IHG Credit Card Elite Night Credits Stack: Great For Milestone Rewards Perks!

Chase and IHG have four co-branded credit cards currently open to new applicants, which recently underwent a refresh. This includes The Brand New IHG One Rewards Premier Select Credit Card (learn more), The New IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (learn more), The New IHG One Rewards Credit Card (learn more), and The New IHG One Rewards Business Credit Card (learn more).

In addition to offering some form of IHG One Rewards elite status, each card also offers the ability to earn elite night credits (ENCs), which can help you qualify for a higher status tier, or earn Milestone Rewards.

With the recent card refresh (and introduction), there was the question of whether the ENCs earned on these cards would stack. There’s an update, and it’s positive news, as flagged by Frequent Miler.

The IHG credit cards earning elite status & night credits

Let me start by saying that we’ve now learned that the elite night credits earned on IHG’s credit cards can stack, with no real apparent limits.

So that I don’t bury the lede, let me share why that matters — aside from actually earning elite status, many perks with IHG are tied to the Milestone Rewards program, and that includes things like club lounge access, confirmed suite upgrades, and more.

Let me cover the basics of the ability to earn elite nights:

• The $350 annual fee IHG One Rewards Premier Select Card offers 20 elite nights annually, plus two elite nights for every $5K spent
• The $200 annual fee IHG One Rewards Business Card offers 15 elite nights annually, plus two elite nights for every $5K spent
• The $150 annual fee IHG One Rewards Premier Card offers 15 elite nights annually, plus two elite nights for every $5K spent
• The $0 annual fee IHG One Rewards Card offers five elite nights annually

Let me emphasize that this doesn’t cover the automatic elite status that the cards offer (ranging from IHG One Rewards Silver status to IHG One Rewards Platinum status), plus the ability to spend your way all the way up to IHG One Rewards Diamond status. This is specifically about elite night credits.

What’s great is that all of these elite night credits stack. In other words:

• If you have the IHG One Rewards Premier Select Card, plus the IHG One Rewards Premier Card or IHG One Rewards Business Card, you’d start each year with 35 elite nights
• If you have the IHG One Rewards Premier Select Card, IHG One Rewards Premier Card, and IHG One Rewards Business Card, you’d start each year with 50 elite nights

Keep in mind that if you have the old IHG Select Card that’s no longer open to new applicants, you can even upgrade it to one of the other personal cards, so that you’d get those elite nights. Admittedly the annual fees on these cards will add up, though in fairness, the benefits greatly help with offsetting the annual fee.

The value of the IHG Milestone Rewards program

While IHG has elite perks tied specifically to the status you earn, some perks are offered specifically based on how many elite nights you rack up in a calendar year:

• At 20 elite nights, Milestone Rewards offers the choice of 5,000 bonus IHG points, two food & beverage rewards worth $20 each, or a confirmable suite upgrade
• At 30 elite nights, Milestone Rewards offers the choice of 5,000 bonus IHG points or two food & beverage rewards worth $20 each
• At 40 elite nights, Milestone Rewards offers the choice of two of the following — 10,000 bonus IHG points, five food & beverage rewards worth $20 each, a confirmable suite upgrade, or an annual lounge membership
• At 50 elite nights, Milestone Rewards offers the choice of 10,000 bonus IHG points or five food & beverage rewards worth $20 each

If you’re able to achieve 40 elite nights in a calendar year, you could potentially be looking at earning two confirmable suite upgrades, an annual lounge membership, and 5,000 bonus IHG points.

One of the reasons I just haven’t been tempted to go for Diamond status with IHG is because of elite perks increasingly being tied to Milestone Rewards. Like, even if you earn Diamond status through credit card spending, you don’t necessarily get club lounge access or confirmable suite upgrades. So if you ask me, this really changes the math.

If you do want to earn Diamond status through credit cards, there are now two best ways to do that. You could either spend $25,000 per year on the IHG One Rewards Premier Select Card, or keep in mind that the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (learn more) offers Diamond status, along with a suite of other benefits, if you spend $75,000 on the card in a calendar year.

If you do spend $25,000 on the IHG One Rewards Premier Select Card, that earns you a further 10 elite nights, so potentially offers more value. The card also offers 20,000 bonus points for spending $15,000, so the stacking opportunities here are pretty strong, I must say!

What’s the best strategy for applying for IHG credit cards?

If you do want to pursue this strategy and pick up multiple IHG cards, there is a correct order in which to apply for these cards, as I see it. I don’t think the no annual fee card is terribly tempting, so I recommend focusing on the three premium cards. With that in mind, I’d say the best strategy is as follows, based on the IHG credit card eligibility rules:

• I would apply for the IHG One Rewards Business Card first; that’s because applying for it shouldn’t impact your ability to qualify for Chase’s personal cards, especially since opening a Chase business card doesn’t count as a further product toward the 5/24 limit, if that’s something you’re trying to stay under
• If you want to get two personal IHG cards, you should apply for the IHG One Rewards Premier Card before the IHG One Rewards Premier Select Card, due to the eligibility rules; you’re eligible for the bonus on the Premier Select if you already have the Premier, but you’re not eligible for the bonus on the Premier if you already have the Premier Select

Bottom line

IHG has a suite of co-branded cards that offer elite night credits as a card benefit, and also in some situations for spending. The good news is that these elite night credits stack. The premium cards offer 15-20 elite nights annually just for being a cardmember, so having two cards could earn you up to 35 elite night credits, having three cards could earn you up to 50 elite night credits, etc.

What makes this so great isn’t just the ability to earn elite status, but also, to qualify for Milestone Rewards. This can unlock things like club lounge access and confirmed suite upgrades. I can’t say I’ve been too tempted to go for IHG elite status in a meaningful way up until now, but this might change that.

What do you make of this IHG credit card elite night credit opportunity?