Rating: 4 Stars
Bottom Line:
Rewards for IHG Travelers
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Card Details
| Regular APR: | 17.74% – 24.74% (Variable) |
| Intro APR (Purchases): | None |
| Intro APR (Balance transfers): | None |
| Rewards Rate: | 25 points total per $1 spent when you stay at any of our 5,600+ Hotels & Resorts worldwide 2 points per $1 spent on purchases at gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases |
| Credit Needed: | (670 – 850) Good/Excellent |
| Annual Fee: | $89 |
| Card Brand: | Mastercard |
*See online credit card application for details on the terms and conditions.
Offer Highlights
- Click APPLY NOW to apply online
- Earn 80,000 Bonus Points after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
- 25 points total per $1 spent when you stay at any of our 5,600+ Hotels & Resorts worldwide
- 2 points per $1 spent on purchases at gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants
- 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Automatic Platinum Elite Status as long as you remain an IHG Rewards Club Premier Cardmember
- Save 20% on Point Purchases when you purchase points with your card
- Fourth Reward Night Free when you redeem points for any stay of 4 or more nights
- Anniversary Night at one of IHG’s eligible Hotels & Resorts worldwide, every year
- Global Entry or TSA Pre Fee Credit: Earn 10,000 Bonus Points after you spend $20,000 on purchases and make one additional purchase each account anniversary year
Is IHG Rewards Club Premier worth it?
IHG Rewards Club Premier is a great card for travelers who stay at IHG hotels. IHG hotels include Holiday Inn, Candlewood Suites, Crowne Plaza, Kimpton, and InterContinental hotels. The sign up bonus is 80,000 Bonus Points after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening – that’s worth about 1 hotel stay.
You also get a fourth reward night free when you redeem points for any stay of 4 or more nights. With the $89 annual fee, you also get a free anniversary night at one of IHG’s eligible Hotels & Resorts worldwide, every year, Global Entry or TSA Pre Fee Credit, and 10,000 bonus points after you spend $20,000 on purchases and make one additional purchase each account anniversary year. The anniversary night alone will cover the annual fee.
While you can redeem points for airfare, in most cases you will get 1 mile for every 5 points, so it?s not a good decision, unless the points are worth one fifth of a cent. To find the value of IHG points, we found that a 1 King Bed Superior With Balcony room at the InterContinental: Los Angeles Century City hotel was available for $284 or 65,000 points. In this case, the points would be worth 0.4 cents per dollar. At 0.4 cents per point, the Intro bonus of 80,000 points would be valued at $320. 0.4 cents per point is not a high rewards rate, but not terrible considering the annual fee is only $89 and you also receive Platinum Elite Status, which is significantly more valuable than the IHG Rewards Club Traveler’s Gold status.
While Gold status gets you a 10% point bonus on paid stays, Platinum Elite status gets you a 50% bonus on paid stays, which is allotted on top of the base points you get from this card, 10 points per $1; therefore, you are earning an extra 5 more points per $1, which when combined with your 10 points per $1 for being an IHG Rewards Club Member, gets you 25 points per $1. It’s not the simplest reward structure, and you will need to purchase a lot of stays in order to get benefit.
For example, if you booked two 5-night stays at the hotel above or a hotel with the same value over the course of the year with IHG Rewards Club Premier, you would earn 25 x 2 nights x 5 stays x $284 x $0.004 dollars per point = $284: that’s 1 free night.
With that said, IHG does offer a program called PointBreaks, allowing cardholders to book two one-night stays for as little as 5,000 points each. The IHG website breaks the eligible hotels into 5,000, 10,000 and 15,000 point redemptions. Even the 15,000 point redemption give you an improved point value and that’s even if you consider the value of a one-night stay at 15,000 point hotels to be the same as standard hotels, let?s say $100.
PointBreaks is worth your time. If you stay at IHG hotels, and especially if you use PointBreaks, IHG Rewards Club Premier is a card you will want to get for the signup bonus and the annual free anniversary night, even with the $89 annual fee.
Pros
- Earn 60,000 Bonus Points after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
- 25 points total per $1 spent at 5,600+ Hotels & Resorts worldwide
- No foreign transaction fee
Cons
- Rewards rate is very high at 25X, but points can be worth less than one half cent each even when redeemed for hotels, their most valuable redemption.
Why 5 Stars?
Regular APR
4 Stars
Intro APR
4 Stars
Fees
4 Stars
Perks
5 Stars
Overall
4 Stars
Fees
| Foreign Transaction Fee | None |
| Balance Transfer Fee | Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater |
| Cash Advance Fee | Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater |
| Penalty APR | None |
Benefits
| $0 Fraud Liability |
| Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver |
| Extended Warranty Program |
| Lost Luggage Reimbursement |
| Purchase Protection |
| Roadside Assistance |
| Travel Accident Insurance |
| Travel Assistance |
| Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance |
Editorial Note: This content is not provided by the issuer. Any opinion, analyses, reviews, or recommendations expressed on this page are those of the author?s alone, and may not have been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the issuer.
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