In the interest of full disclosure, OMAAT earns a referral bonus for anyone that is approved through some of the below links. These are the best publicly available offers that we have found. The author's opinions are not endorsed by the bank, credit card issuer, airline, hotel chain, or product manufacturer/service provider. Please check out our policy for more information about our partners. The IHG rewards club traveler credit card expired. You can learn more about the current offers here.
It is worth getting a welcome bonus and keeping the long term perks of the IHG® rewards club premier credit card. The welcome bonus is expected to be pulled tomorrow, so this is the last chance to apply. I wanted to look at eight reasons to apply for this card. In no particular order.
The bonus is 150K IHG points.
A welcome bonus of 150,000 I hg rewards club points is offered by the I hg premier card. The card has a reasonable spending requirement that most people should be able to achieve, and this is an excellent bonus.
I value the 150,000 points at $750 each.
You can get a lot of hotel stays with 150K IHG points.
The fee was not charged the first year.
The card has an excellent welcome bonus and is even free for the first year. You can try the card before you buy it. You can get a big bonus and not pay an annual fee the first year.
The first year is free of the annual fee.
The anniversary free night certificate.
The anniversary free night certificate is arguably the best benefit of the premier card and it is more than enough to justify the ongoing fee. This certificate can be used to redeem points at an IHG property for up to 40,000 points per night, which covers a vast majority of IHG properties around the world.
I find this to be very worthwhile, since most hotels retail for over $90 per night.
I have stayed at the InterContinental Phoenicia Beirut and InterContinental Johannesburg Airport with free night certificates, and in each case, a night would have cost more than $250.
I redeemed my anniversary free night certificate at the InterContinental.
The fourth night is free.
The fourth night free on award redemptions is one of the best perks of the IHG Premier Card. If you stay for four nights in a row, you only have to redeem points for the first three nights.
You can use it to book multiple rooms at the same hotel, and you can even use it at Six Senses properties. If you redeem points for stays in four nights or more, you will get 25% off all your redemptions. This is a great perk.
You can get a fourth night free at the InterContinental.
The IHG rewards club has a Platinum status.
If you have the I hg premier card, you will get I hg rewards club Platinum status, which is valid for as long as you have the card. The following perks are included in the status of the IHG rewards club.
Subject to availability, room upgrades.
A 50% bonus on base points.
The check-in and check-out are subject to availability.
A nice thing.
Receive room upgrades as an IHG Platinum member.
Global Entry or the Pre-Check credit.
For some, it will be valuable, and for others, it won't offer much. You can get a statement credit of up to $100 when you use your card for a Global Entry fee, up to once every four years.
This perk could easily get you more value than the annual fee.
Every four years, the card offers a credit for pre-checks.
Some of you may be thinking that the new card doesn't seem worth it because you have the old one. I agree with you that it might not be worth the hassle to change from the old credit card to the new one.
You can stack some of the benefits of the two cards if you get the IHG premier card.
You could earn two of those certificates each year, and use them for back-to-back nights, if you choose to.
The old card offers a 10% refund on redeemed points, while the new card offers a fourth night free on award redemptions, and you could stack those benefits if you make a four night stay at a hotel costing 70,000 points per night.
If you have the old version of the IHG Card, you are eligible for the bonus on the IHG Premier Card. If you have a no annual fee IHG rewards club traveler credit card, you are eligible for the premier card.
It was easy to approve.
Chase is one of the more difficult issuers to get a card from. The Chase approval restrictions on the IHG premier card are the same as those on the standard Chase card.
I got instantly approved for a Chase card when I applied for the IHG premier card, and that is similar to the anecdotal report that it is easier to get approved for the premier card.
I received approval on the IHG card.
I know that Chase has different approval requirements for some co-brand cards, depending on the customer base the card is targeting, and it seems like the IHG Card is one of the easiest travel rewards cards to get approved for.
If you have struggled to be approved for Chase cards, this could be a good card to consider.
Everyone who is eligible should have the I hg premier card, even if they are not I hg loyalists. I would get the card for the anniversary free night certificate alone, but there are other benefits beyond that, such as the fourth night free on award redemptions, IHG Platinum status, etc.
For most travelers, the perks of the hotel credit card should outweigh the annual fee.
