Update: Now is the last chance to get the IHG Premier Card with the lower $89 annual fee and free night offer!
Originally posted on 1/25:
IHG has announced a new signup bonus and major changes for their credit cards. With the added and improved benefits, having this card sure seems like a no-brainer. Read the post below for the details!
Table of Contents
New: Increased signup bonus:
You can earn a free night up to 40,000 points, plus 125,000 points for signing up for the Chase IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card and spending $3,000 within 3 months.
Best of all, the value of the free night will be massively improved. Effective on 3/24/22, you will be able to use points to top up the 40K free night certificates earned on this card for hotels that cost more than 40K points. There is no limit to how many points you can use for a top-off, which means that certificates are now much more valuable as you can better maximize the 40K points value.
The end date for this offer is not yet published.
Comparison to previous signup bonus:
The IHG Premier card normally offers 80K-125K signup points for spending $3,000. The previous record high bonus was 150K points, but didn’t come with a free night, so this is now the best off that we’ve seen for this card!
Annual fee:
$89. This fee will rise to $99 for new applications as of 3/24/22 and for 2023 renewals, but you can still apply now with the $89 fee.
Welcome bonus terms:
You can receive the bonus on the IHG Premier card if you haven’t received a bonus on the IHG Premier card in the past 24 months and don’t currently have an IHG Premier card.
You can get the bonus even if you have the IHG Select card or IHG Traveler card or received the bonus on those cards in the past 24 months. Having the Premier and Select cards means you’ll get 2 annual anniversary nights and you’ll be able to stack unique award discounts that both cards offer as explained below.
5/24:
Typically, Chase cards are be subject to 5/24 restrictions, meaning that you are not likely to be approved if you have been approved for 5 or more consumer credit cards in the past 24 months. Note that the Chase system automatically counts cards like authorized user cards and store cards as cards that count towards 5/24, but if you explain to Chase that those cards are merely authorized user cards or store cards they can manually approve you for a new card.
However there have been many reports of 5/24 rules being waived for co-brand consumer cards like there.
You can check your credit report for free at the federally authorized annualcreditreport.com to check how many accounts are shows as being open in the past 24 months.
New: $50 Annual United TravelBank Cash
Effective 3/24/22, cardholders will get $50 United TravelBank cash annually. That can be used to purchase tickets on United.com for anyone!
That comes after the United Club Infinite card added IHG Platinum status and a $75 IHG credit. We’ll have to see if United and IHG continue to cross-promote each other, as United had previously been closer to Marriott.
New: Annual free night with top up feature:
This IHG Premier card comes with an annual anniversary night for hotels that cost up to 40,000 points. The night must be used within 12 months of when it’s awarded.
Effective on 3/24/22, you will be able to use points to top up the 40K free night certificates earned on this card for hotels that cost more than 40K points. There is no limit to how many points you can use for a top-off, which means that certificates are now much more valuable as you can better maximize the 40K points value.
For example a night at the Intercontinental David Tel Aviv is 56K points and the Crowne Plaza Tel Aviv Beach is 43K points for a stay in 2023. Under the new policy you can use 16K or 3K points respectively to use a free night certificate at those hotels.
A paid night in a water villa at the Six Senses Laamu Maldives will set you back some $1,600, but can be had for just 100,000 points or a 40K free night plus 60,000 points.
New: Elite status for cardholders:
Having the IHG Premier card gives you Platinum elite status, which gives free internet, 50% bonus points, upgrades, welcome amenity, late checkout, and more.
IHG is also launching a new Diamond elite status tier, though they haven’t yet announced the benefits of that tier. You can earn Diamond status with $40K spend and one additional purchase on this card in a calendar year.
Non-expiring points:
IHG cardmembers’ IHG points will not expire for as long as they remain a cardholder.
4th award night free:
When IHG Premier cardholders book an award stay, every 4th night will be free!
If you have both the discontinued IHG Select card and the IHG Premier or IHG Traveler card you’ll get every 4th award night free AND a 10% rebate on award nights!
New: Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check/NEXUS:
IHG Premier Cardholders will get reimbursed for Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check charges every 4 years.
Cardholders can now also get reimbursed for NEXUS, which includes Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check.
Those programs make flying so much easier, read about them here!
New: Card earnings:
IHG Premier Cardholders will earn 25 points per dollar at IHG hotels, which consists of 10 points per dollar on the card, 10 points per dollar from IHG for the stay, and 5 bonus points per dollar from IHG for being a Platinum elite member, which is automatic for cardholders. Bookings must be made directly on IHG.com.
Currently you’ll earn 2 points per dollar on dining, gas stations, and groceries, and 1 point per dollar everywhere else.
As of 3/24/22, you will earn 5 points per dollar on all travel, 5 points per dollar on gas, 5 points per dollar on dining, and 3 points per dollar on all other purchases!
There are no foreign transaction fees.
Spend Threshold:
You’ll need to spend $3,000 within 3 months to receive the bonus.
You can pay your federal taxes for a 1.87% fee. If you overpay your taxes you can request a refund or apply it to your next year’s taxes.
My local natural gas company allows me to prepay up to $1,000 on a credit card for a $1.65 flat fee. That’s a great way to earn miles and help meet a spend threshold. My electricity supplier allows me to pay with a credit card for free as long as I am enrolled in autopay.
Cell Phone Insurance
Pay your monthly bill on the IHG Premier card and you can get up to $800 per claim and $1,000 per year in cell phone protection against covered theft or damage for all phones on your plan.
Maximum of 2 claims in a 12 month period with a $50 deductible per claim.
New: Anniversary Point Bonus:
In addition to the annual free night, you’ll earn 10K points every anniversary year if you spend $20K on the IHG Premier card and make one additional purchase.
As of 3/24/22 you will earn a $100 statement credit and 10K points every anniversary year if you spend $20K on the IHG Premier card and make one additional purchase.
Other card changes:
IHG also announced changes on the Chase IHG® Rewards Club Traveler Credit Card.
Effective 3/24/22 that card will earn automatic Silver status, earn triple points on internet/cable/phone/dining/gas, and earn 2 points per dollar on all other purchases.
IHG will also launch a Premier Business Card in March with similar benefits to the Premier consumer card, with the added ability to earn 5 points per dollar on office supplies and online advertising and an additional free night for spending $60K annually. Old IHG business cards will convert into this new card.
The grandfathered IHG Select card remains unchanged, but that also means its free night certificates will not come with the ability to top them up with additional points.
Will you signup for the Chase IHG Premier card? Where will you use your anniversary nights?
Travel bank will be automatically added to your account?
There will be a registration link starting 3/24/22 and then it will be automatic.
With the traveler card alone you Also get the 4’th night free ?
Yes, that’s currently the case as well.
Are all these new benefits only for new cardholders?
Nope, they’re for everyone as of 3/24/22!
This is great news and long overdue. When I heard about IHG was hauling over its rewards program as I was worried as 99% of the time its bad news. IHG before this announcement was the worst hotel rewards/credit card program, this definitely helps them
Would the $20K spending for the $100 bonus have to start from 3/24 or from the last anniversary?
Can we expect a better signup bonus when the improvements launch?
will IHG add back any other Israel hotels? Dead sea, Eilat, Haifa???
IIRC GE credit isn’t new
NEXUS is new.
What I’ve noticed. Is that award nights rarely have suites or two queen beds beds and a sofa. Doesn’t work well for families. I wish they would have an ability for a few higher points to choose upgrade
I believe that you may be incorrect when you write “You can get the bonus even if you have the IHG Select card or IHG Traveler card or received the bonus on those cards in the past 24 months.”
The application for the Chase IHG Premier specifies that “If you currently have an IHG Rewards Club Credit Card from Chase, or you earned a new cardmember bonus on that credit card within the last 24 months, you are not eligible to receive another of the same credit card.”
My old Select card is called a Rewards Club Select card on the Chase website when I log in to my account; so it seems at least possible, and I suspect likely, that those of us with the old Select are no longer eligible for a bonus on a new Premier card. As I already have both Select and Premier, this means I would already seem to be unable to cancel my old Premier and get a new one with the bonus unless I also cancel my Select.
Is this something which you might be able to confirm/clarify with Chase? I suspect that a very large number of your readers have both cards and have had the thought which I did of canceling the Premier to get another one with the bonus post haste. This language combined with the labeling of “Rewards Club Select” seems to preclude that.
People with the Select card have reported getting the bonus on the Premier.
Have they reported doing so recently?
I know that you could in the past as I did so in 2018. But I only recall the language back then being the standard language in the Offer Details excluding people with “this card.” Have people gotten the Premier bonus while still holding an old Select card since the following language was added to the Premier card Offer landing page: “If you currently have an IHG Rewards Club Credit Card from Chase, or you earned a new cardmember bonus on that credit card within the last 24 months, you are not eligible to receive another of the same credit card.” This is broader language than the “this card” language, which is still on the Offer Details page.
These points cant be transfered into miles can they?
Not at a worthwhile ratio.
Any idea how long this offer will last for?
Nope.
Why would you take this over any of the chase points?
Because this card offers elite status, an annual free night, and $50 United credit, among other benefits.
anyway to pay the annual fee with points or waive the fee?
How much are these points worth in dollars just to get an idea?
Depends on many factors, but you can use half a cent per IHG point as a rough guideline.
What’s happening to old ihg rewards club card are you allowed to use points to top off
See the end of this post.
Didn’t cell-phone insurance disappear at the beginning of 2022? has it been returned as a benefit?
I have the Chase United Card. When I book with that card, I get a free checked bag. But with this card, I get $50 off a flight. Can I book myself with Chase United (for a free bag) and my husband with Chase IHG Premier (for $50 off) on the same itinerary?
Is there a better way to get both benefits? Maybe I don’t understand what TravelBank is.
What’s the average value of an IHG point?
Hi Dan
When is this promotion ending?
I have existing IHG Premier. Can I cancel it and re-apply again. Will I qualify for a bonus then?
If you use the free night credit can you still get book 3 nights get 4th night free??
is this offer dead? Link no longer works for me 🙁
What about foreign exchange fees?
“There are no foreign transaction fees.”
When is deadline?
Why did you wait until this offer was <10 hours from expiring to repost it? Most of your readers (including me) will see the post after the offer has expired 🙁
Most readers get notified of posts:
https://www.dansdeals.com/more/site-announcements/enroll-sms-telegram-twitter-browser-push-notifications-dont-miss-another-deal/
Will there be a FNC on the new card?