Should You Apply for the Old IHG Card Before It’s Gone
The IHG card has been all the talk for the last week or so now. Chase finally released the new cards today but there are still links available for the old card that are rumored to be ending today.
The real question is should you care?
RELATED: Review of the Chase Rewards Club Premier Credit Card
Differences Between the Offers
To answer the question above we need to first take a look at the offers:
Old Version
- 60,000 points after $1000 in spend
- Waived annual fee
- $50 statement credit
- 1 uncapped anniversary night stay after paying annual fee in 12 months
- This one is still up in the air but Chase did confirm on Twitter that if you sign up today you would get 1 uncapped night in 12 months. If the info was accurate or if it will be honored a year from now is probably 50/50 at best, in my opinion.
Old Version Statement Credit Application Link
New Version
- 80,000 IHG points after spending $2,000 in the first 3 months
- 5,000 bonus points after you add your first authorized user and make a purchase within the first 3 months of cardmembership
- $89 annual fee is NOT waived
- Free night caped at 40,000 point or less rooms
The way I see it you are trading 25,000 points for $139 ($89 annual fee and $50 statement credit) if you sign up now. You also have the potential to get an uncapped anniversary night which is potentially worth 30,000 more points compared to the new capped anniversary night.
People have been able to get 80,000 point offers to show on there IHG accounts over the past week as well. In the comments of the linked article readers reported being able to get the 60K offer matched to the 80K offer after approval too. So that is something else to consider.
So Should You Get It?
I don’t know you and I don’t know your situation so I will give generalizations here.
People Who Should Not Apply
- If the IHG card wasn’t on your radar 2 weeks ago then don’t worry about it now
- If you received an IHG bonus in the last 24 months you are ineligible for the old card but you should be able to get the new version.
- People who are under 5/24 or are near being under 5/24 shouldn’t apply. You can just get the new version once you are above 5/24 levels.
- If you have been hitting the applications hard or have a lot of Chase cards already it is probably best to pass on applying. Chase has been closing down people’s accounts as of late if they have excessive applications.
People Who Should Consider Applying
- If you were considering the card a few weeks ago, before the news, I think it makes sense to get the old card. You lock in the lower annual fee for the time being and you have a chance at getting 1 uncapped anniversary stay.
- Chase has also said they will be sending out upgrade offers for cardmembers who have the old version. That could be a double dip type scenario.
- If you want to avoid annual fees for as long as possible.
Conclusion
Hopefully I have helped you with the decision making process when considering the IHG card. I personally signed up for the old version last week but I had been planning on getting it whenever an increased offer came around anyway. And that was before we knew if Chase would grandfather in old cardholders or not.
I think my plan going forward will be to move onto a new version of the card when the annual fee comes due. Unless Chase puts a Sapphire type rule in there where you can only get one flavor of the card every 24 months.
Let me know what you think in the comments. Worth applying now before it is gone? What is your plan with the IHG card if you already have one?
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I’m way over 5/24. I’m like 9/24 i have 4 personal and 2 biz Chase cc. Lately my app have not been auto approved. i thought of getting the card but afraid Chase will shut me down for having too many cc in a short period. Do you think i’ll be okay to go for it? .
I don’t think 9/24 is a problem but 6 Chase cards probably is. If you really wanted it I would close 2 personal cards first. And you still run some risk. Probably not worth it overall.
Thanks Mark for the feedback. I’ll hold off.
[…] Chase has received a lot of complaints about it and [somewhat] relented. Per Miles To Memories, Chase confirmed on Twitter that those who apply by 4/5/18 (today) will get the unrestricted free […]
Applied this morning and was immediately approved for $24K line. I’m over 5/24 so you are right that that rule doesn’t apply here. Q: Can you keep both cards?
I don’t see why you couldn’t – at least for the time being. I am sure down the road they will force old cardholders into one of the new ones.
I think it’s safe to get the old card with uncapped night. The way I’m reading the tweet, it’s not really up in the air, I think it’s pretty much confirmed if only for the first year. It would be hard for Chase to walk back from this.
Well it is a twitter employee and they have been known to make mistakes. Everything else they have said is contradictory so that is why I am still not 100% on it.