Chase IHG Premier Credit Card: 190,000 Welcome Bonus, New Statement Credits; $150 Annual Fee

This card has received a new round of benefit changes. The welcome bonus has been increased to 180,000 points, and it now adds a $100 airline reimbursement and an IHG dining reimbursement, but the annual fee has also gone up to $150.

• IHG 180,000+10,000 welcome bonus link

The specific changes are as follows:

• Automatic elite status from holding the card: now only Gold is included (it used to include Platinum, likely to differentiate it from the newly launched Select card).
• Each year, you will receive 15 Elite Night Credits directly, giving you some elite nights to work toward Milestone Rewards and higher elite status on your own. You can also earn 2 Elite Night Credits for every $5,000 in spending, with no cap.
• Once your total annual spending reaches $15,000, you will additionally receive: Platinum Elite status; an extra 5 Elite Night Credits; and 15,000 Bonus Points.
• You can still earn Diamond Elite status by spending $40,000 in a year.
• The anniversary free night certificate value increases from 40,000 to 50,000 points. It still supports using your own IHG Points Top-up, so in practice you are not limited to hotels costing 50,000 points or less. If a hotel requires 65,000 points, you can redeem with a 50,000 Certificate + 15,000 Points.
• Up to $100 in IHG Food & Beverage Rewards per year: $25 is issued each quarter, must be used during that quarter, and unused amounts do not roll over to the next quarter.
• $100 airline reimbursement: each year, if you purchase at least $250 in airfare directly from an airline, you can receive a $100 reimbursement. The current terms state this benefit runs through December 31, 2027.
• In addition, the previous benefits are currently still retained: up to $50 United TravelBank per year; up to $120 for Global Entry / TSA PreCheck / NEXUS every 4 years; fourth night free; Instacart; DashPass; and these other benefits.
• The discount on purchasing IHG points has also increased from 20% to 30%.
• So this card is now rather interesting: the annual fee increased by $51, and Platinum status was cut down to Gold, but at the same time it now provides a 50,000-point anniversary free night, 15 elite nights, and two new sets of credits. If you already stay at IHG every year, the $100 dining credit and 50,000-point free night should be relatively easy to use; if you basically do not stay at IHG in a given year, the added coupon value is not as meaningful.

The older version with a $99 annual fee and a welcome bonus of five 40,000-point free night certificates is still available, and adding an authorized user also gives an extra 10,000-point bonus. It seems likely you can apply for the old card and receive the new benefits.

• IHG 5FN+10,000 welcome bonus link

Chase IHG Premier Credit Card Overview

Benefits

• One free night certificate every year, making it worth keeping long-term: This card gives one night each year at eligible IHG properties, redeemable only at hotels costing 40,000 points or less (list of IHG hotels where it cannot be used). Although restrictions were added, it is still relatively easy to redeem for more than the $99 annual fee, as hotels costing 40,000 points often have cash rates of $150+. The annual free night certificate can now be used for rooms costing more than 40,000 points by topping up with the required points.
• Fourth night free on award stays: After you have this credit card, when you redeem IHG points for three consecutive nights, you can get the fourth night free. This is effectively getting four nights for only 75% of the points.
• 20% discount on points purchases: When buying IHG points on the IHG website, you can receive a 20% discount. This 20% discount cannot be stacked with IHG points purchase promotions, which are often 80%. Also, buying points through C+P bookings can keep the cost around 0.6 cents per point. So this 20% off is completely meaningless. Points purchase promotion roundup
• Complimentary IHG Platinum status: Enjoy IHG hotel benefits such as earning bonus points on stays and room upgrades. Spending $40,000 earns Diamond status. You can also get an additional Fuel Rewards discount on gas.
• Complimentary $50 UA TravelBank credit: You receive a $50 TravelBank credit each year: $25 from January through June and $25 from July through December. The credits expire after 6 months. You need to link your UA and IHG accounts, and then the $25 will be issued automatically (link). This credit can be used automatically when booking tickets on the UA website, and it will expire if not used within the half-year period.
• High-spend bonus: Spend $20,000 and receive an additional 10,000 points plus $100 cash back.
• Global Entry/TSA Pre reimbursement for the $100 application fee
• Cell phone insurance: According to an email received, this card’s benefits have been changed somewhat. Price Protection and Master Concierge were removed, and a more useful Cell Phone Protection benefit was added. It can provide $800 of coverage for cell phone loss and damage (the old version of the IHG card provided $600), provided that you pay your monthly cell phone bill with this card. This new benefit is also a point in favor of keeping the card long-term.

Downsides

• IHG points are worth only about 0.6 cents each, so this card is not suitable as an everyday spending card, unless you are staying at IHG hotels.

Introduction to IHG Points

• Point value: The average value is 0.5 c/p, so 100 IHG = $0.5 (Points Value and Analysis). In other words, a hotel night worth $50 would generally require about 10k IHG points.
• How to redeem: You can search and book directly on IHG.com. Hotels are divided into 11 award tiers, with redemption rates ranging from 10k to 70k points. Cash + Points redemptions are also available. If you have the IHG Premier credit card, when redeeming points for three consecutive nights, you can get the fourth night free. That means four nights cost only 75% of the points normally required.
• Point expiration: If there is no activity in your IHG account for 12 months, your points will expire. If you hold a co-branded credit card or have IHG Gold status or higher, your points will not expire.
• My take: If you want to get strong value from IHG points, they are often best used for hotels near major attractions or during special high-demand periods, such as New Year’s Eve in Times Square, New York. IHG’s strength is its broad footprint and large number of properties across the U.S., so it is usually easy to put your points to use.
• Related credit cards: Chase IHG Premier, Chase IHG Rewards Club (older version)
• Detailed analysis: Introduction to IHG Points and Elite Status

My Take

I believe the biggest reason many people keep the old version of the IHG card in the drawer is that paying a $49 annual fee in exchange for one free night certificate valid at any IHG hotel worldwide was simply an excellent deal. For example, IHG hotels in Times Square on New Year’s Eve often sell for $1,500+, and one free night certificate could cover the stay, which was extremely worthwhile. Now the new version’s free night certificate has added eligible-hotel restrictions, limiting redemptions to award nights under 40,000 points, which is a meaningful devaluation. However, it is still relatively easy to get more than the $99 annual fee in value.

The previous 10% points rebate was changed to fourth night free (equivalent to a 25% discount), which is a very good discount for people staying longer. Of course, it is less flexible than directly getting 10% of your points back. From a cost perspective, the two types of discounts should be roughly similar for IHG. Earning 10x points on IHG purchases may encourage many people to use the IHG credit card instead of a general travel credit card, since 10x points is equivalent to about 5% cash back. Global Entry reimbursement has become extremely common, so I imagine almost everyone already has it.

In addition, the extra 20% discount on buying points seems somewhat interesting. IHG points are often sold with a 100% bonus, meaning the purchase cost is 0.5 cents per point. If this 20% discount can be combined, the cost would effectively be only 0.4 cents per point. If the purchased points are then used for a four-night stay and the fourth-night-free benefit is applied, the lodging cost becomes even lower. If it really works this way, many people would likely be willing to buy points or even stockpile some IHG points for stays.

[Update 2022.9] According to US Credit Card Guide, some users have received targeted IHG mail offers that include a unique Invitation Code. Based on the terms in the letter, you only need to have not received a welcome bonus on the IHG Premier card within the past 24 months; it does not mention the old IHG card. With the regular application links, cardholders of the old card cannot be approved (since March 2022, it has not been possible to apply for the new card while holding the old one). There are already data points showing that this restriction can indeed be bypassed, allowing people who hold the old card to apply for and get the new card.

For Those Holding the Old IHG Card

[Update 2022.1 #2] According to M2M, the Chase IHG co-branded card family will soon introduce a one-card-per-brand-family rule. In other words, if you hold one of the co-branded cards, you will not be able to apply for the others. This rule officially took effect in March 2022.

[Expired] Fresh data points: readers Jerry and Lizi (January 2020 data point) had already held the old IHG credit card for one year and were also at 9/24 (9 new cards in the past 24 months). Today they applied for this new IHG Premier card and were instantly approved. It seems Chase was still pretty generous: the new card was treated as a new product, and the 5/24 restriction was not added (it probably is now). Personally, I think that although the Free Night benefit has become more limited, it still has no problem justifying the annual fee. And having the Free Night benefits from both IHG cards together is definitely more useful. There is also a potentially huge loophole redemption: use the old card’s 10% redemption rebate together with the new card’s fourth-night-free-on-points benefit, which can create a discount of more than 30% on award redemptions. On top of that, combining it with a 20% discount when buying points on sale can lower hotel costs even further.

Free Night: If you hold both the old card and this new card at the same time, you will receive two Free Night certificates.

Fourth-night-free stacking: If you book four consecutive nights with points, the points required for the fourth night will automatically be deducted at checkout. In addition, if you hold the old IHG card, 10% will be returned to you about a month after the points are used. My understanding is that both of these benefits are tied to your account, so it does not matter which credit card you ultimately use for check-in or payment. If you have both cards, then on every 4-night booking, 13,500 points can get you 20,000 points of value (assuming 5,000 points per night, four nights only require 15,000 points, and after the 10% rebate the final cost is only 13,500). That means the points value is effectively boosted by 48%. If you have a large IHG points balance, holding both the old and new IHG cards is a very good choice. And if the hotel you need also happens to be available as a Points Break deal, the value would be almost unimaginable.

Application

• The minimum approved credit line on this card is $2,000.
• Since this is a co-branded card with IHG hotels, if you already have an IHG membership number, you can enter it on the application (otherwise one will be assigned automatically).
• If you already hold the old version of the IHG credit card, you may not be able to apply for this new card; some mail offers with a code can bypass this restriction.

• Chase application status check link (login required). Or call: 888-338-2586
• The 5/24 rule: if you have opened more than 5 new cards in the past 2 years (including cards from other banks), you will not be approved for a new Chase card
• You can be approved for at most two Chase credit cards within any 30-day period
• If you have received the welcome bonus on this card within the past 24 months (48 months for the Sapphire family), your application will be automatically denied
• You can call the reconsideration line (800-453-9719) to expedite credit card approval or request another review of a denied application.
• Having a Chase Checking account can help with getting approved for a credit card
• More information on applying for Chase credit cards

Application Link