We recently saw a refresh of the Chase and IHG Rewards credit card portfolio. As part of this, both the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (review) and IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card (review) received a new perk consisting of up to $50 in United TravelBank Cash each calendar year.
In this post I wanted to take a closer look at how this works, especially as registration is finally working correctly.
In this post:
Get $50 in United credits annually with IHG cards
Both the IHG Rewards Premier Card and IHG Rewards Premier Business Card now offer up to $50 in United Airlines TravelBank Cash each year. Here are the basic terms of how this works:
- One-time registration is required
- You’ll receive $25 in United TravelBank Cash deposited around January 1 each year, valid through July 15; then you’ll receive $25 in United TravelBank Cash deposited around July 15 each year, valid through January 15
- It can take up to two weeks after registration for the first $25 deposit to take place
- The TravelBank Cash will be associated with your United MileagePlus account, and can be applied toward the purchase of a United or United Express itinerary when booking directly with United
- This is only available to those with the personal or business version of the IHG Premier Card, and not to those with the IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card (review), or those with the IHG Select Card (which is no longer open to new applicants)
- You can only take advantage of this perk on one card, even if you have both a personal and business card
How to register your IHG card for United TravelBank Cash
The process of registering to receive your United TravelBank Cash couldn’t be much easier, especially when you consider that you only have to register once, and then the United TravelBank Cash will automatically be deposited for as long as you’re a cardmember.
To get started, simply follow this link.
On that page you’ll want to click the orange “Sign in” button at the bottom. Then you’ll just have to enter your United MileagePlus number and last name, and agree to the terms & conditions.
You’ll then receive confirmation that your first TravelBank deposit should post within two weeks.
To keep an eye on when this posts, just go to the “Wallet” section of your United MileagePlus account, and look at the “TravelBank” section. Eventually you should see the TravelBank balance deposited there — hopefully it’s in less than two weeks.
Does this perk change the value proposition of IHG credit cards?
Individually the United TravelBank Cash perk isn’t a reason to pick up the IHG Rewards Premier Card or IHG Rewards Premier Business Card. However, as part of the overall suite of benefits, I think it can change the value proposition.
First of all, when it comes to the value of United TravelBank Cash:
- If you book a United ticket at least once every six months, then this should more or less be worth the $50 face value
- If you book a ticket (roughly) between July 1 and July 15, or between January 1 and January 15, you could even potentially use two credits toward a single ticket
When you view this in the context of the overall value proposition of these cards, I do think this is hugely lucrative. Both the IHG Rewards Premier Card and IHG Rewards Premier Business Card have a $99 annual fee, and offer the following perks:
- An anniversary free night award valid at a property costing up to 40,000 points, and that can even be topped off with points to book a more expensive hotel
- A fourth night night free on award redemptions
- IHG Rewards Platinum status for as long as you’re a cardmember
- A Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS credit once every four years
The $99 annual fee is reasonable to begin with, but if you can get $50 worth of value out of the United TravelBank Cash every year, you’re potentially looking at an out of pocket of just $49 per year. I’d say that’s pretty incredible.
Bottom line
As a new perk, the IHG Rewards Premier Card and IHG Rewards Premier Business Card are offering up to $50 in United TravelBank Cash annually. You can now register for this benefit, and then every six months you’ll have $25 in United TravelBank Cash deposited in your MileagePlus account.
This is a generous perk, and one that can help with justifying the (already reasonable) annual fees on these cards.
Does this new United TravelBank Cash benefit change your math on the IHG Premier Card?
2024 DP: I was approved 5 days ago, my IHG status updated 3 days ago, received my card 2 days ago (called to expedite). Then today I followed the steps above to link it with United and the $25 credit showed up almost instantly
Has anyone tried to buy United miles and use this credit to pay for them?
I registered my Business IHG card December, 2022, and received a one-time $25 credit, but $0 in 2023 and 0$ in 2024. I am on the phone with the United Mileage Plus Service Center trying to resolve this (after 14 months of calling, emailing, and DMing).
A Chase supervisor DMed me that I have to speak with IHG.
An IHG supervisor advised me that I have to speak with United, asking them to...
I registered my Business IHG card December, 2022, and received a one-time $25 credit, but $0 in 2023 and 0$ in 2024. I am on the phone with the United Mileage Plus Service Center trying to resolve this (after 14 months of calling, emailing, and DMing).
A Chase supervisor DMed me that I have to speak with IHG.
An IHG supervisor advised me that I have to speak with United, asking them to "Register missing travel bank credit".
In the past, United has just referred me back to Chase and IHG. Let's see how it goes.
I have my P1 IHG card tied to my United account and am getting the TravelBank credit, can I add my wife's P2 card to my United account to get both credits?
what happens if we have both the personal and business card? Can both be added to get $100 yearly? I see my credit was added from my first card but cant find a way to add credit for the 2nd card
Only 1 counts unfortunately
I received my credit but it expired 9 days after I received the credit. I have spoken with to 4 agents and no one has any idea what has happened or how to get my travel bank cash back to me. Any ideas??
I have both the IHG cards (one was opened last month) and when I went to the link and added my United account number, it added $25 to TravelBank. However, shouldn't it be $25+$25 since I have two IHG cards?
Thanks for the post. I didn’t realize this was a perk of the IHG card. I was looking up how to use the travel bank to help a friend and came across your information. Just in time! I registered and instantly received $25 in my travel bank on 12/30/22. Would be awesome to get $25 on 1/1/23!
FWIW, I applied for the business card (my first IHG Card) on June 1, 2022 and my IHG account got updated to show that I have the Business card on June 3, 2022 (presumably when my card was generated). I first tried to register for this benefit on June 15, 2022 (after receiving the card, activating it and making a couple of purchases), but it would show me an error. Same happened for another month....
FWIW, I applied for the business card (my first IHG Card) on June 1, 2022 and my IHG account got updated to show that I have the Business card on June 3, 2022 (presumably when my card was generated). I first tried to register for this benefit on June 15, 2022 (after receiving the card, activating it and making a couple of purchases), but it would show me an error. Same happened for another month. I also called IHG to see what was going on and the rep confirmed that I am eligible for this benefit, but because the account is new, it takes some time for systems to sync up. She didn't know how long though.
After about 45 days since application, I tried again today (July 18, 2022) and this time it worked just fine and the $25 showed up in my TB account right away.
I was hoping to triple dip on the $25 TB (if the registration had gone through before June 30), but it wasn't meant to be!
I tried few times but get me nowhere so I deleted the IHG app on my iPhone then tried the link again finally bring me to the registration page
I have never been able to use my travel bank $ because it does not show up as an option when buying a ticket online in browser or app.
The register button never works for me. I’ve been trying to register for this credit for the past week but the website simply doesn’t allow me to register. Even logging into IHG has been quite wonky. It looks like you’re signing in but then you gotta keep signing in, over and over, until you’re actually in. IHG really needs to do something about their web services.
TravelBank credit appeared within 2 days of registering for me!
Link takes me to something else.
Same. Registration link just took me to the IHG website
Can the "TravelBank credit" be used to pay for the taxes/fees charged when booking award travel through United's website (including itineraries booked entirely on United partners/Star Alliance partners)?
No