The IHG One Rewards Select card is one of the last great “zombie cards” in the points-and-miles world. It’s been closed to new applicants since 2018, yet it continues to deliver out-sized value for a tiny fee.
- $49 annual fee
- Automatic IHG Platinum Elite status while you keep the card open
- 10% rebate on IHG award redemptions (up to 100,000 points back per calendar year)
- Anniversary Free Night Certificate — now redeemable at properties costing up to 40,000 points (unlike Premier, you can’t top it with extra points)
For many of us, that 40K night alone can beat the $49 fee without trying. Historically, the card has been a “set it and forget it” keeper.
And Then… Chase Started Paying Attention
In the past couple of months, two things happened that made me do a double-take:
- Q4 spend bonus offers went out — and the only Chase co-brand that got one in our household was the IHG Select.
- Chase emailed that the Select card was upgraded to a Mastercard World Elite.
The second item matters a lot. World Elite benefits are provided by Mastercard (not Chase or IHG), which means cardholders gain access to a richer set of third-party perks — even on a $49 legacy card.
What the World Elite Upgrade Actually Includes
These are real, usable perks tied to the World Elite platform.
DoorDash: Complimentary DashPass (activate by 12/31/2027)
- $0 delivery fees and reduced service fees on eligible orders at DoorDash and Caviar
- Value check: DashPass is normally $9.99/month
Fine print: Receive 1 year of complimentary DashPass if activated by December 31, 2027.
DoorDash: Non-Restaurant Quarterly Promo
Get up to $10 off per quarter on non-restaurant purchases (think CVS, Walgreens, 7-Eleven, etc.)
Lyft: Airport Discount + Monthly Ride Credit (through 1/31/2026)
- 10% off on scheduled rides to U.S. airports when you pay with your World Elite Mastercard
- Take 3 rides in a month to earn a $5 credit
- Current offer window runs through January 31, 2026
Peacock: Monthly Discount (through 12/31/2025)
- $3/month off Peacock Premium or $5/month off Premium Plus
- Currently valid through December 31, 2025 (these partnerships sometimes extend, but there’s no promise)
Why this is notable: All of the above are Mastercard-funded benefits layered on top of the card you already keep for the 40K night and 10% points rebate. In other words, extra value without Chase raising the fee or IHG reworking the product.
So… Why Would Chase Do This for a Closed Card?
Nobody outside the room knows. However, one thing that seems likely is that the IHG Select will not be going away anytime soon.
Bottom Line
- The IHG Select has long been a winner for: 40K free night + 10% award rebate + automatic Platinum.
- The surprise World Elite upgrade adds practical, everyday value: DashPass (activated by 12/31/27), quarterly non-restaurant credits, Lyft airport savings through 1/31/26, and a Peacock discount through 12/31/25.
- All this happened without Chase raising the annual fee.
Translation: If you’re grandfathered into the IHG One Rewards Select, keeping it has rarely looked better.
Final Thought
I would’ve been perfectly happy if Chase and IHG kept ignoring this card while letting us quietly use the 40K certificate and 10% rebate forever. Instead, they plugged it into a richer benefits platform and tossed out a targeted spend bonus. For a $49 legacy product that you can’t even apply for anymore, that’s… unexpectedly generous — and very useful.
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
3 comments
I and the P2 are fortunate to still have the card. No plans to close any time soon.
We also each have Select and Premier cards and get good value for our 4 free nights per year.
I think it’s much scarier than you think. I’ve always gotten quarterly bonus offers on these cards (we have 2 of them), but moving it to another Mastercard level and tweaking it seems like a long-term move to merge it into the newer version. The sad part is, I would have applied for the newer IHG card ages ago if they had given me the SUB without having to close this one first. The upgrade offers are a joke as well. We get emails once in a while for like 10k in points if we move to the newer card. I think they will just announce one day that they are offering us legacy card holders a “great new” feature by merging us into the new card.