KEY LINKS:
- IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card – Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. $99 annual fee. Read our full review here.
- IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card – Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. $99 annual fee. Read our full review here.
- IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card – Earn 80,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. $0 annual fee. Read our full review here.
There are now 3 IHG credit cards, co-branded and issued by Chase. Each of the cards comes with its own value proposition, and you’ll need to decide whether the benefits outweigh any annual fee for your particular financial and travel situation. While there is a decent amount of overlap in benefits between the three cards, each card has slightly different benefits. Two of the cards are personal credit cards, while one is a small business credit card. Remember, though, that you may have a business even if you don’t think you do.
IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
The IHG Premier credit card is the “standard” IHG credit card that is typical for most people. I have this card, and it’s one of the few credit cards that I will pay the annual fee on. The big reason is the annual free night certificates that come with the card. Yes, you’re limited to 40,000 points now, but you can still get outstanding value. I used mine at the Holiday Inn Resort in Jamaica to good success
(SEE ALSO: Holiday Inn Resort Montego Bay Jamaica review)
(SEE ALSO: Where I “wasted” my 2 IHG free night certificates)
- Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
- 1 free night certificate after each anniversary
- 4th night free when redeeming points
- 5 points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, gas stations, and restaurants.
- 3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases
- IHG Platinum Elite status
- Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS Statement Credit of up to $120 every 4 years
- $99 annual fee
Best for: People under 5/24 who don’t have an IHG credit card yet.
IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card – Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. $99 annual fee. Read our full review here.
IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
The IHG Premier Business credit card is a relatively new offering from Chase, as it was only introduced earlier this year. The IHG Premier Business credit card can be a good fit if you already have the IHG Premier personal credit card and are looking for more IHG points or additional free night awards. You have to be under Chase 5/24 to be approved for the IHG Premier Business credit card, but as a business credit card, it shouldn’t count towards your 5/24 status for additional cards.
- Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- 1 free night certificate after each anniversary
- 4th night free when redeeming points
- 5 points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, dining, select business, and at gas stations.
- 3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases
- IHG Platinum Elite status
- $99 annual fee
Best for: Business owners, people who are concerned about 5/24 or people who already have the IHG Premier personal card
IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card – Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. $99 annual fee. Read our full review here.
Chase IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card(no annual fee)
The IHG Traveler credit card is another option to earn IHG points with no annual fee. The benefits aren’t as good as those that come with the Premier card, but it may still be worth it for no annual fee. The spending category bonuses are not great, especially considering that IHG points are only worth around 0.6 or 0.7 cents per point. There is no free night certificate each year, which means there isn’t a ton of reason to hold on to this card long-term. If you’re interested in IHG Points, the IHG Premier credit card is a much better value.
- Earn 80,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
- 4th night free when redeeming points
- 3 points per $1 spent on purchases on dining, utilities, select streaming services, and at gas stations
- 2 points per $1 spent on all other purchases
- IHG Silver Elite status
- $0 annual fee
Best for: People who are concerned about paying an annual fee
IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card – Earn 80,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. $0 annual fee. Read our full review here.
Which IHG Credit Card is Best?
As I mentioned in my post the other day, there are currently 3 IHG credit cards, the IHG Premier (that we’re talking about here), the IHG Premier Business and the no annual fee IHG Traveler. The IHG Premier and the IHG Premier Business card offers a free night on your card anniversary. The IHG Traveler card does not currently offer a free night certificate. All 3 cards offer the 4th night free on award stays.
If you don’t have any IHG credit card right now, my recommendation would be to get the IHG Premier card. It has a great welcome bonus and the annual free night certificate is (for me) easily worth the $99 annual fee. If you already have that card, then consider the IHG Premier Business credit card. If you don’t feel comfortable applying for a business credit card and you don’t want to pay the fee of the IHG Premier credit card, then you might consider the no annual fee IHG Traveler credit card, though IMO it’s barely worth a 5/24 slot (if at all). The terms of the Premier and Traveler card both say that you can’t get the card if you have the other.
As always, don’t apply for a credit card just because some guy on the internet said you should, but if you are planning on applying and would like to support the site, we appreciate it.
- IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card – Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. $99 annual fee. Read our full review here.
- IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card – Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. $99 annual fee. Read our full review here.
- IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card – Earn 80,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. $0 annual fee. Read our full review here.
Do you have any of these 3 IHG credit cards? Which one do you think is best? Leave your thoughts in the comments
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Not sure where I fit… I’ve had the IHG card before but have since closed it. I’m 3/24 and Want a new cc… Though I’m not loyal to any hotel chain. Not into fees. And with travel the way it is not sure where I would need this card for. So I guess I will start there to see where these hotels will take me…
If it’s been 24 months or more, I think you would be eligible for all 3. Though if it’s been awhile since you closed the IHG card, you probably had the old IHG card and so would be eligible anyways. If you have other options, there are probably other cards that would be better. Maybe the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless with the 5 free night offer? You could also apply for the IHG Business card as that should not increase your 5/24 count. I think both the Premier and Premier Business are both keeper cards due to the free night certificates. If you have a spouse, I usually recommend applying for the IHG cards at the same time so that you can sync up your certificates
I have been IHG member for many years and will be for many years to come
Can you hold more than one of these?
Yes. I believe you will not get the bonus on the personal Premier or Traveler cards if you have the other one, but you can get the bonus on the business card if you have one of the personal cards (and vice versa)
These are fine, but I still have my $49 annual fee legacy IHG card because it still has a free night cert, costs less, and they won’t give me a decent offer to upgrade. They will offer 5,000 or 10,000 points once in a while.