the one night free - let me know how to proceed from here.

Thanks,"

They replied:

"Hello Mr. (kerrigjl),

I hope you are doing well.

In behalf of IHG, I would like to apologize that your voucher for your 5,00 bonus points was not included in the welcome letter you received.

Moreover, please be advised that I have manually posted the 5,000 bonus points in your account. This brought your current point balance up to xyz. You can now view this by logging in to your account online at www.ihgrewardsclub.com.

Thank you for choosing IHG Rewards Club. I hope this helped to answer your concern but if not, please let us know.


Best Regards,

Aileen"

kerrigjl

Also, has anyone successfully renewed this year and extended spire to 12/31/18? That'll be the main determinant of whether or not I renew (haven't found occasion to use the BOGO cert unfortunately).

chrism20

I'm intending to renew over the next few days (currently deliberating what renewal option to choose, probably going to go with the $200 option as I'm intending to burn a fair bit over the next year so might as well get the rebate)

I'll post back when I've done it and it's showing on my account. I'm about 7,000 points short of requalifying for Spire at the moment so am still showing 2017 expiry.

snevillio

Yes i have, did so in late April and my ambassador status is valid to May 18 and my Elite Status Expiration Date is Dec 18.

Hasn't triggered the option to get 25k points though this year

shorthauldad

I'm considering the $200 option, for the same reason.

IHG.com shows "Ambassador Expiry: Jun-2017", does that mean I have until the end of June to do the renewal?

I'm waaaay off re-qualifying for Spire. Could transfer VS miles (ex-Tesco!) but I have such a boat-load of unspent IHG points it seems a waste of perfectly good airline miles.

snevillio

The problem with virgin miles now though (in my opinion) is that they are really devalued to that 3000 miles = £18 valuation. The additional charges and taxes make the redemptions poorer value and i can confirm as of two weeks ago a transfer still registered as elite qualifying over to IHG.

shorthauldad

My specific issue with VS metal redemptions is I'm not going to start a trip in the UK, and I don't like APD. I don't want to position to LON to start a VS redemption *and* pay APD which (on any cash ticket) I'd be avoiding via xxx-LON-yyy!

I guess partner redemptions are still OK (see H4P) but booking them sounds to be a PITA. I've never even enquired about this.

That's excellent news. I might just dump them. At least I know I can redeem IHG points even if it's not great value.

Having said all that, Spire's best use appears to be for status matching elsewhere

kerrigjl

Did it work? Any other recent data points?

chrism20

It extended the elite expiry date, the spire choice did not appear until after I had gone over ther 75k.

mster

AMB exp date: 01/31/2018
Spire exp date: 12/31/2018

In this case is there any reason to believe that renewing the AMB membership through 01/2019 wouldn't also extend the Spire status on the account until 12/2019?

Would there be any reason to process said AMB renewal in 2017 over 2018? 2018 over 2017?