The InterContinental Ambassador program allows you to shop effectively IHG Elite Status and get additional benefits when you stay at selected hotels IHG One Rewards Brands. InterContinental Ambassador members receive many benefits, but one of the most valuable is a complimentary weekend night at an InterContinental hotel or resort each year of membership.
In this guide, we will start with an overview of Ambassador of the InterContinental program before discussing your complimentary weekend night benefit.
What is InterContinental Ambassador?
For $200 or 40,000 IHG points, worth $200 based on TPG’s July 2024 rankings ratings — You can purchase a 12-month InterContinental Ambassador membership. This membership offers you benefits when staying at InterContinental hotels and resorts, including:
- A room upgrade
- Late check-out at 4:00 pm
- A $20 food and beverage credit per stay
InterContinental Ambassador benefits generally do not apply when staying at other IHG brands. However, when booking through eligible methods, InterContinental Ambassador members get some additional benefits on eligible reservations. Six senses and InterContinental Alliance Resorts properties.
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 for Platinum Elite status if you’re eligible for the IHG One Rewards program. IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card either IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit CardAfter all, these IHG Credit Cards Provide Platinum Elite status and access to the Free Fourth Reward Night Benefit when IHG Points Redemption for a lower annual fee than an InterContinental Ambassador membership.
Related: Which credit card should I use for IHG stays?
Weekend Night at the InterContinental Ambassador
You will get one InterContinental Ambassador weekend night every time you purchase or renew your membership. However, this complimentary weekend night works differently than the Anniversary nights you can earn with some IHG credit cardsInstead of being worth a set amount of points, the InterContinental Ambassador Weekend Night covers the room and tax for the second night of an eligible paid reservation.
You may redeem the InterContinental Ambassador Complimentary Weekend Night once before your 12-month membership expires. To use the Complimentary Weekend Night, you must book a stay of two nights or more using the Ambassador Complimentary Weekend Night rate.
Daily Bulletin
Reward your inbox with TPG’s daily newsletter
Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides, and exclusive deals from TPG experts.
In most regions, this special rate is only available at InterContinental hotels and resorts for weekend stays, i.e. Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Therefore, you will need to check in on a Friday or Saturday in most regions to book this rate and receive a complimentary weekend night.
Before we dive into the booking process, here are a few other things you should know about the InterContinental Ambassador Complimentary Weekend Night:
- You cannot use a free weekend night in conjunction with reward nights or other nights. IHG PromotionsYou must book online using the Ambassador Complimentary Weekend Night Rate.
- Only InterContinental Ambassador members can use the complimentary weekend night (proper identification is required at check-in).
- You must make a reservation in advance and can only use one free weekend night per stay. You can only have one reservation made using the Ambassador Free Weekend Night rate; your reservations may be cancelled if you have multiple reservations using this rate.
- When checking into the hotel, you must have a valid, unredeemed complimentary weekend night on your account. Otherwise, you will be charged the hotel’s best flexible rate for all nights of your stay.
Related: The best InterContinental hotels in the world
How to reserve your free weekend night
To book your complimentary weekend night at InterContinental Ambassador, go to your IHG One Rewards account homepage, scroll down to the “Enjoy Your Rewards” section, find the “InterContinental Ambassador Weekend Nights” tile and click the “Book Your Nights” link.
Then, under “Free Nights & Booking Rewards,” find the “Ambassador Free Weekend Night” tile and click “Redeem.”
Alternatively, you can shorten this process by searching on This specific linkIt’s helpful to bookmark this link, as you can check the Ambassador Free Weekend Night rate from this page even if you don’t currently have an eligible Free Weekend Night on your account.
When looking at search results, look for Ambassador’s complimentary weekend nightly rate. Unfortunately, this rate is not typically the cheapest flexible rate.
For example, here are the rates for both the Ambassador Complimentary Weekend tier and the less expensive Flexible tier for a two-night stay from May 9-11, 2025, in the InterContinental New York Times Square:
| Rates are for a 2-night stay, including taxes and fees. | Classic ground floor | Privileged view of the city center | Classic Corner | Premium skyline view | Junior suite with city center view |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Complimentary weekend night rate for ambassadors | $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 rate | $931.12 | $1,042.44 | $1,053.58 | $1,086.96 | $1,599.02 |
| Savings | $412.34 | $466.28 | $471.68 | $487.85 | $735.96 |
And here are the rates for both the free Ambassador weekend tier and the less expensive flexible tier for a two-night stay from May 9-11, 2025, in the InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa:
| Rates are for a 2-night stay, including taxes and fees. | Garden view | Balcony with pool view | Balcony with lagoon view | Balcony facing the sea | Suite with club lounge access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Complimentary weekend night rate for ambassadors | $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 rate | $929.79 | $973.25 | $1,103.66 | $1,277.53 | $1,451.40 |
| Savings | $381.40 | $401.42 | $461.52 | $541.65 | $621.77 |
The charts above show the nightly premium you’ll need to pay to use your free weekend night. But since the room rate and taxes are covered on your second night when you use your Ambassador free weekend night, this benefit could more than pay for a year of Ambassador membership.
However, since the Ambassador Free Weekend Night rate before the second night credit is typically higher than the cheapest Flexible Rate, you’ll typically get the best value if your Free Weekend Night stay is only two nights long.
Finally, you’ll see more savings when you use your Ambassador Free Weekend Night at more expensive properties. For example, here are the rates for both the Ambassador Free Weekend Tier and the cheaper Flexible Tier for a two-night stay from May 9-11, 2025 at the InterContinental Kuala Lumpur:
| Rates are for a 2-night stay, including taxes and fees. | Classic | Classic high floor | Super classic | Classic club access | Executive suite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Complimentary weekend night rate for ambassadors | $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 rate | $257.22 | $281.65 | $306.07 | $403.78 | $672.48 |
| Savings | $124.01 | $135.83 | $147.67 | $195.02 | $325.22 |
As you can see, the savings wouldn’t fully cover your InterContinental Ambassador membership fee (unless you booked an Executive Suite) if you used your complimentary weekend night at the InterContinental Kuala Lumpur. But, even at one of the world’s most affordable InterContinental hotels, you’ll cover more than half of your annual membership fee on most weekend dates when you use your complimentary weekend night.
Related: The 19 best IHG hotels in the world
Bottom line
The benefit of a weekend night at the InterContinental Ambassador has the potential to save you more than the program’s membership fee each year. For example, we saved about $286 compared to the cheapest available rate during our two-night stay at the InterContinental Fiji in 2019. Plus, we knew in advance that we would get a room upgrade, 4:00 p.m. late checkout, and a $20 food and beverage credit because of our InterContinental Ambassador membership. All of that adds up to $200 well spent on the InterContinental Ambassador program.
