Updated with 125k limited-time offer. The is the IHG hotel co-branded card that includes special IHG perks like a free night award every year you keep the card. Right now, there is a limited-time 125,000 IHG point bonus offer + increased purchase rewards for the first year. Here are the highlights:
- 125,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
- Free Night award after each account anniversary year at eligible IHG hotels worldwide. Valid at IHG Hotels with a current point redemption level of 40,000 points or less. Plus, enjoy a free reward night when you redeem points for any stay of 4 or more nights.
- Earn 40 points total per $1 spent when you stay at an IHG hotel for the first 12 months – after that, 25X points.
- Earn 4X points on all other purchases for the first 12 months – after that, 2X points at gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants and 1 point per $1 on all other purchases.
- Platinum Elite status as long as you remain a Premier card member.
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® fee credit of up to $100 every 4 years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to your card.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- $89 annual fee.
This is a relatively new card, but please note the following:
This product is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of this credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of this credit card who received a new cardmember bonus for this credit card within the last 24 months.
This offer is for the new “IHG Club Premier” card, so this language means that if you have the older and different “IHG Club Select” card, you can still apply for this card and get the sign-up bonus.
What can you get with IHG points? The best redemption value for IHG points is for free hotel nights. The other options offer significantly less value. While the points don’t translate directly to a dollar value, but overall you should expect around 0.60 cents of value per point, which would make 125,000 IHG points worth an estimated $750 value. You can perform the calculations for hotels that fit your needs. I tried a bunch of other various combinations and got between 0.5 cents and 0.8 cents per point equivalent value.
(IHG points are worth less than other points like Hyatt or Chase Ultimate Rewards points, but you get a lot more of them with this bonus!)
IHG stands for Intercontinental Hotel Group which has over 5,000 hotels including the following brands:
- Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts
- Crowne Plaza
- Kimpton
- Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express
- Staybridge Suites
- Candlewood Suites
- Hotel Indigo
- EVEN Hotels
IHG Rewards Club puts out a new list of PointBreaks hotels every few months where you can redeem a hotel night for only 5,000 to 15,00 points. There are some nice hotels on the list, but the locations are very specific and few people are sufficiently flexible with their travel to constantly take advantage of these deals. However, you could get value of over 1 cent per IHG point with a hotel on this list.
IHG points expire after 24 months of inactivity, so if you keep up your activity then you can save up these free nights for later. Chase Ultimate Rewards points also convert to IHG points.
Total of 40x points per $1 spent when you stay at IHG during the first 12 months. This is part of the new sign-up promotion as well. Here’s how this breaks down: Earn 25X points per $1 spent as an IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Cardmember + 10X points per $1 spent from IHG® for being an IHG® Rewards Club Member + 5X points per $1 spent from IHG® with Platinum Elite Status, a benefit of this card = total of 40X points total at 5,400+ IHG® hotels & resorts during the first 12 months on this card.
Total of 25x points per $1 spent when you stay at IHG. Here’s how this breaks down: Earn 10X points per $1 spent as an IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Cardmember + 10X points per $1 spent from IHG® for being an IHG® Rewards Club Member + 5X points per $1 spent from IHG® with Platinum Elite Status, a benefit of this card = total of 25X points total at 5,400+ IHG® hotels & resorts.
The 4X points on all other purchases for the first 12 months is intriguing. If you use the valuation of $0.60 per IHG points, that would mean you are earning an estimated 2.4 cents per $1 spent (2.4% value back towards IHG hotel stays). There is limited flexibility as you only earn IHG points, but this might be a good value for some folks.
After the first year, I would book my IHG nights on this card, but not my everyday purchases on an ongoing basis.
- 10 IHG points total per $1 spent at IHG properties.
- 2 IHG points per $1 spent at gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants.
- 1 IHG point per $1 spent on all other card purchases
I would consider keeping this card if you can use the anniversary night certificate with the 40,000 point maximum value. You should be able to get $89 value out of it as long as you need a hotel night. Stay must be completed within 12 months from date of issue.
Bottom line. The has a current sign-up bonus boost of 125,000 total IHG points (previously only 80k) + increased purchase rewards during the first 12 months. As with most of these co-branded cards, the best value is obtained if you can redeem for IHG hotel nights.
The total first-year value is well over $500, so I will be adding this limited-time offer to my list of .
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