The IHG Rewards Premier credit card from Chase is great to hang on to for the long term. If you’re eligible to get one under Chase’s 5/24 rule, I think it’s a better choice for those starting with points and miles than many other cards. It offers a solid sign-up bonus with a reasonable spending requirement, and finding award rooms with your points isn’t too tricky. IHG also has hotels almost anywhere you look around the world.
Sure, the status you’re provided isn’t going to get you a huge suite upgrade in a fancy hotel, and you’ll only get a “free night” at hotels costing 40,000 points or less. Before I go and debunk my argument about this being a great card, here are the details about the IHG Rewards Premier Mastercard by Chase.
IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card
Annual Fee – $99 per year
Sign Up Benefits
The IHG Rewards Premier is currently offering 5 free nights, each valued at up to 60,000 points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
If you’d like to sign up for a card, we usually ask you to use our referral link. However, our link only offers a bonus of four free nights valued at up to 40,000 points. You can search for the five-night offer and use a link from whatever site you want to support.
Spending Bonus Categories
The IHG Rewards Premier earns 10X points on stays at IHG hotels. It also earns 5X points on gas stations, travel and restaurant purchases. The card earns three points per dollar for all other purchases.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
As you would hope a card you can use at IHG hotels worldwide would, the IHG Rewards Premier doesn’t charge any foreign transaction fees.
Automatic Platinum Elite Status
Cardholders are upgraded to IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite status for as long as they remain a cardholder in good standing. This would typically require 40 stays at IHG hotels per year. It’s not the most beneficial level, but you get a 60% bonus on points earned when staying at IHG hotels and priority check-in. They also claim you’ll get complimentary room upgrades and extended checkout (subject to availability which means don’t count on hotels honoring those benefits).
Free Reward Night On Four Or More Night Stays
When booking a reward stay for four or more nights, every fourth night is free. Another way to look at this benefit is that you get a 25% discount on four-night award stays or multiples of four nights. Most other co-brand cards offer a fifth night free, so this is an industry-leading perk for the IHG card.
Global Entry, NEXUS or TSA Pre-Check Credit
You’ll receive up to a $100 credit every four years for application fees charged to the card. This is the only non-premium hotel card to offer this benefit. It also leaves one less excuse for not applying for Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check.
Anniversary Free Night
You get an Anniversary Free Night valid at IHG Hotels with a current point redemption level of 40,000 points or less. If you want to stay at a hotel charging over 40K points, you can pay the extra points to book a room. There’s no limit to how many points you can add.
Free night stays must be redeemed and completed within 12 months from the date of issue.
$50 United TravelBank Cash
After registering your United MileagePlus account with IHG, you will receive $25 in United TravelBank cash twice a year. The cash does expire if you do not use it (but there’s a small window when you can combine both amounts.)
Spending Threshold Bonuses
If you spend $20,000 on the IHG Rewards Premier before the end of a calendar year, you’ll receive a $100 statement credit and 10,000 points.
If you spend $40,000 on the card, you’ll receive IHG Rewards Diamond Elite status.
Final Thoughts
The IHG Rewards Premier is a solid co-brand hotel credit card. Benefits like automatic Platinum Elite status, a fourth night free on award stays, up to a $100 TSA Pre-check or Global Entry credit, and $100 United TravelBank Cash make the card valuable even after the first year and the free night sign-up bonus. I value IHG points at 1/2 cent each, so the 40,000-point free night is worth at least $200. This is a card where you’re at least breaking even when paying the $99 annual fee.
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6 comments
[…] 38 hotels are going from 40,000 to 45,000 points (making them ineligible for the free anniversary night from the IHG Premier credit card.) […]
Did they change the free night use? When I used mine last time you had to book before expiration, but the actual stay could be after expiration. I stayed in Key West for two nights back in January – one on an “expired” certificate.
The United TravelBank cash is $50 per year and not $100. You get $25 in January and $25 in July.
Still, it’s fairly easy to come out ahead with the card with the anniversary night alone. Even a run-of-the-mill HI Express in the suburbs or along a highway costs more than $100.
Thanks for pointing out the error. Fixed.
I already have the old IHG Select ($49 annual fee) and the IHG Premier Business card. Would I still get the sign-up bonus?
If you still have the $49 IHG Select, you are not eligible for a bonus. “This product is available to you if you do not have a current IHG One Rewards Credit Card and have not received a new
Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months.”