The InterContinental Ambassador Program allows you to purchase IHG’s elite status and get extra perks when you stay at select IHG One Rewards brand. InterContinental Ambassador members receive many benefits, but one of the most valuable is a free weekend night at an InterContinental hotel or resort during each membership year.
In this tutorial, we will start with an overview of InterContinental Ambassador program before discussing the free weekend night benefit.
What is an InterContinental Ambassador?
For $200 or 40,000 IHG points — worth $200 based on TPG July 2024 valuation — you can purchase a 12-month InterContinental Ambassador membership. This membership offers benefits when staying at InterContinental hotels and resorts, including:
- Upgrade to one class room
- Late check out at 4pm
- $20 food and beverage credit per stay
InterContinental Ambassador benefits do not typically apply to stays with other IHG brands. However, when you book through eligible channels, InterContinental Ambassador members will receive a number of additional benefits when they join. Six senses and InterContinental Alliance Resorts.
InterContinental Ambassador membership also includes Platinum Elite status in the IHG One Rewards program. However, you probably won’t want to pay for InterContinental Ambassador membership just to get Platinum Elite status if you qualify. IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card or IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card. After all, those IHG Credit Card provides Platinum Elite status and access to Free fourth reward night benefit When redeem IHG points with a lower annual fee than InterContinental Ambassador membership.
Related: Which credit card should you use when staying at IHG?
InterContinental Ambassador Weekend Night
You’ll get one InterContinental Ambassador weekend night every time you purchase or renew your membership. However, this free weekend night works differently than Anniversary nights you can earn with select IHG credit cards. Instead of just earning a certain number of points, the InterContinental Ambassador Weekend Stay will include the room rate and taxes for the second night of the qualifying paid reservation.
You can redeem your InterContinental Ambassador weekend night once before your 12-month membership expires. To use the free weekend night, you must book a stay of two or more nights at the Ambassador free weekend night rate.
Daily News
Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter
Join over 700,000 readers to get the latest news, in-depth guides, and exclusive offers from TPG experts
In most areas, this special rate is only available at InterContinental hotels and resorts for weekends, which are defined as Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. So you need to check in on a Friday or Saturday in most areas to book this rate and get a free weekend night.
Before we get into the booking process, here are a few other things you should know about the InterContinental Ambassador free weekend night:
- You cannot use the free weekend night in conjunction with reward nights or other nights. IHG Promotions. You must book online using the Ambassador free weekend night rate.
- Only InterContinental Ambassador members can enjoy the free weekend night (valid ID required upon check-in).
- You must book in advance and you can only use one free weekend night per stay. You can only book one reservation using the Ambassador free weekend night rate; your reservation may be canceled if you book multiple times using this rate.
- When you check in to the hotel, you must have a valid, unredeemed free weekend night in your account. Otherwise, you will be charged the hotel’s best flexible rate for all nights of your stay.
Related: The world’s leading InterContinental hotels
How to book your free weekend night
To book your free InterContinental Ambassador weekend night, go to your IHG One Rewards account homepage, scroll down to the “Reward Rewards” section, find the “Ambassador Weekend Night” box and click the “Book a Night” link.
Then, under “Free Nights & Booking Rewards,” find the “Ambassador Free Weekend Night” box and click “Redeem.”
Additionally, you can shorten this process by searching through this particular link. This link is useful to bookmark, as you can check your Ambassador free weekend night rates from this page even if you don’t currently have eligible free weekend nights in your account.
When you look at your search results, keep an eye out for Ambassador’s free weekend night rate. Unfortunately, this is often not the cheapest flexible rate.
For example, here are prices at both the Ambassador free weekend level and the least expensive flexible level for a two-night stay on May 9-11, 2025, at InterContinental New York Times Square:
| Price for 2 night stay, including taxes and fees | Classic low floor | Premium city center view | Classic corner | Premium skyline view | Junior suite with city view |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambassador free weekend nights | $957.22, with $438.44 credited at check-in, for a net cost of $518.78 | $1,071.98, with $495.82 credited at check-in, for a net cost of $576.16 | $1,083.46, with $501.56 credited at check-in, for a net cost of $581.9 | $1,117.88, with $518.77 credited at check-in, for a net cost of $599.11 | $1,645.78, with $782.72 credited at check-in, for a net cost of $863.06 |
| Cheapest flexible exchange rate | $931.12 | $1,042.44 | $1,053.58 | $1,086.96 | $1,599.02 |
| Save | $412.34 | $466.28 | $471.68 | $487.85 | $735.96 |
And here are the prices for both the Ambassador free weekend rate and the cheapest flexible rate for a two-night stay from May 9-11, 2025 at InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa:
| Price for 2 night stay, including taxes and fees | Garden view | Balcony overlooking the pool | Balcony overlooking the lagoon | Balcony facing the sea | Suite with club lounge access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambassador free weekend nights | $978.72, with $430.33 credited at check-in, for a net cost of $548.39 | $1,024.48, with $452.65 credited at check-in, for a net cost of $571.83 | $1,161.74, with $519.60 credited at check-in, for a net cost of $642.14 | $1,344.77, with $608.89 credited at check-in, for a net cost of $735.88 | $1,527.79, with $698.16 credited at check-in, for a net cost of $829.63 |
| Cheapest flexible exchange rate | $929.79 | $973.25 | $1,103.66 | $1,277.53 | $1,451.40 |
| Save | $381.40 | $401.42 | $461.52 | $541.65 | $621.77 |
The chart above illustrates the nightly premium you’d need to pay to use your free weekend night. But since room rates and taxes are included on the second night when you use your Ambassador free weekend night, this benefit can more than pay for a year of Ambassador membership.
However, since the Ambassador free weekend night rate before the second night credit is applied is often higher than the cheapest flexible rate, you’ll usually get the best value by just staying the free weekend night for two nights.
Ultimately, you’ll find it more cost-effective to use your Ambassador free weekend night at more expensive properties. For example, here are the prices at both the Ambassador free weekend level and the least expensive flexible level for a two-night stay from May 9-11, 2025 at the InterContinental Kuala Lumpur:
| Price for 2 night stay, including taxes and fees | Classic | Classic high floor | Super Classic | Visit the classic club | Operation room |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambassador free weekend nights | $265.17, with $131.96 credited at check-in, for a net cost of $133.21 | $290.36, with $144.54 credited at check-in, for a net cost of $145.82 | $315.54, with $157.14 credited at check-in, for a net cost of $158.40 | $416.27, with $207.51 credited at check-in, for a net cost of $208.76 | $693.28, with $346.02 credited at check-in, for a net cost of $347.26 |
| Cheapest flexible exchange rate | $257.22 | $281.65 | $306.07 | $403.78 | $672.48 |
| Save | $124.01 | $135.83 | $147.67 | $195.02 | $325.22 |
As you can see, the savings won’t cover your entire InterContinental Ambassador membership fee (unless you book a luxury suite) if you use the free weekend night at the InterContinental Kuala Lumpur. But even at one of the cheapest InterContinental hotels in the world, you’ll still be paying more than half of your annual membership fee on most weekends if you use the free weekend night.
Related: 19 best IHG hotels in the world
Last line
The InterContinental Ambassador weekend night benefit has the potential to save you more than your annual membership fee. For example, we saved about $286 off the cheapest available rate on a two-night stay at the InterContinental Fiji in 2019. Plus, we knew that when we checked in, we would get a room upgrade, 4pm late check-out, and $20 off food and drinks as part of our InterContinental Ambassador membership. All of that adds up to a $200 investment in the InterContinental Ambassador program.
