extra person charge for ambassador and club room with breakfast charge
 

I have booked a weekend in the Intercontinental Malta using the Ambassador Certificate. Since the date of the stay is far out I am checking the rates regularly, so that I can rebook in case the rate drops.

Right now the rate is not only 40 Euros higher than when I booked it, all of a sudden there is an Extra Person Charge for the 2nd adult: "20.00 EUR per extra adult starting with the 2nd adult (not included in price)". Not all rates have this surcharge, e.g. it doesn't apply to my company's corporate rate. But it does apply to the Ambassador Certificate rate. Does that make sense? Aren't ambassadors supposed to be charged Single Rate for Double Room Occupancy?

Another thing that strikes me, unrelated to the Ambassador Certificate rate, is that there is a "Best Flexible With Breakfast" rate for an Intercontinental Club Room or Suite. It's another 30 Euros extra. Does that make sense? Isn't breakfast already included for a club room?

I am wondering whether these are just IT glitches or whether IHG / the hotel is trying to make same extra money by ripping off ignorant customers....

Individual hotel I.T Booking Systems that fillin your room 'description / t+c' details are set per room and can't/don't account/change based on guests elite status with the chain. Your description is exactly whar a non-status gues booking tht room will see.

Yes, just book for one person and add the second at check-in if needed.
I've seen breakfast rates offered for club / executive rooms at many hotels, not just IHG. I just assume they're not being discriminatory enough in what rates apply to which rooms but in practice it's already included as long as you have lounge access, regardless of what rate you booked.

It is the first time I booked with the Ambassador Weekened Certificate and I thought it is normal.
I booked for 2 nights with my girlfriend at an IC and €20 is added to my bill as "extra charge for a person".

Should I cancel the booking and rebook for one person and just show up with 2?

There were several other rates without the extra person charge, including my corporate rate. So the surcharge is rate specific. As the Ambassador Certificate rate is for ambassadors only it should be easy to define that this is a rate without the surcharge. As for the Best Flexible With Breakfast rate for a club room - that is unrelated to the elite status.

I just looked again, for the same dates, and the extra person charge has suddenly vanished. For all room and rate types. Everything else has remained unchanged. It's magic...

Try again. For IC Malta the extra person charge didn't show up anymore when I tried today. That may be the case at well for the IC you have booked.

I still get "Extra Persons Charge: 20.00 EUR " for IC Berlin unfortunately.

Book ALWAYS for 1 person in IC Berlin, except you have energy and time. After modifying your booking by reservation department (room assignment) you will ALWAYS see in your IHG mobile application that your rate increases automatically by the amount of the 2nd-person-fee. On top of that the app is still showing the field for "Extra Person Charge". The guest service agent at check out will not have any idea that the base rate was modified automatically after room assignment. I noticed that after several stays and after a chat with the old club manager Nicolas I got everything back.

The IT problem has still not been resolved and goes unnoticed by many guests of IC Berlin.

Thank you for your response!

So what do you recommend? Do I book for 1 person and show up at the desk with both of us or before going to the hotel I contact them and if they add it the final bill I talk with them?

In future just book for 1 person. That is what Hotel Manager Sebastian told me.
They won't add anything after showing up with an extra person due to ambassador status. The IT problem with modified base rate after room assignment only appears when booking for 2 and only in IC Berlin.
I would not contact the hotel unless you are requesting a twin bed. They will not give you a better room just because they see in reservation confirmation "2 people".

ok thanks, I will just cancel and rebook then...

Just wondering what they exactly mean, so cancelling is free or charge or not?
It seems unclear to me...

"

Yes, it is free of charge until deadline.

This " * " is a standard sentence that is added to each rate of every german hotel and IT will not differentiate if advance purchase rate or flexible rate is selected.
Nevertheless, this sentence retains its generality, because you get 10 (20) % back of the charge (0,00EUR) due on cancellation. They won't charge you anything, unless there is a system glitch due to spontaneous cancellation one day before arrival (then you may complain).

The sentence is actually meant to tell you that you get back 10 or 20% even at an early bird rate.

What if you book a Club room, will it not affect the price if I'm with 2 persons instead of 1? Maybe that's why I have to pay for an extra charge?
Just want to make sure we don't get issues.

Club rooms should always be charged and include 2ppn in base room club rooms rate whether booked for 1ppn/2ppn initially. An extra $$ per night would then be appled to 3rd person in room to have club access too.