About a year ago IHG made some major changes to their credit card portfolio, as they introduced the IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card. In the process they stopped issuing the old IHG credit card, which is a loss, but at this point we have to make the best of the current cards.
The great news is that at the moment the IHG Premier Card has its best ever welcome bonus, so in this post I wanted to look at six reasons to apply for this card. Note that the increased bonus has been around since late February, and it expires on Wednesday, May 1, 2019, so you have just a few days remaining to take advantage of this deal.
In no particular order:
Increased welcome bonus of 120K points
Through May 1, 2019, the IHG Premier Card has an increased welcome bonus of 80,000 IHG Rewards Club points after spending $2,000 within the first three months, plus a further 40,000 IHG Rewards Club points after spending a total of $5,000 within six months.
Previously the bonus was just 80K points, so the added 40K is a very nice addition.
The best part is that you’re eligible for this card even if you have the old IHG Select Card.
Anniversary free night certificate
Arguably the single best benefit of the IHG Premier Card, which more than justifies the $89 annual fee, is the anniversary free night certificate. This certificate can be redeemed at an IHG property retailing for up to 40,000 points per night, which covers over 95% of IHG properties around the world.
While this won’t get you a stay at one of IHG’s top InterContinental properties, I still find this to be extremely worthwhile, given that a vast majority of hotels retail for over $89 per night.
For example, I recently stayed at the InterContinental Phoenicia Beirut using a free night certificate, and one night would have cost nearly $300.
Redeem your anniversary free night certificate at the InterContinental Beirut
Fourth night free on award redemptions
I think the other best perk of the IHG Premier Card is that it offers a fourth night free on award redemptions. If you stay for four consecutive nights on an award redemption then you only have to redeem points for the first three nights.
This is an awesome perk, since it can be used an unlimited number of times (you can even use it to book multiple rooms at the same hotel). If you usually redeem points for stays in increments of four nights, this is like getting 25% off all your redemptions. This is a fantastic perk.
Get a fourth night free at the InterContinental Willard Washington DC
IHG Rewards Club Platinum status
Just for having the IHG Premier Card you get IHG Rewards Club Platinum status, which is valid for as long as you have the card. That comes with lots of great perks, including room upgrades, bonus points, late check-out, and more.
Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check credit
For some this will be valuable, and for others it won’t offer much value, but the card also offers a statement credit of up to $100 when you use your card for a Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check enrollment fee, up to once every four years. This is a nice perk that could easily get you more value than the annual fee.
The card offers a TSA Pre-Check credit every four years
Stack benefits with IHG’s old credit card
Some of you may be thinking “I have IHG’s old credit card, so the new card doesn’t seem worth it.” I agree that IHG’s old credit card was arguably more lucrative, but that card isn’t open to new cardmembers anymore. The beauty is that if you get the IHG Premier Card, you can stack some of the benefits of the two cards:
- Both cards offer an anniversary free night certificate, so you could earn two of those each year, and use them for back-to-back stays
- The old card offers a 10% refund on redeemed points (up to 100,000 refunded points per year), while the new card offers a fourth night free on award redemptions, and you could stack those benefits; in other words, if you make a four night stay at a hotel costing 70,000 points per night you’d end up paying 210,000 points, and then would get 21,000 points back, for a total cost of 189,000 points, which is over 30% off
Bottom line
The IHG Premier Card has an excellent welcome bonus that’s only around for a few more days, and it’s a card that I generally think is worth holding onto.
Personally I’d get the card for the anniversary free night certificate alone, though there are potentially valuable benefits beyond that, including the fourth night free on award redemptions, IHG Platinum status, etc.
The best case scenario is having the IHG Premier Card and old IHG Select Card, since you can stack the fourth night free and 10% award rebates towards a single stay.
If you haven’t yet applied for this card, make sure you do so ASAP.
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