Chase and IHG have a co-branded credit card portfolio. In a separate post, I’m covering how the entire existing card portfolio has been overhauled. In this post, I’d like to focus on the brand new premium card that has just been launched, which is the $350 annual fee IHG One Rewards Premier Select Credit Card. If you stay at IHG properties with any frequency, there’s good value to be had here.
Link: Learn more about the IHG One Rewards Premier Select World Elite Mastercard
IHG One Rewards Premier Select Card details
The new IHG One Rewards Premier Select World Elite Mastercard has a $350 annual fee, and offers the following key perks:
- Up to $300 in annual food & beverage rewards to redeem at IHG properties; this comes in the form of a $75 quarterly credit that will be deposited in your account, which can be redeemed during a hotel stay, and each needs to be used during a single stay
- A $200 annual airline statement credit on qualifying flight purchases, currently valid through December 31, 2027; just book a flight directly with an airline costing at least $250, and you’ll get a $200 statement credit
- Up to $50 United TravelBank Cash annually, in the form of a semi-annual credit of $25
- An anniversary free night award valid at a property costing up to 60,000 points, though you can redeem at more expensive properties by topping off the certificate with points
- Automatic IHG One Rewards Platinum elite status, and IHG One Rewards Diamond status when you spend $25,000 on the card in a calendar year
- 20 elite night credits toward status each calendar year, to help you unlock Milestone Rewards perks, plus two additional elite night credits for every $5,000 spent on the card
- A fourth night free on award redemptions, when you redeem for a consecutive four night stay
- 12x points on IHG spending, 6x points on dining and all other travel (including rideshare), and 3x points on all other purchases
To celebrate the launch, for applications through November 18, 2026, the IHG One Rewards Premier Select Card has a welcome offer of 200,000 points after spending $5,000 within the first three months. Note that eligibility for this card, including the welcome bonus, is unrelated to having any other IHG credit card. So you’d be eligible for the welcome offer if you have one of the other IHG credit cards, whether personal or business.
My take on the new IHG One Rewards Premier Select Card
As you can see, IHG’s new premium credit card falls in the $300-400 price range, which seems to be a new price point that card issuers are increasingly adding, as a middle ground between the reasonable annual fee cards (fees of around $100) and the ultra premium cards (fees of $600 or more). This is in the same general range as the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Credit Card (learn more), Citi® / AAdvantage® Globe™ Mastercard® (learn more), etc.
What’s my take on the new IHG One Rewards Premier Select Card? Well, I think like the value proposition of many other premium cards nowadays, the math works out quite nicely if you actually stay at IHG properties with any frequency. It’s just a function of how much effort you’re willing to put in. A few thoughts on the value proposition:
- The $200 airline credit is basically good as cash to me, with the major restriction being that this benefit is only currently available through the end of 2027; that’s not to say it won’t be extended, and one can always cancel the card in the future if it no longer works
- The up to $300 in food & beverage credits is great if you actually stay at IHG properties with any frequency, and spend a fair bit on dining
- Having a more valuable free night award is also a solid perk, and I’d say that’s easily $250-300 of value right there, in and of itself
- The status upside with this card is significant, especially since status perks with some of IHG’s other cards are being cut with the current refresh
As I see it, the airline credit and free night award alone more than justify the annual fee on the IHG One Rewards Premier Select Card by a wide margin, and everything else is just the icing on the cake. So yeah, I think there’s lots of merit to picking up this card, if you’re eligible to be approved for Chase cards.
The first year value proposition is also particularly good. Not only do you get the huge welcome offer, but you can potentially take advantage of things like the airline credit twice before the second annual fee is even due.
Bottom line
The IHG One Rewards Premier Select Card has just been launched. The $350 annual fee card has strong perks, including up to $300 in annual food & beverage credits, up to $200 in annual airline credits, a free night award valid at a property costing up to 60K points, IHG Platinum status, and much more. Add in the great bonus, and there’s a good argument to be made for picking up this card.
What do you make of the new IHG One Rewards Premier Select Card?
Eh, I'm all for a new SUB. But, "status upside with this card is significant" ...I donno; we used to get Platinum with the prior Premier card, and it's annual fee was *checks notes* just $99. (And if we spend $75K/yr on CSR, that's receives Diamond... not that $75K is reasonable for most, but still.)
I've got platinum status with IHG on my $49 Select card. lol
Definitely keep that grandfathered/legacy/zombie card as long as they'll let you!