It’s been about three months since I picked up the Amex Gold, and that card has pretty much become our staple for groceries and dining. Having now completed the spend to get the welcome bonus, and with a few larger purchases looming on the horizon, it’s time for another card.

For my next card, I decided to go a slightly different route: rather than an airline card or general points rewards card branded to a major bank, this time I went with a hotel rewards card: The IHG One Rewards Premier credit card. IHG is the umbrella for a variety of hotel brands, including the InterContinental, Six Senses, Kimpton, Crowne Plaza, the Regent and Holiday Inn, among others.

Let me explain why, and introduce you to this ridiculously rewarding card that, honestly, should probably cost more than its $99 annual fee!

CLICK HERE to apply for the IHG One Rewards Premier credit card!

1. Why did I pick a IHG hotel rewards card?
2. Basics of the IHG One Rewards Premier card
3. The best perks of the IHG One Rewards Premier card
   1. 170.000 IHG One Rewards point welcome bonus after $4000 spend (normally 140.000)
   2. ‘Fourth night free’ on reward stays
   3. IHG Platinum Elite status as long as you have the card (and what it gives you)
   4. Annual card anniversary free night certificate
   5. $50 United Airlines TravelBank cash
   6. Further perks of note
4. Summary

Why did I pick a IHG hotel rewards card?

Before getting into the details of this card, I thought I’d explain why I picked this one. After all, so far I’ve always talked about getting rewards credit cards that are directly issued by major banks, such as the Chase Sapphire and Capital One Venture credit cards. I’ve also mentioned airline co-branded credit cards, such as the Alaska Airlines Visa card and Air France/KLM Master card. I’m not sure I’ve ever mentioned hotel co-branded credit cards here, though, so what changed?

The truth is that I’ve been looking at this card for a while, but it always felt like there was another card that made more sense at the time. Hence the Air France/KLM card presented me with a good offer to get points and loyalty, then there was a lucrative welcome offer on the Chase Ink Business card, and finally I found that I was eligible for the Amex Gold after a period where I wasn’t.

Now then, finally, came the time to apply for the IHG One Rewards Premier Card. So why did I pick this card? After all, there are so many major hotel loyalty programs, and IHG is not really a ‘premier’ one even. Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott (in that order) tend to be preferred. And anyway, does it even make sense to go for hotel loyalty? Here’s my thought process:

1. If I were to get a hotel co-branded credit card, it has to be for a hotel group where I can actually afford staying there for the cash price. IHG hotels tend to have more attractive pricing for our budget – more so than Hyatt and Hilton, at least, so it’d make more sense to go with an IHG hotel than some of the more premium hotels.
2. My primary reason to get a co-branded hotel credit card would be for loyalty perks, and this card fits the bill: it grants immediate platinum status and this gives you space-available upgrades – a huge reason for me to get this card.
3. The welcome bonus was elevated and higher than I’ve seen in recent times, making it a good time to apply. I generally see per-night prices of 30.000-40.000 points, so 170.000 points is enough for 4-5 days.
4. Note that this card will never become a staple for regular spending, and instead will likely be for us to just hold on to as long as the perks are greater than the annual fee – which should be easy to accomplish.

So altogether, this card has great potential to give a solid return on spending, all while letting us stay at more upscale places that are still within our price range. So, with that said, let’s dive into the details of the card – and why I think it’s so rewarding!

Basics of the IHG One Rewards Premier card

The IHG One Rewards Premier card is issued by Chase and is a rather well-rounded card that can offer great value. See below for a list of the highlights:

• $99 annual fee
• Current welcome bonus: 170.000 IHG One Rewards points after spending $4000 in 3 months. Normally this would be 140.000 points.
• Rewards categories:
  • Up to 26x on IHG hotel purchases.
  • 5x on dining, gas and travel.
  • 3x on everything else
• Platinum status as long as you have the card.
• Anniversary free night certificate.

The best perks of the IHG One Rewards Premier card

Normally when I get a new credit card, my prime considerations are the welcome bonus and the bonus categories. For example, with the Amex Gold, the welcome bonus was 100.000 points after spending $6000 in 6 months, and the bonus categories at 4x points on groceries and dining. The long term benefit here is those spend categories, which is better than most any card in those categories. The IHG One Rewards Premier card is the opposite: I’m much more interested in the perks than in the actual bonus categories. So, what are these perks, and why am I so excited about them?

170.000 IHG One Rewards point welcome bonus after $4000 spend (normally 140.000)

Okay, so this is not a ‘perk’ as such, but I did want to mention that on top of all the perks, the welcome bonus is very nice. It’s currently elevated by 30.000 points over the regular, to be 170.000 points after spending $4000 in the first 3 months after account opening. There are quite a lot of hotels in the 30.000-50.000 point per night range, so 170.000 points is, in theory, enough for 3-5 nights at such a hotel. Of course, that price range may not necessarily get you an InterContinental, Regent or Six Senses (though it certainly could, see below!), so it makes sense to do your homework to ensure you know what you’re getting.

One note though: hotel points are NOT worth the same as credit card rewards points. So, those 170.000 points will probably not equate to $1700, at 1 cent per point. Rather, it’s morel ike 0.5 cents per point, so this would be something like $850.

‘Fourth night free’ on reward stays

Here is why I said that ‘in theory’ you can find places to stay for 3-5 nights for 170.000 points – because for every three nights you redeem, you can get a fourth night free. Hence, for the example of the InterContinental in Bangkok above you can stay 4 nights: you’d book for four nights, but will effectively be charged for three of them.

IHG Platinum Elite status as long as you have the card (and what it gives you)

Ultimately this is a major reason for me to get this card: the Platinum Elite status that it comes with. Platinum Elite status is a valuable status to have at IHG hotels, as it comes with some useful perks:

• Space-available complimentary upgrades: you have to be prepared that you may not be able to get an upgrade, but when it does, this should be a real treat!
• 60% bonus points on top of the usual point earning.
• Welcome amenity at check-in (a drink, etc).
• Late check-out (2pm).
• Discounts on reward nights.
• Early check-in, if possible.

Annual card anniversary free night certificate

Every year, at your card anniversary, you will get a free night certificate that you can use for rooms valued at 40.000 points per night. If you’d like to stay somewhere that costs more, however, you can: you can use the certificate in conjunction with your points, and ‘top off’ the certificate with points as required. Note that it’s for every card ownership anniversary, so you will not get this when you open the account.

$50 United Airlines TravelBank cash

This, ultimately, is not of much use for me personally since I don’t fly United much, but I thought it’s still a potentially useful perk for some. Every 6 months you can get $25 of United TravelBank cash after you go through a one-time registration. You would get this in the beginning of January, and then in July, and each $25 will expire after 6 months, for a total of $50 per year. You get this by going through a one-time registration, at this website. Note that you’ll get an error if you don’t have the IHG One Rewards Premier (or Premier Business) credit card.

Further perks of note

The above perks I mentioned are the main ones that I cared about when I chose this card. However, there are a few more worth mentioning:

• Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS Statement Credit. This is actually quite useful, but note that quite a lot of cards offer this these days, so it’s not a major reason for me to get this card. That said, it’s nice that the card also offers NEXUS, which other cards don’t necessarily do. For those that don’t know, NEXUS is specifically a US-Canadian border crossing program. While Global Entry will speed up access into the US, NEXUS will speed it up both ways. So if you go to Canada frequently, this card will help you get into Canada faster by offering a credit to cover the NEXUS application fee.
• No foreign transaction fees. To me this is always useful on these sorts of cards, given that you’re going to be traveling and needing to spend in foreign currencies. This will make sure you’re wasting less money on fees.
• Spend $20.000 annually to receive a $100 statement credit and 10.000 points. Personally I don’t think I will ever get these perks, given that I’ll never spend this much money on a single card. Still, if you can, it’s a nice reward to get back…
• Spend $40.000 annually and qualify automatically for Diamond Elite status. Like the above perk, there is no chance I will qualify for this, so I don’t consider of much importance in my own decision making, but it’s nice that you can spend you way to the highest elite tier. But note it’s only one level above Platinum Elite, which I think already gives you the most important perks, so…
• Save 20% on point purchases. I generally wouldn’t suggest to buy points with ‘only’ 20% bonus, but in situations were you’d need just a few thousand points, this is a nice little perk to make use of.
• Purchase protection, and trip cancellation/interruption insurance. This is useful for a hotel credit card, given that I’d generally suggest to use this card when booking IHG hotel stays, given the up to 26x bonus points you could get. It will help offset losses on certain booking when trips have to be cut short due to sickness and sever weather for instance. Note to carefully read the guidelines to ensure what is covered and what isn’t.

Summary

I just got approved for the IHG One Rewards premier credit card, issued by Chase. I’m excited to start using this card for the elevated welcome bonus and instant IHG Platinum Elite status, to allow us to stay in some nice mid-level and some upscale hotels for free. Between the platinum status, ‘fourth night free’ for redemptions, annual anniversary free night certificate, the $99 annual fee is an incredibly reasonable price to pay. It should be easy to gain back on that annual fee, and then some.

Still not sure if this card will work for you? I’m happy to give you personalized advice through my contact form. Or if you’re convinced and would like to apply, please use my referral link through the link below:

CLICK HERE to apply for the IHG One Rewards Premier credit card!