The Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier card was introduced about a year ago to replace the old Chase IHG Rewards Club Select card, and the welcome offer initially started out as 80,000 IHG points. We’ve seen it go up to 100,000 points, but as far as I know, this is the first time the welcome offer has gone up to 125,000 IHG points. Let’s do a brief review of the offer on the Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier card.
IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card review
Let’s skip straight to the important stuff:
- Earn: 125,000 bonus IHG points after $3,000 spent in 90 days
- Earning Structure: 4x on all purchases for the first year – then 2x on gas/groceries/restaurants, 1x on everything else
- Earn 40x points total on purchases at IHG hotels for the first year – then 25x points.
- Status: Platinum Elite Status
- No foreign transaction fees
- Staying put for a while? Get the 4th Reward Night Free on any 4 night minimum stay booked with points.
- Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit
- Free Anniversary Night (capped at 40,000 points)
- $89 annual fee
The main bonus is the 125,000 IHG points as a welcome offer. IHG points are among the lowest valued points, but even at 0.5 or 0.6 cents per point, that is still near $1000 of value from the card. The free anniversary night is now capped, so while you may not be heading to Bora Bora, there’s still plenty of value to find there.
What changed? The IHG Premier card will give you Global Entry credit (check out the comments, it looks like plenty of people still need it!). The 4th Reward Night free is also quite valuable, and reminds me of SPG’s 5th night free on award stays…only better.
The spending bonuses are especially valuable for the first year. They market it as “40 points total” per dollar spent at IHG hotels, but that’s not QUITE as good as it seems. You earn 10x for being an IHG member and a 5x bonus for the Platinum status that comes with the card, so the card is just giving you 25x for the first year (and 10x after that). That’s still not bad, especially with all of the promotions that IHG offers.
4x on ALL purchases for the first year is pretty compelling as well – to me, that puts it at least in the same ballpark as a 2% cashback card (though in a vacuum I’m always taking the cash, of course!)
No more free nights at the Intercontinental brand.
You’ll also still get the free anniversary night, but it’s capped at 40,000 points. I might be the only one saying this, but a free anniversary night is still a free night, even if it’s capped at 40,000 points. I hear you – no, it’s not as good as an unrestricted free night. But let’s be real guys, we all knew that had to come to an end eventually.
So, Should You Open the IHG Premier card?
Yes. I think the IHG Premier card still offers a decent value. It is subject to Chase 5/24 and will also count against you, so that will be the first thing to think about if you’re thinking of applying for it. But for the casual traveler / miles and points guy, I could see this having a lot of value, especially if you can find a lower category IHG hotel that you’re looking to stay at. While the IHG Point Breaks list has been super devalued, there is still occasional value, and I still see decent family travel options at the 15,000 and 20,000 points per night categories. So this card could easily cover a week’s worth of family vacation with the 125,000 points and 4th night free. At a 20,000 point / night hotel, that’s 8 nights free from just this one card offer
Again, here is the link to apply for the Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier card – I may receive a commission if you apply through this link – as always I appreciate the support!
Good luck and happy travels!