Link: Apply for the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
The $99 annual fee IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card is a popular Chase credit card that I think is worth holding onto long term, thanks to the great perks that it offers.
In this post:
IHG Premier Card 140,000-Point welcome bonus
The IHG Premier Card is offering a welcome bonus where you can 140,000 points after spending $3,000 within the first three months.
For what it’s worth, I value IHG One Rewards points at 0.5 cents each, putting this bonus at $700 to me.
Who is eligible for the IHG Premier Card bonus?
When it comes to eligibility for the IHG Premier Card, you can get approved and receive the bonus on the card if you don’t currently have an IHG personal credit card, and/or haven’t received a new cardmember bonus on an IHG personal credit card in the past 24 months.
So eligibility does factor in whether you have or have had the IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card (review), but it’s unrelated to whether you have or have had the IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card (review).
Note that this is based on whether you’re the primary cardmember on such a card, as it’s okay to be an authorized user on someone else’s card. That never precludes you from earning the bonus on a card.
Also keep in mind the general rules of applying for Chase cards, including the 5/24 rule (though there are increasingly reports of people being approved in spite of being over the 5/24 limit).
Why you should get the IHG Premier Card
With my hotel strategy, IHG isn’t my primary hotel group, but I still strategically find lots of value with the program, given IHG’s huge global footprint. There are many reasons to have the IHG Premier Card, including:
- IHG One Rewards Platinum status just for having the card; IHG elite status can be valuable for room upgrades and other perks, and you can unlock even more value with the Milestone Rewards program
- The ability to earn IHG One Rewards Diamond status when you spend $40,000 on the card in a calendar year; this won’t be worth it for everyone, but does offer some valuable perks
- An anniversary free night certificate every year, valid at a property costing up to 40,000 points; you can top that off with points to redeem at more expensive properties
- Up to $50 in United TravelBank credit annually, in the form of up to a $25 credit every six months
- A fourth night free on award redemptions
- A Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS credit once every four years
Read a full review of the IHG Premier Card, and learn more about how the benefits of the IHG Premier Card work.
Bottom line
The IHG Premier Card has a great welcome bonus that can score you 140,000 bonus points.
Not only is this a great bonus, but the card’s value proposition is excellent. This is a card that should be worth holding onto in the long run, given the anniversary free night award, fourth night free on award redemptions, IHG Platinum status, United TravelBank credit, and more. If you’ve been considering this card but haven’t yet applied, this is the time to do so, as the clock is ticking.
Anyone plan on picking up the IHG Premier Card with this bonus?
While 5x 60,000 certs is a great offer, you have to be able to utilize it at those values to get 300,000 out of them. For us, our next trip is to a place where there is a very small footprint of IHG, and the 'one-year expiration' is a deal breaker. At least points can be kept alive for the future.
@Ben / anyone - any suggestions on how to get an IHG card as a non-US resident? Or is this strictly for US only?
Does 4th night free apply to the 5 free nights?
4th night free is on point bookings only, not certificate bookings
Amazing. I few years ago, when I signed up for this card, the offer was 75K points. Now it is 300K!
300K points would be amazing. When its 5x 60K certificates, it sounds amazing but they come with caveats:
- looking at T&Cs it appears they cannot be topped up with additional points if needed, unlike anniversary 40K certs
- IHG dynamic pricing (and some stealth devaluations) has pushed most of their luxury hotels over 60K pts per night, so they won't be bookable with these certs
can these be combined with points + cash? like a 58k point night + $50?
Pass. I'd much rather have 300k points and not rubber free certificates...also pass because I dont want to encourage IHG to make this an actual common thing - like marriott.
Agree wholeheartedly. This is NOT the "best ever" offer - that's dishonest.
Which previous IHG Premier offer did you feel was better?
Ben - I still have the original $49 annual fee IHG personal card. Assuming that would keep me from getting this one, I'd be willing to cancel it to do this one instead, but I'd be afraid to cancel first and then not get approved for Premier. I"m at 4/24 with a score of 810. Maybe I should go ahead and apply, get denied because of the original card, then call the reconsideration line and...
Ben - I still have the original $49 annual fee IHG personal card. Assuming that would keep me from getting this one, I'd be willing to cancel it to do this one instead, but I'd be afraid to cancel first and then not get approved for Premier. I"m at 4/24 with a score of 810. Maybe I should go ahead and apply, get denied because of the original card, then call the reconsideration line and ask if they could then cancel the original card to approve this one? Otherwise I could get stuck without having either card anymore. Thoughts?
You can hold both. I do.
Actually, looks like the terms have changed since I signed up for the Premier. It now says you can't get this card if you have any personal card.
Looking at the T&Cs, these 60K certificates (unlike anniversary 40K certs) do NOT appear to allow points top-ups. That makes this offer a non-starter for me as most IHG luxury hotels are now > 60K pts. IHG has had a lot of stealth devaluations as of late.
Thanks for posting! Any idea if these certs can be "topped off" or if they can be combined with points ot take advantage of the 4th night free benefit?
@ TravelMD -- It definitely won't work in conjunction with fourth night free, since that requires an outright points booking, and not certificates. I haven't been able to figure out for sure if these 60K certificates can be topped off, but I'll provide an update as soon as I know.
Thank you!
is Chase/IHG soon shifting these certs to 60K (up from 40K) in value?
@ listen -- It would be nice, but there's no indication I've seen of that changing. At least some of the IHG certificates allow unlimited top offs.
Ben - Can the IHG 60k SUB Certs be topped off? Or is it a 60k ceiling?