Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is happening now! Follow us as Greg, Nick, and Stephen compete to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines before November 23rd. Who will complete the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
I finally had a chance to try out IHG’s new Diamond benefits! Earlier this year IHG rolled out massive changes to their co-branded credit cards and rewards program. Some of the best credit card changes include the ability to top-off IHG Premier card 40K free night certificates with points, a base earn rate of 3 points per dollar (instead of 1x previously), and the ability to earn top-tier Diamond status with $40K spend. Some of the best program changes include guaranteed free breakfast as a welcome choice for Diamond elites, and Milestone Rewards that include suite upgrades starting at 20 nights, and annual lounge membership starting at 40 nights. You can find full details in these posts: Wow! IHG to offer real elite benefits and IHG Card Changes: New Biz Card, Higher Earning, Top Up Certs With Points & More.
Nick and I were invited to Miami as part of a Bilt advisory group we participate in. We each paid our own way for flights, but Bilt paid for our stays at the Kimpton Surfcomber Hotel. I had Diamond status because it was offered to me by IHG when they were rolling out the new program so that I could try out the new benefits. Nick had Diamond status because he took advantage of an instant status match (no longer available) that he had learned about on our Frequent Miler Insiders Group last week (unfortunately we didn’t have a chance to post details to the blog before the deal died). Even though some employees at the hotel knew that there were a bunch of “influencers” in the Bilt group, nothing about the stay suggested that they were treating us better than regular IHG elite members, so I feel reasonably confident that our experiences were the new typical for Diamond Elite members.
For my review of this stay, please see: IHG’s Kimpton Surfcomber Hotel South Beach, Miami. Bottom Line Review.
In the following sections I’ll describe various elite benefits that we should get as Diamond Elites, along with what actually happened…
Room Upgrade (No luck)
Platinum and Diamond elites are eligible for room upgrades, subject to availability. It seems that upgraded rooms weren’t available. We didn’t get upgraded. As you can see above, I had a regular king room, a tiny bathroom, and no view or ocean or pool. Nick had a similar room and view. All that said, as far as I can tell, upgraded rooms have pool views and that means being subject to loud music day and night. Maybe they did us a favor.
After check-in, Nick checked IHG’s website to see if they were still selling upgraded rooms for that weekend. They were not. Therefore, it makes sense that no upgraded rooms were available.
Bonus Points
Diamond Elites are eligible for 100% point bonus on paid stays. While my points haven’t actually posted yet, the stay details show that I am in fact going to earn those bonus points:
- Points to be Earned: 16,140
- Base Earnings: 8,070
- Elite Bonus: 8,070
Early Check-In (Untested)
This is another Platinum & Diamond benefit that is subject to availability. Neither of us got there early enough to test it.
2PM Late Check-Out
All IHG members are eligible for late checkout based on availability. While neither Nick nor I needed it, Shawn Coomer of Miles to Memories asked for late check out and received it without hesitation.
Free Breakfast Welcome Amenity
At check-in, we were each offered our choice of Diamond welcome amenities:
- Daily free breakfast for 2
- $30 minibar credit
- 600 points
Since Nick and I were alone in each room, he took the breakfast to share with me and I took the $30 minibar credit. I didn’t really want anything from the minibar, but I just couldn’t bring myself to take the paltry 600 points. It’s stunning the difference in value these choices offer.
Each item I tried over 3 days was very good. Nick was given two breakfast vouchers for each day of the stay. Breakfast vouchers covered coffee, juice, a main item, and tip for the server (no check was brought to the table unless you ordered a specialty drink). In practice, I was also able to order a side of fruit at no extra charge. As you can see in the menu below, the savings were big. The egg dishes ranged in price from $18 to $22 (or more if you add short-rib or smoked salmon to the eggs benedict), coffee was $5, and juice another $5. After tax and tip, a couple could easily drop $70 to $80 per day, but it was free with Diamond status. That’s great.
Conclusion: Diamond status is legit
Marriott has shown that providing free hot breakfast as an elite benefit is a difficult task (Just look at how many exceptions Marriott has). Somehow, though, IHG seems to have done it. The only big exception is with Mrs & Mrs Smith properties, but those aren’t really fully part of the IHG program so that’s understandable. I realize that this was only one test, but I’m sure that if many IHG properties fail to deliver we’ll hear about that soon from readers (and we will then let you know!). For now, I’m impressed.
I’m less impressed, of course, with the room upgrade I didn’t get. But this is a tough one to judge. Were there better rooms available at all? On the day of arrival Nick checked to see if upgraded rooms were available for cash bookings but found that there were no suites or upgraded rooms available at all. That suggests that there truly were no upgrade options for us.
While I still prefer top tier Hyatt elite status, by a large margin, IHG’s program has jumped to a near tie with Marriott in 2nd place. They still have room to improve though. I’d love to see them offer guaranteed 4pm late checkout like Marriott and Hyatt do. And, even more awesome would be to waive resort fees on award stays as Hyatt, Hilton, and Wyndham do.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
When every influencer is a Diamond, no influencer is a Diamond.
LOL
But what we all want to know is, what did you get from the minibar?
Lol, I forgot to raid it! All I got was a pack of peanut M&Ms
If I added up all of the $10 marriott food and beverages vouchers I took instead of the 500 points I honestly would have another 25,000+ points.
I got the Diamond status last week. Yesterday I checked in at Intercontinental Doha The City with an award booking for a king room and got upgraded to an Executive Suite.
There were upgraded rooms available for cash booking by the time of check-in.
I chose free breakfast. Huge value for this hotel.
Oddly I also got the 600 points credited to my account.
Does the Vegas hotels (Palazzo) give any Diamond or Ambassador benefits? don’t care for room upgrade but breakfast or waive resort fee would be nice. Otherwise I might stay at Mlife hotels because they waive resort fee for Gold.
First time responding to an online article, but this was one of the best articles I have ever read about using the benefits of a programs tier. I was able to use the promo code before I guess it “died” and will try to get the 10 nights in before the end of the year. I really liked how honest you were with the upgrade situation and looked at the positive instead of straight up attacking the hotel like most would. It’s pretty impressive that despite being so full, they still gave late checkout, which again most wouldn’t have mentioned or been thankful for.
Just back from Bangkok. Stayed at the Kimpton. With only platinum status was upgraded to a huge room with stunning views. Hotel is beautiful and very popular. You can ise annual free night award.
Is it possible to get ambassador. And get the diamond status good till next year ?
Ambassador costs $200 per year — you just buy that status.
If you got in on the Diamond promo code thing you need 10 nights by 12/31/22 to extend to 12/31/23.
Thank you for the reply. Yeah wasn’t sure since I saw an article by loyalty lobby and it said “ The Ambassador sign-up offer extends your status through the end of 2023 (read more here), but I am not sure if it also applies in a “Straight To Diamond” situation.”
So wasn’t sure. But thank you
Seems like you might have missed the point of that question?
There have been plenty of DPs over the past week confirming that renewing Ambassador status (even if it’s been expired for many years) successfully extends the ‘targeted’ temporary/promo Diamond status to 12/31/23.
However, there aren’t many DPs of whether purchasing brand new Ambassador status also works to extend it or not. This is what the OP is asking. It theoretically should work, I just haven’t seen DPs of it.
I don’t know whether that would work. That would be awesome.
Also the those discussions and want to add my DP that indeed it works! Got ambassador with 40,000 pts and saw my Diamond reflect 2022 > 2023 within minutes!
Following Michael C’s lead, I gave this a shot. Bought Ambassador status with points and my newly mined Diamond status from last week’s promo is extended through 2023.
How long did it take it show on your account from 2022 to 2023? For the status to show up on your account after getting the ambassador status max
It showed up nearly instantly after buying Ambassador status
I don’t know who you are but you’re awesome!!! I just tried this and it worked. It instantly showed up as expiring on 12/31/2023. I paid $200 for it BUT I was going to try to stay 10 nights to keep the Diamond status (from the promotion) and I wasn’t even sure if that was going to work. You saved me at least $1,500 by posting this and needless hassle of staycations or extra trips I didn’t need to take within the next two months and also made my decision to postpone a trip next week a million times easier. Thank you!!!
Greg – I tried to take part in the Diamond upgrade promotion from IHG last week, but by the time I tried they required a promo code and I couldn’t find one that worked. Do you know a way of getting that upgrade to Diamond? Thanks! DH
No, we don’t know of any other way. That died unfortunately.
Diamond also gave full buffet at IC Thalasso Bora Bora and IC Tahiti. Same full breakfast (item+drink) at IC monterey and Kimpton LA on Wilshire. The Kimpton people gave us a suite as well. Much better than any other chain if you can find a nice IHG to stay at.
Good info. Thanks for sharing
It doesn’t seem like you’ll ever get an upgrade if you can’t get an upgrade in Miami Beach during hurricane season as a top-tier elite. That’s even more true if the hotel knew you were “influencers.” They didn’t even provide a welcome amenity?
IHG has a breakfast voucher for diamonds that properties are supposed to use. Unlike Marriott, IHG copied Hyatt and specifically defined breakfast so properties can’t claim, as many Marriott properties do, that breakfast excludes coffee and is limited to a muffin. The IHG-supplied breakfast voucher specifically says it covers 20% tip plus all taxes for one hot entree from the breakfast menu or the full buffet with UNLIMITED non-alcoholic, non-speciality beverages. That presumably excludes mocktails or fancy barista-made coffee drinks.
Of course, the problem with IHG’s breakfast benefit is that the food at Holiday Inn, which is arguably its flagship brand in North America, is often inedible. I find the Starbucks breakfast sandwiches more appealing than the breakfast fayre at most Holiday Inn properties in the U.S. While Kimpton and Intercontinental can be nice, they are pretty limited to big cities and resorts. For most IHG customers in the United States, only Holiday Inn Express and Holiday Inn are an option. And at Holiday Inn Express, diamonds get nothing since all guests get breakfast for free.
If you’re only traveling to B-list and C-list destinations for work, IHG platinum that comes with credit cards is a better value than racking up 75 nights for IHG diamond.
They did provide a plate of cheese and fruit that we both assumed was a Diamond member welcome amenity, but we weren’t positive whether or not that gets provided to everyone or if that was something special for this stay. Like Greg said, nothing else about the stay indicated any sort of “special” treatment — you could barely see out of my room’s window because of the vegetation and it just looked out on the path that goes to the pool, no sort of view (though as Greg mentioned, the pool was loud and others talked about being woken up by loud music and I didn’t hear anything in the morning, so maybe a room located in a quiet spot is an upgrade of sorts here even if they didn’t intend it to be one).
On the other hand, I’d not judge the property based on the lack of upgrade here — after all, just in the group we were with there must have been 12 or 15 Diamond members (and surely there were other hotel guests with Diamond status) and there are likely only so many room upgrades to go around (and I didn’t ask everyone else whether or not they got upgraded, but I know at least one person did get a suite). I did look at the hotel availability on check-in day and the only rooms for sale were base 1 king or 2 double (or singles?) rooms, nothing upgraded was available for sale.
On check-in day, a manager walked up while I was at the desk and welcomed me and (incorrectly) assumed I was with some other group, so they definitely had at least one other big group checking in that day. The hotel didn’t seem crowded, but it seemed busy enough that I don’t find it far-fetched that they didn’t have upgrades available.
At the Kimpton Surfcomer specifically, I think the bigger issue from an upgrade standpoint is that I’m not sure what I’d want as an upgrade. Sure, a room with more space is nice — but the one suite I saw had a balcony overlooking the pool, and as Greg mentioned the pool was thumping with bass all day long. I’m probably less sensitive to loud music than the average person (I DJed weddings for years), but I usually prefer for my room to be an escape from stimulation. Since there are no beach views at the Surfcomer, I’m not sure there is an upgrade that would matter much to me at that specific property. I’ll be more curious to see how Diamond status plays out at more mainstream properties.
Valid points. I’ve had plenty of upgrades over the years where, besides the space, it wasn’t really an upgrade. A suite on a low-floor next to the elevator or with views of the mold-covered roof and HVAC units is hardly an upgrade compared to a king-sized room on the top floor.
What’s the benefit of being Ambassador vs Diamond in your opinion, if there is one? Thanks. Ann
I assume you mean Intercontinental Ambassador and not Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador vs. IHG One Rewards Diamond. If I’m correct and you were referring to Intercontinental Ambassador, this is a status that IHG sells. Think of it as the equivalent of TSA Precheck. Basically, you pay IHG to receive a couple of benefits whenever you stay.
I had Intercontinental Ambassador and Royal Ambassador back when IHG’s loyalty program was called Priority Club. It meant absolutely nothing to Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn properties. Couldn’t even get free breakfast.
With IHG acquiring Regent and Kimpton, Ambassador and Royal Ambassador is now recognized at those two brands too. At the minimum, Ambassador gets you a welcome amenity (think a plate of fruit with sparkling water or a mediocre bottle of wine in Europe or Asia), a guaranteed one-category upgrade, a complimentary weekend night, and a 4 p.m. late check-out. Some properties may give you club lounge access, but that is not a promised benefit.
The much more valuable benefits come with Royal Ambassador, which is an invitation-only sub-status. These benefits include a two-category upgrade, 10 a.m. check-in and 4 p.m. late check-out, a complimentary weekend night, $50 mini-bar credit, Kimpton Inner Cicle, Spire status in IHG One Rewards, and waived resort fees.
According to the Ambassador terms and conditions, it seems that the only benefit available at Kimpton hotels is the ability to use the free weekend night (and at Kimpton hotels it can be used any day of the week). Royal Ambassador status, meanwhile, gives the member Kimpton Inner Circle status.
It is possible, I think, to be Diamond in IHG One Rewards, Ambassador in Intercontinental, and Inner Circle with Kimpton. I’m not sure, in practice, how conflicting benefits are delivered. This is another flaw in IHG’s loyalty program. It made a big deal about rebranding to one, unified loyalty program but, in actuality, that isn’t true. You have three separate statuses or sub-statuses that wholly or partially operate outside the IHG One ecosystem.
For me, IHG is never a first choice. I have diamond status by virtue of having been a spire in the old program. I also automatically get platinum by virtue of the co-branded Chase credit card. In most places I travel, the only IHG option is a Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express. There’s almost always a full-service Marriott, Westin, or Sheraton. Sometimes there’s a Hyatt Regency or better. I don’t even consider Crowne Plaza. Intercontinental and Kimpton are few and far between. And many of the Intercontinental properties in the United States are dumpy and fall somewhere between an old Sheraton or an average JW Marriott.
Let’s look at IHG full-service options in each of my last 11 business trips:
— Baton Rouge: Only full-service options are a tired old Crowne Plaza, a Holiday Inn and Hotel Indigo.
— Buffalo: No full-service properties, unless I drive to the Holiday Inn in Niagara Falls.
— Detroit: Hotel Indigo and a lot of Holiday Inns.
— Denver: Kimpton, Crowne Plaza and a few Holiday Inns.
— Pittsburgh: Kimpton, Crowne Plaza and a few Holiday Inns.
— Rochester, New York: Holiday Inn.
— Grand Rapids, Michigan: A few Holiday Inns.
— Annapolis, Maryland: Crowne Plaza.
— Allentown, Pennsylvania: Holiday Inn.
— Grand Junction, Colorado: Holiday Inn.
— Toronto: Intercontinental, Kimpton, Crowne Plaza and a few Holiday Inns.
In none of those cities was an IHG option the best. In Denver, Pittsburgh and Toronto, the Kimpton was a better than average choice but hardly the best full-service branded hotel when compared to the Hyatt or Marriott options in those markets.
With these options, it’s hard to justify 75 nights. Especially since the only benefits of diamond at Holiday Inn are breakfast that may or may not be edible and a theoretical suite upgrade.
Yep, great points. They have a very limited higher end footprint. That’s an area where Marriott has everyone beat, especially since their acquisition of Starwood
I wouldn’t describe their footprint as higher end. IHG is very pretentious about Intercontinental.
Like I said earlier, the average Intercontinental in the United States is somewhere between a dumpy old Sheraton and an average JW Marriott. I don’t think there is a single Intercontinental in the United States that is on par with better than average Park Hyatt, Ritz-Carlton, or St. Regis properties.
I’ll concede that in Europe and parts of Asia-Pacific, there are legitimate 5-star Intercontinental hotels.
Within North America, a good Holiday Inn is comparable to a Delta, Four Points by Sheraton or Courtyard within the Marriott portfolio.
Let’s look at Detroit, where IHG only has a Hotel Indigo in Detroit proper and a bunch of Holiday Inn properties in the suburbs. The dumpy old Crowne Plaza in Novi was converted to a Four Points by Sheraton. The Crowne Plaza in downtown Detroit was de-flagged and became a Wyndham. There isn’t a single IHG property in Detroit or any of the Detroit suburbs that I’d choose.
I think there are three things hurting IHG:
1) They lack a true, 5-star global luxury brand.
2) In the US, the two business brands that they have, Crowne Plaza and Intercontinental, are less consistent than Marriott or Hilton’s inconsistent brands and don’t have properties in many B-list markets.
3) The loyalty program despite supposedly being unified is still a mess and essentially three separate programs.
Good points, but even IHG has Hyatt beat in Detroit. No hotels whatsoever in the city and six Hyatt places in the far suburbs.
That’s certainly a major problem for Hyatt. There are entire states without a single Hyatt-flagged property.
IHG at least has all the Holiday Inns in Detroit. Hyatt doesn’t have a single full-service hotel anywhere in Michigan.
Hotel owners don’t seem interested in building new, full-service hotels these days partly because of labor costs. Owners can make more money with a Fairfield, Holiday Inn Express, etc. That’s where the growth seems to be.
Look at Hyatt. You don’t see many Hyatt Regency properties being built in North America.
Then you have the difficulties of the hotel market in suburbs like Detroit’s suburbs. You have a lot of old 1970s and 1980s suburban office park hotels. Think the Marriotts in Southfield and Livonia, the Westin in Southfield, the Marriott in Troy, the Sheraton in Novi, and the old Crowne Plaza in Novi (now a Four Points by Sheraton). With empty offices and remote workers, these are the worst hotels to own and operate these days. Detroit is especially problematic. It was a tough market before covid. The auto industry has been declining for 30 years. Then within the last 10 years, all the growth and movement transitioned from the suburbs to downtown Detroit. So who wanted to invest in new, 4-star hotels in the outer suburbs when all the action was in downtown Detroit?
I recently stayed at the Marriott in Livonia and The Henry, Autograph Collection in Dearborn. Both of them are well overdue for a floor-to-ceiling renovation. The Henry was a Ritz-Carlton until the 2008 recession and the Detroit Three collapsed. Short of its public art and a lingering sense of pretentiousness, it’s no better than the Marriott at the Detroit Metro Airport. All three of these hotels are regular under $150 per night on Marriott.com.
It’s no wonder that nobody is building a full-service Hyatt in Michigan or renovating the old 1970s and 1980s suburban office park hotels.
Other than getting a free weekend night (which is good any day of the week at Kimpton hotels), most Ambassador benefits are limited to Intercontinental Hotels and, to a lesser extent, Regent Hotels. Details about the Ambassador program can be found here: https://frequentmiler.com/new-intercontinental-ambassador-elite-status-you-can-buy/
@ Ann: Ambassador status is only for IC hotels. I like that Ambassador GUARANTEES 4 pm check-out (Plat/Diamond possible 2 pm) at IC props. This has come in handy on several occasions for me with later flights. I have also asked for free breakfast vouchers as an Ambassador & been awarded them by the front desk more often than not. They onviously aren’t required to do that, however. I have both purchased Ambassador status & auto Platinum status with the IHG credit card, but it’s my Ambassador status that gets the front desk’s attention at IC props.
Well, it should since you are literally paying Intercontinental for the perks you may or may not receive.
I literally get much more than the fee back thru SUB points and a free night! It’s a very worthwhile program but only if you frequent IC hotels.
Good for you. I was merely observing that whatever you receive you’re actually paying for. Presumably, more people pay than redeem whatever is provided. I’m sure some people extract a lot of value from what they pay. Others pay and never use it or only use it once a year.
Yes, an obvious observation about all programs &’credit cards with AFs. Banks clearly count on the breakage you point out before introducing/maintaining any program.
We have a three night stay coming up at the Intercontinental Budapest in November. I believe the restaurant offers a buffet and a la carte. Do you know if Diamond Elite will cover the buffet or only a la carte?
I don’t know
Just stayed there last month. Diamond Elites are offered the buffet free, and it is great. In fact, the hotel is great and a wonderful location.
That’s great to hear, Tony, and thanks for the response! Were you able to get an upgraded room as well with the status?
Yes, I got an upgrade which consisted only of a river view, but a nice room none the less. The river view, high floor is what you want. Again, great location and staff. We stayed four nights, paid for three with points, and a 10% refund on points with the old IHG card. Win, win, win.
I’m at IC Budapest now. Five days ago I did the $200 Ambassador signup, thinking that was the best way to get a bump up from the basic/non-river view that I had booked. Then two days before arrival, saw the Diamond post. I jumped on it immediately, so felt I’d definitely get that river view. Was in fact given a river view, and it’s incredible. Location is out of this world, staff great. My rate came with bfast. Was going to use points, but the rate I found was so low it didn’t make sense. (Difference between the non Danube view and Danube view was $100).
Per the IHG breakfast benefit, diamonds either a hot entree from the breakfast menu or the full breakfast buffet plus unlimited nonalcoholic drinks, excluding undefined speciality drinks that presumably mean things like mocktails or barista-made coffee drinks.
Thanks!
Nothing in their terms say they don’t waive resort fees on award stays.
Intercontinental Royal Ambassadors get waived resort fees as a defined benefit.
With that said, the IHG One Rewards terms and conditions say:
“Locally administered taxes and fees” could certainly be interpreted to include resort fees, however, good luck getting the property or IHG customer service to share your interpretation.
Maybe a complaint to the consumer protection office or attorney general of your state/provincial government would work.
Further down in the paragraph that you are quoting they say that resort and service fees may apply.
That’s correct. Big emphasis on “may.” But a resort fee is a locally administered fee. Like I said, it can be argued either way. The problem is IHG customer service is horrendous.