How Good is the IHG Premier?
Tl;dr: with a large welcome bonus equivalent to at least a week of hotel stays, elite status and huge points returns on IHG properties like Holiday Inn, and a free night each year to offset the annual fee, the IHG Premier could be a useful addition to your travel arsenal.
A good credit card collection, first and foremost, has to have a strong core. One or more cards that are well-targeted to maximize your earning on your typical, existing spending, and that fit with your travel needs. For me, I spend quite a bit on food, I pay Bay Area rents, and I’m in airports a lot. The Amex Gold maximizes my points on those food purchases, the Bilt card converts that rent into points, while the Capital One Venture X delivers double points on non-bonus purchases and gives me access to airport lounges for free food, drink, and quiet space while traveling. With that core in place, it was time to start looking for complementary cards, and I don’t think you can do much better than the IHG Premier as complementary cards go. Here’s why.
Up-front and lasting value. With a welcome offer of 140,000 points, earning the welcome bonus will net you roughly $1,000 worth of hotel stays, and probably 6-10 nights if you favor more affordable hotels (see below) and maximize the 4th-night-free benefit. Each year you renew, your $99 annual fee will also get you a free night certificate. If you spend at least one night in a $100+ hotel every year, the net cost to hold the card is probably negative. Every six months, you also get $25 in United TravelBank cash–basically, in every 6 month period you can take a $25 discount on a United flight, a handy little discount if you happen to be flying United (be careful though; using it may make you ineligible to use the trip protections on your payment card like baggage and delay insurance). You also get $100 every four years to use toward TSA Precheck or Global Entry fees.
Spending utility. The IHG Premier is unlikely to be the best card in your wallet for most purchases, as the points themselves are much less valuable than, say, Amex, Bilt, or Chase points. Despite the generally low earning rate, the card can still have some niches where it excels. For me, the 5x earn rate on gas and Chase’s broadly-defined “travel” category provide some places where the IHG Premier can shine. I have the IHG card linked to my transit accounts and use it to fill up and to book miscellaneous travel like Amtrak, Trenitalia, or parking meter apps. It can also, somewhat ironically, be decent for Airbnb purchases or even stays at competing hotels.
Role. If nothing else, the annual free night gives us a convenient and high-value option for weekend overnight trips (especially handy when the nearest ski destination is three hours away). But the card also adds significant flexibility to my hotel-booking arsenal. Although I always book the cheapest reasonable lodging option, when an IHG hotel (e.g. Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Candlewood Suites) is the cheapest, or at least very close, I can book directly through IHG and get 26x points on my spend, plus all the benefits of Platinum Elite status (list below). It’s also easy to double dip those points by going through a shopping portal like Rakuten or Skymiles Shopping. I typically get another 3-9% back in Amex points that way. IHG also often runs specials (e.g. spend 2 nights and earn 3k bonus points) to make direct bookings even better.
Best in class: For me, the IHG was an easy choice for a hotel card. Most comparable (~$100 annual fee) hotel cards offer a free night annually, although Hilton requires you to spend $15,000 to access theirs. None offer a free night on award stays after just 3 nights, nor do any offer discounts on airfare. The Marriott Boundless occasionally offers 100,000 point bonuses (probably roughly comparable to IHG’s 140k), but usually offers only three free nights. While those nights can be at properties up to 50k/night, and thus could unlock a high-end luxury stay, if you prefer more nights and money in your pocket, the IHG offer is better (you can also probably stay 3 nights at a luxury property like the InterContinental with the IHG bonus anyway). The Marriott and Hilton cards also both offer lower status, with fewer perks, and perks that are available, like late checkout, are harder to take advantage of because so many people have higher status in those programs. Meanwhile, I’ve had a room on the top floor of every IHG property I’ve stayed at and the last time I stayed at a Holiday Inn my room was ready for me at 7:39 in the morning. Talk about an early check-in.
And while the World of Hyatt card is another awesome hotel card, to get the most of its bonuses you have to sign up before July and spend at least $15,000 on the card in the first 6 months, something that will make sense for some people but requires a lot more time, attention, and money that I was willing to devote to it. If you want to pick up a bunch of free hotel nights, add another way to book hotel stays with maximized rewards, and lock in a great rate for your yearly weekend retreat, I highly recommend the IHG Premier card.
Referral link. (Make sure it’s the best offer! See below.)
Welcome bonus:
Typically: 140,000 points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months after account opening (note that the clock starts once you are approved, but Chase takes a good long time in delivering the card–expect to wait over a week).
Past offers have included: 140k + a $100 IHG statement credit; 165k points; 175k points.
Annual fee:
$99
Credits/offsets:
•Free night certificate each year on renewal (up to 40k points)
•$25 United TravelBank Cash every 6 months (expires if not used)
•$100 statement credit + 10k points after spending $20k
Earning rates:
•16x: IHG (10x from card, 6x from Platinum Status from card; total earn 26x including base points available to all One Rewards members)
•5x: dining, gas stations, travel
•3x: all other purchases
Protections (e.g. foreign transaction fees, baggage protection, etc)
•No foreign transaction fees
•Baggage delay insurance (reimburses essential purchases like toiletries and clothing for >6 hour delays, up to $100/day for 3 days)
•Lost luggage reimbursement (up to $3,000 passenger)
•Purchase protections (new purchases covered against damage or theft up to $500/claim, $50k/ account)
•Trip cancellation/interruption insurance (up to $5k/person, $10k/trip for nonrefundable expenses if trip canceled or cut short for covered reason)
Perks
•4th night free on award stays
•Platinum Elite Status: Priority check in, free room upgrades, early check in, late checkout, welcome amenity (often 500-1000 bonus points at lower-end properties), free wifi.
•20% discount on points purchases
•Up to $100 statement credit every 4 years for TSA Precheck, Global Entry, or NEXUS
•One year complimentary DoorDash DashPass
•Diamond elite status after spending $40k
Key Redemptions
Redeem for free nights at IHG properties. Nerdwallet estimates points are worth 0.7¢ each, but values can vary, and you can get more value if you focus redemptions on 4-night stays.
Example redemptions (at time of writing):
•Holiday Inn Express Philadelphia-Midtown, July 20-24th: 127,000 pts ($988 cash, .8¢/pt face value)
•Holiday Inn & Suites Shin Osaka, Japan, July 20-24th: 61,000 pts ($464 cash, .8¢/pt face value)
•Holiday Inn Express (London) Heathrow T4, July 20th: 26,000 pts ($140 cash, .5¢/pt face value)
•Candlewood Suites Atlanta West I-20, July 20th: 19,000 pts ($129 cash, .7¢/pt face value)
•InterContinental New York Barclay, July 20th: 56,000 pts ($426 cash, .8¢/pt face value)
•InterContinental Shenzhen, July 20th: 27,000 pts ($197 cash, .7¢/pt face value)
•Holiday Inn Express Nanchang Qingshan : 24,000 pts ($222 cash, .9¢/pt face value)
If you don’t need hotel stays, the points can be transferred to airline frequent flier programs or redeemed for experiences, among other things, but for comparatively poor value.
Last updated: June 30, 2023