MMMT: (Speculation)The Chase IHG Card is Being Discontinued! What Should I Do?

Monday Morning Miles Talk is a regular series that has some smaller, more quirky ideas to kick off the work week.  These are essentially random ideas that I wanted to share with you.  Here are the 4 most recent topics.

• Harrah’s New Orleans Unique Lounge Policy
• Reselling Kids Fire Tablets
• Using Swagbucks’ Referral program to increase your profits
• Reselling the Apple TV 4K

If you would like to read even more articles in the series you can click HERE.

Is the Chase IHG Card Being Discontinued?

Doctor of Credit just dropped a bombshell on us this morning.  The Chase IHG credit card has been pulled from the Chase website.  It is still unclear what that means but there is informed speculation that leads people to believe that a new product will be released in the card’s place. 

It sounds like the card will come with a higher annual fee and it may or may not come with the free night perk.  And if it does come with the free night perk it may be category locked like the Chase Hyatt and Marriott cards are. 

There are still some links out there to get the current card so I am left at a crossroads on whether or not I should apply for it now.  My wife already has the card but I closed mine down a little while back in order to get the bonus again.  But the only offer available is for a measly 60,000 IHG points and I was waiting on an 80,000 or 100,000 point bonus.

RELATED: Chase IHG Credit Card Review

Details on the Changes

Doctor of Credit reports that there are two possible cards coming in the IHG card’s place.  These are based on surveys sent out to people last year.

• $89 annual fee card
  • Earns 10X on IHG charges
  • 80,000 point sign up bonus
  • Annual free night certificate
• $29 annual fee card
  • Earns 5X on IHG
  • 60,000 point sign up bonus
  • No annual free night

Now these are speculative terms.  There may be no annual free night or it may category locked like Chase’s other co-branded hotel cards.

It is also unclear if the annual fees would be waived or not the first year.  It is currently waived for cardmembers.  There is a $50 statement credit after first purchase on the best offer right now which may or may not be on the new offer.

Decision Making Process

I am left with a decision, like many of you, whether or not I should apply for the card before the remaining links are pulled.  Let’s take a look at the pros and cons.

Pros –

• No annual fee first year currently
• May be grandfathered in to the current annual fee
• May be grandfathered in to the current free night set up
• $50 statement credit on current offer
• Not a 5/24 card

Cons –

• Chase has become more credit sensitive these days, is this offer worth the risk?
• Only a 60,000 point offer which is the lowest in the card’s offer cycle
• The new card offer when re-released could be much larger
• The application would count towards 5/24 count (for people under 5/24)

My Thoughts

Well it looks like the Pros outweigh the Cons here.  But that doesn’t take the importance of each bullet point into account.

I signed up for the IHG card a little under 3 years ago and a I closed the account a little over a year ago.  I had been waiting on an increased or targeted offer to come my way before applying.

Chase has been shutting down customer’s accounts that apply for a new card if they have a lot of recent applications.  That includes applications from Chase and other banks.

60,000 IHG points are worth around $350 to me and that is not that great of a sign up bonus to risk a relationship with Chase.  Am I being overly cautious?  Sure, but that is the world we live in these days.  I have only been approved for 3 cards over the last 6-7 months, mostly because of denials, so I am probably in the clear there.

I don’t think the new card’s annual fee will be waived since Chase has moved to charging the annual fee the first year for their other co-branded hotel cards.  That is potentially another $89 to consider.  Add in the $50 statement credit and you are looking at $139 for what is believed to be an extra 20,000 points worth $120.  That is pushing me towards applying since I would rather have cash than the points…plus the cash value is better.

I am way over 5/24 so I don’t need to take that into consideration.  But if I was under 5/24 these changes wouldn’t convince me to apply and take up a spot.

Final Decision

It is still unclear whether applying now would change anything going forward.  Since it would be about a year before the first annual fee hits Chase may change the annual fee amount and free night rules before then anyways.  They don’t really need to grandfather people in that just applied when the perk is a year away from being realized.

Having said that I think the waived annual fee and statement credit more than make up for the reduction in points from the specualted future offer.  And the chance of locking in the annual free night for at least one more year makes me lean towards applying.

Link to Statement Credit Offer

Conclusion

Another day, another devaluation.  It is getting hard these days folks.  That just means we have to be more diligent, more informed, and make the best decisions we can.

I hope showing you my thought process on the issue has helped you navigate your own thoughts.  Let me know in the comments where you stand and what your plan is going forward.

Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

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