Renewing my InterContinental Ambassador Membership for 14,000 IHG Rewards Club Points

The beginning of every new year comes with a multitude of decisions that I have to make and one of them is essentially deciding the number of loyalty programs that I will endeavour to retain elite status with. The InterContinental Ambassador membership is an easy decision to make - it requires zero effort (even though I do stay in InterContinental properties throughout the year) and it simply requires USD 150 to renew each year (USD 200 for the first year). The benefits of being an InterContinental Ambassador can easily pay itself off in one stay and I highly recommend anyone with plans to stay in an InterContinental property to consider purchasing this membership. 

Click HERE to sign-up for the InterContinental Ambassador membership!

Photo Credit: InterContinental Hotels Group

The point of this article is not to discuss the perks of being an InterContinental Ambassador member (even though I must say that the free weekend night certificate and the guaranteed upgrade is a huge deal to me) but rather to highlight the possibility of using IHG Rewards Club points to renew your InterContinental Ambassador membership each year. Similar to what I was offered last year, here are my renewal options:

• Pay USD 150 (SGD 203) and get 10,000 IHG Rewards Club Points
• Pay USD 200 (SGD 270) and get 15,000 IHG Rewards Club Points as well as 10% Rebate on Reward Nights
• Pay 24,000 IHG Rewards Club Points and get 5,000 IHG Rewards Club Points 

Photo Credit: InterContinental Singapore

While the 10% rebate on Reward Nights may be something to consider if you are planning to burn through your IHG Rewards Club points that year, it was not an option to me at all since I wanted to make sure that most of my nights counted towards obtaining and retaining elite statuses in the loyalty programs that I cared more about. Once of my Accelerate challenges for this quarter include renewing my InterContinental Ambassador membership and by doing so, I would be awarded 5,000 bonus IHG Rewards Club Points. Therefore, paying USD 150 will give me 15,000 IHG Rewards Club Points effectively and the third option (which is a full payment by IHG Rewards Club Points) will cost only 14,000 effectively. Would I spend USD 150 to save 29,000 IHG Rewards Club points? Probably not since I have half a million points to burn through.