If you have upcoming travel to any of IHG’s brands — including Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, Kimpton, InterContinental and Hotel Indigo — an IHG cobranded card can save you hundreds of dollars a year.
And that’s not even factoring in this juicy welcome bonus.
Let’s examine these welcome offers and decide which IHG One Rewards card is best for you.
IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
Sign Up Bonus: Earn five free nights (each free night worth up to 60,000 points) after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.
As of TPG’s July 2024 Valuation, this bonus is worth up to $1,500, making it the best offer we’ve seen on this card and well worth considering.
Annual Fee: $99
Earning Rate: 10 points per dollar on IHG stays, 5 points per dollar on all other travel, 5 points per dollar on dining (including takeout and eligible delivery services) and gas stations, plus 3 points per dollar on all other eligible purchases.
Why we love it: The card comes with a free night worth up to 40,000 points on each account anniversary and the option to top up your reward to redeem it for a more valuable night. Other key benefits include automatic IHG Platinum Elite status (with a path to Diamond), $50 in United TravelBank cash per calendar year, reimbursement of your application fee for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or Nexus every four years and more—all for a $99 annual fee.
Factoring in the card’s fourth-night-free benefit (when you use points to pay for three nights and get the fourth as a bonus), you can get up to 20 reward nights at IHG hotels with this one sign-up bonus. Award nights start at just 10,000 points each, from practical options in the US to overseas accommodations in Berlin, Brazil and beyond.
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For more details, see our full review of the IHG Premier Card.
Apply at: IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card
Sign Up Bonus: Earn 100,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.
As of TPG’s July 2024 Valuation, this bonus is worth $500. Although it’s a little short of the best offer we’ve seen, it still meets our criteria for when to apply for a card.
Annual Fee: $0
Earning Rate: 5 points per dollar on IHG stays, 3 points per dollar on utilities, internet, cable, phone and select streaming services, 3 points per dollar on dining (including takeout and eligible delivery services) and gas stations, plus 2 points per dollar on all other eligible purchases.
Why we love it: IHG’s no-annual-fee card, the IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card, offers automatic Silver Elite status and the ability to get a fourth night free on bookings where you pay with points. Plus, the current sign-up bonus is solid for a card with no up-front, annual costs.
For more details, see our full review of the IHG Traveler Card.
Apply at: IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card
IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
Sign Up Bonus: Earn 140,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first three months of account opening.
July 2024 of TPG Value is 140,000 IHG points at $700.
Annual Fee: $99
Earning Rate: 10 points per dollar on IHG stays, 5 points per dollar on travel, dining, gas, social media and search engine ads and office supply stores, plus 3 points per dollar on all other eligible purchases.
Why we love it: The IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card replicates the same great benefits on the consumer version – the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card.
For example, the annual free night award (worth up to 40,000 points) can be topped off with an unlimited number of points, and you’ll also enjoy elite benefits thanks to automatic IHG Platinum Elite status. Cardholders will also receive an additional free night award worth 40,000 points (which can be topped up with additional points) after spending $60,000 each calendar year.
Other benefits include reimbursement of your application fee for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or Nexus once every four years, a fourth night free on award stays and up to a $50 United Travelbank credit each calendar year.
For more details, see our full review of the IHG Business Card.
Apply here: IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
Reasons to get the IHG One Rewards card beyond the bonus
It’s tempting to get a chunk of bonus points for adding a new card to your wallet, but these three cards offer a lot of potential value beyond the initial haul of points.
elite status
Every IHG One Rewards card offers some level of automatic elite status.
Fourth-night-award benefit
All IHG One Rewards cardholders automatically receive a fourth consecutive night reward. In short, the fourth night is complimentary when you redeem points for four or more stays.
The value of this benefit depends on your travel style. This isn’t very useful for travelers who only have a short hotel stay, but it can be incredibly useful for travelers who stay long enough to take advantage of this benefit. And this benefit has no limit on how many points you can save.
TPG’s July 2024 valuation puts IHG points at 0.5 cents each. Thus, a fourth-night award stay at a 20,000-point property saves you $100 worth of IHG points.
RELATED: The Super Easy Way to Redeem IHG’s Fourth-Night Rewards
Category Bonus
IHG One Rewards cards help you earn points faster, thanks to their bonus categories — including gas, which can be an expensive recurring purchase for many households.
But it gets better than that. Since then IHG One Rewards Premier and the IHG rewards One Premier Business You’ll also earn a 60% points bonus on IHG hotel stays, giving you automatic Platinum Elite status. IHG One Rewards members earn 10 points per dollar spent at most properties, so the 60% Elite Bonus provides 16 points per dollar at IHG properties. Add that to the 10 points per dollar you earn with the card and you get a total of 26 points per dollar spent on the card on IHG hotel stays.
20% discount on buying points
Finally, if you need to top off your IHG points balance, you can get a 20% discount when you buy points with your card. Combined with the peak potential of free night certificates, this benefit can come in handy if you want to save your rewards for an ambitious stay.
Application Rules
You can have multiple IHG credit cards but know that the IHG One Rewards card, like all other Chase cards, is subject to Chase. 5/24 rule. This means that if you’ve opened five or more personal credit card accounts at all banks in the past 24 months, Chase is unlikely to approve you.
Note that you are also not eligible if any of these exclusions apply to you:
- For Personal Card: If you currently have an individual IHG One Rewards credit card (including the legacy IHG One Rewards Select Credit Card which is no longer available to new applicants) or if you received a bonus on any individual IHG credit card in the past 24 months.
- For the IHG Business Card: You received a new cardmember bonus on this card in the last 24 months.
Related: The Ultimate Guide to Credit Card Application Restrictions
Bottom line
Even casual travelers can benefit from the IHG credit card, thanks to the automatic elite status and free-night certificate you get every year. And once you factor in these solid welcome offers, now might be the best time to apply.
Related: Best time to apply for these popular Chase credit cards based on offer history
Apply at: IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
Apply at: IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card
Apply here: IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card