Status you can buy, the value of an airline match, a new complete guide and more

This week at Frequent Miler, Greg explored a status you can easily buy and whether or not it’s worth the cost of admission, I decided not to buy a deeply discounted ticket for the AA status-match-go-round, we published a new and useful complete guide, and more. Read on for this weekend’s top titles.

New InterContinental Ambassador: status you can buy

In this guide, Greg explains everything you need to know about InterContinental Ambassador status, which can be valuable for InterContinental stays in the right scenarios. While I probably won’t be buying in any time soon, I can definitely see where someone who would otherwise consider paid InterContinental stays might find this worth it — especially if you have a use in mind like . . .

My Intercontinental Ambassador experience in Austin

Greg decided to try out the InterContinental Ambassador program to see if it offers enough value to justify its cost. This is an interesting elite status option since you can buy in (indeed, buying in is your only option — it’s not an “earned” status), and you can buy it with either cash or points. The key benefits of this status are a one-category room upgrade and a free weekend night coupon when booking a paid weekend night. In this post, Greg explains how it worked for him and I’m actually fairly impressed at the value he got out of this. I’ve previously considered this status uninteresting, but now I could see how this could easily be worthwhile, especially if used on a suite with lounge access like Greg demonstrates here. I just with that InterContinentals offered a more consistent / clearly defined experience. Are they luxury? The price tag says so, but the bathroom doesn’t. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still probably worth it if you have a good use for the cert in mind.

Amex Platinum Complete Guide

When Greg writes a complete guide, you never have to wonder whether or not it’s got the whole story. This resource is no exception — bookmark it to come back and check the details any time you’re not sure about a perk or benefit or how to use it or get good value. Top to bottom, this is everything you need to know about the Amex Platinum card.

Can MGM free nights be Hyatt Elite Qualifying nights?

Short answer: yes they can. They doesn’t mean they definitely will be. In my case, I took advantage of an MGM M Life offer for 2 free nights and 1 cheap paid night and all three nights counted as Hyatt qualifying nights (and for the purpose of the current promo). That was pretty cool considering the recent offer to earn 1,000 bonus Hyatt points per night. While I still paid resort fees (and thus the points didn’t make this a wash), I’d say that the return here made the stay a net cost of cheap.

Is the AA status match from Hyatt worth a ride on the status-match-go-round?

The new partnership between Hyatt and American Airlines has presented an opportunity to pursue a status match between the two programs. In this post, I examine that match going from Hyatt to American Airlines. My offer for American Airlines Gold status wasn’t too compelling despite the very low bar set for attaining nearly two years of status. While some status is probably better than no status, I won’t be going after this one for the time being.

That’s it for our Frequent Miler week in review. Check back soon for our week in review around the web and this week’s last chance deals.

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