(Offer Ending) Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card Complete Review

IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card Review

There is no doubt that IHG often plays third wheel in the hotel loyalty program rankings for many people. Even if that is you, that doesn’t mean their credit card should be overlooked. In this IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card review you may be surprised by how useful this particular card can be.

Current Welcome Offer

First up in this IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card review is the welcome offer. Let’s take a look at those details:

• Earn 175,000 Bonus Points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening

Update 3/7/26: This offer is set to end soon. We don’t have an end date yet, but have been told it will end soon.

Fees

The IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card comes with an $99 annual fee which is NOT waived.

Direct Link To Card Offer

Welcome Offer Value – $962.50 ($863.50 Net)

The value of IHG rewards points hovers around $0.0055 per point.  That puts the value of 175,000 points at $962.50.  When you subtract the $99 annual fee you are left with a net value of $863.50.

IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card Review: Bonus Restrictions

This card falls under Chase’s 5/24 rule, which means you are ineligible if you signed up for 5 or more personal cards (from any bank) in the last 24 months.  Chase also has a 24 month rule for most of their cards. You will also be ineligible if you currently carry any IHG personal card in your wallet. The terms from Chase’s site read as follows:

This product is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of any personal IHG One Rewards Credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of any personal IHG One Rewards Credit Card who received a new cardmember bonus for any personal IHG One Rewards Credit Card within the last 24 months.

Earning Structure

The IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card comes with the following earning structure:

• 10x on IHG stays
• 5x on
  • Travel
  • Restaurants
  • Gas stations
• 3x on all other eligible purchases

That is a pretty good earning structure that lines up well against any other hotel credit card.

IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card Review: Cardmember Perks

Chase’s IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card offers the following perks of card membership:

• Free night annually at any hotel, capped at 40,000 points for the night
  • You are able to add additional points to top off these free night certificates
• Fourth night free when you redeem points for a stay of 4 or more nights
• IHG Platinum status
  • Can earn Diamond status after spending $40,000 on the card in a calendar year
• $50 in United TravelBank Cash every calendar year (enrollment required)
  • This is broken up as $25 in the beginning of January and $25 at the beginning of July.
  • The January credit expires July 15th of the same year, and the July credit expires January 15th of the following year.
• Earn 10,000 bonus points and $100 statement credits after you spend $20,000 in a cardmember year
• Global Entry or TSA Pre✓ Application Fee Statement Credit
• No foreign transaction fees

Don’t sleep on the $20,000 yearly spending bonus. If you are able to do a lot of the spending in the 5x or 10x categories, then it could be a pretty lucrative option earnings wise.

Summary

The earning structure is better than most hotel cards.  But, since the points don’t hold a ton of value it makes it hard to see everyday regular spend being put on the card outside of the 5x – 10x earning categories. We find IHG award nights to be at a lower price point when compared to Marriott and Hilton on average, so that could be considered here as well.

The annual free night, even if capped at 40,000 point stays, should more than offset the annual fee. Being able to top off the free night with points is another nice perk of the program. The 4th night free on award stays is a great perk that puts it ahead of it’s competitors that offer the 5th night free.

The $20,000 spending bonus is kind of interesting. The $100 statement credit more than offsets the annual fee, and the 10,000 bonus points you get are worth another 1/2 a point per dollar on that spend. Getting 5.5x on gas, travel and restaurants isn’t too shabby. That is a return of just over 3% in value if you value IHG points at $0.0055. It goes up to 3.5% per dollar in value when you include the $100 statement credit too.

Long Term Keep or Cancel?

The long term keep or cancel question likely comes down to the usefulness of the free night for most people. The FNC can be used at hotels that cost up to 40,000 points per night.  Let’s say that you are able to easily find a hotel for 30,000 – 40,000 points per night every year.  That offers a value of $150-200 based on IHG point’s worth.  That gives you a better return than the annual fee each and every year.  The question is if you can easily use this each year, or are you just booking a room somewhere that you normally wouldn’t have booked in order to use it.  If you have an IHG hotel near family that you normally stay at etc. then this would be a good option.

IHG loyalists may want to keep this long term if they have a lot of IHG paid stays.  Earning 10X points on paid stays is a pretty great return on that spend.  That is a 5-6% return on every paid stay.  That is on par, if not slightly better, than transferrable currency earning cards for lodging charges.

The 4th night free perk is something else to consider.  If you find yourself having 4-5 night award stays at IHG properties than this would be a great perk for you.

IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card Review

While there isn’t “extreme” value, the IHG One Rewards Premier credit card still offers value for many people. The sign up bonus is above average when it is elevated, the earning structure is better than most hotel cards, and the card offers some good perks.  If you are unable to easily use the free night each year then this card offers significantly less value for you.

If IHG is your favorite brand, or if you have a lot of paid stays for work etc., then this card is actually a great option for you. You could rack up 10x earning on those stays and use the points paired up with the 4th night free card perk to take some great vacations paid for by those work trips.

Let us know what you think about the IHG One Rewards Premier credit card down below or in the MTM Facebook Group.