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A Quick IHG Premier Upgrade PSA

Mark Ostermann
Mark Ostermann

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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. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Links in this post may provide us with a commission.

Upgrade IHG Premier Free Night Cert

Upgrade IHG Premier Free Night Cert

Last week IHG rolled out some very welcomed changes to the IHG Premier. It included a new earning structure on the card and the ability to top off free night certificates. The changes were such an improvement that I am actually considering getting in deeper with IHG going forward. If you make earning your points easier then I am willing to reconsider your program!

IHG Credit Card Family Rule

Around the same time that these changes were announced we broke the news that Chase would be instituting a family rule on their IHG lineup. In the past you could carry both the old IHG Select card ($49 annual fee version) and the IHG Premier. Well, that was all changing with the refresh. If you already had both you were good to go, but starting last week, if you carried the IHG Select card you could no longer be approved for the IHG Premier version. You would now need to close the select before applying for the Premier to get it.

Does An Upgrade To The IHG Premier Make Sense?

Because of that people were starting to consider an upgrade from the Select to the Premier. This was something that would have never been considered before. That is because they were similar cards, with the same 40,000 point anniversary certs, but one had almost double the annual fee.  Well, now that water is muddied a bit. The Premier comes with a vastly improved earning structure and the ability to top off free night certificates above the 40,000 point cap.

We had recommended grabbing both while you could, if you could (thanks Chase 5/24). Then you could have the best of both worlds, and the cool thing is the perks of the cards (4th night free of the Premier and 10% back in points of the Select) actually stack (another story we broke)!

Benjy was on board with the upgrade because of the new earning avenues available to him with the card. Can one have too much gas spend capacity these days? He is also way above 5/24, so an upgrade was his only option.

Upgrade IHG Premier Free Night Cert

Is Unlocking Old Free Night Certificates Possible With An Upgrade?

We were also told that even if you carried both cards that the free night certificate from the IHG Select card would not have the ability to top it off. Only the certificate from the IHG Premier would have that available, and they said they would be able to tell the difference in certs. That meant that any cert earned from the Select before you upgraded to the Premier would likely be ineligible for topping off. But, as we all know in this space, what is said and what actually happens can often be different. And wouldn’t you know it, we happened to be in the perfect spot to test it out.

Benjy decided that upgrading to the Premier was the best for his situation so he went ahead and did it a few days ago. The conversion went through immediately but his certificate was still showing as not available for top off. It appears IHG’s tech team got it right this time.

I figured it was worth sharing our results with you so that the free night certificate doesn’t play a role in your decision on whether or not to upgrade to the IHG Premier.

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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Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Mark Ostermann
Mark Ostermann
Mark Ostermann is a father, husband and miles/points fanatic. He left the corporate world after starting a family in order to be a stay at home dad. Mark is constantly looking at ways to save money and stay within budget while also taking awesome vacations with his family. When he isn't caring for his family or taking a weekend trip, Mark is working towards his goal of visiting every Major League Baseball ballpark.

Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

6 COMMENTS

  2. Rumors on the street including one poster on another blog claims the select card will be killed off and everyone will be forced to upgrade or downgrade etc The poster claims they received a letter stating this I cannot confirm this though
    Also to clarify The Select card annual free night certificate can’t be topped of by points but the Premier can as advertised?Thanks

    • IHG confirmed that there will be no change to Select cards. That could change in the future but as of right now there is no reason to believe that is changing any time.

      Yes only the premier’s free night cert can be topped off

  3. I don’t know what Chase is thinking with this card. I would have product changed a long time ago but the most they ever would offer is about 5,000 to “upgrade” to the new card type. Not worth it.

    • The offers in the past were bad for sure and if all you want is the FNC then better to stand pat. If you think you would hit up the increased earning rates then it can make sense now though imo

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