Chase IHG Premier Credit Card: 140,000-Point Welcome Offer

The current welcome offer is 140,000 IHG points. IHG points are much more flexible to use, with options ranging from budget to luxury properties, and they do not expire. This card also gives you an annual free night certificate, making it a great long-term keeper card. Plus, award stays come with a fourth night free benefit, which is also quite valuable.

• Chase IHG 140,000 welcome offer

This is a very strong offer, and I’ve added it to our rankings as well!

• Best US Credit Card Welcome Offers Ranking (Personal Cards) [Updated Monthly]

Chase IHG Premier Credit Card Overview

Benefits

• Annual free night certificate, making it worth keeping long term: This card gives you one annual free night certificate valid at eligible IHG properties, limited to hotels costing 40,000 points or less (list of IHG hotels that are not eligible). Even with this restriction, it is still fairly easy to get more than the $99 annual fee in value, since 40,000-point hotels often cost $150+. The annual free night certificate can also be used for properties costing more than 40,000 points if you top off the difference with points.
• Fourth night free on award stays: After you have this card, when you redeem IHG points for three consecutive nights, you can get the fourth night free. In other words, four nights only cost 75% of the usual points.
• 20% discount on buying points: When purchasing IHG points on the IHG website, you can receive a 20% discount. This 20% discount cannot be stacked with IHG’s points sales discounts, which are often 80%. In addition, buying points indirectly through C+P bookings can also keep your cost around 0.6c per point. So this 20% off benefit is basically meaningless. Summary of points purchase promotions
• Complimentary IHG Platinum status: Enjoy IHG hotel benefits such as bonus points on stays and room upgrades. Spending $40,000 earns Diamond status. You can also get extra savings on gas via Fuel Rewards.
• $50 UA Travel Bank credit: Each year you get $50 in Travel Bank credit: $25 from Jan-Jun and $25 from Jul-Dec. The credit expires 6 months after being issued. You need to link your UA and IHG accounts, and then the $25 will be issued automatically (link here). This credit can be automatically used when booking tickets on the UA website, and any unused amount expires after six months.
• Big spending bonus: Spend $20,000 to earn an extra 10,000 points and $100 cash back.
• Up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry/TSA PreCheck
• Cell phone protection: We received notice that this card’s benefits were updated. Price Protection and Master Concierge were removed, and the more practical Cell Phone Protection was added. It provides up to $800 in coverage for lost or damaged cell phones (the older IHG card version had $600 coverage), as long as you pay your monthly cell phone bill with this card. This is another reason the card can be worth keeping long term.

Drawbacks

• IHG points are worth only about 0.6c each, so this card is not a great everyday spending card unless you are staying at IHG hotels.

Introduction to IHG Points

• Point value: The average value is about 0.6 c/p, so 100 IHG = $0.6 (Points Value and Analysis). In other words, a hotel night worth $60 would generally require about 10k IHG points.
• How to redeem: You can search and book directly on the IHG.com website. Hotels are divided into 11 award tiers, with redemption rates ranging from 10k to 70k points. Cash + Points redemptions are also available. If you have the IHG Premier credit card, when redeeming points for three consecutive nights, you can get the fourth night free. That means four nights cost only 75% of the points normally required.
• IHG Points Break: Points Break is a member promotion unique to IHG. Each quarter, around 100 hotels are selected from IHG’s 5000 properties worldwide and offered at redemption rates of 5000, 10000, or 15000 points per night. Based on the common valuation of IHG points at 0.6 cents per point, that means you can redeem a free night at these hotels for the equivalent of just $30/$60/$90. Sometimes this is far below the normal cash rate, so popular properties are often snapped up as soon as bookings open. See also: Introduction and Analysis of IHG Points Break
• Point expiration: If there is no activity in your IHG account for 12 months, your points will expire. If you hold a co-branded credit card or have IHG Gold status or higher, your points will not expire.
• My take: If you want to get strong value from IHG points, they are often best used for hotels near major attractions or during special high-demand periods, such as New Year’s Eve in Times Square, New York. IHG’s strength is its broad footprint and large number of properties across the U.S., so it is usually easy to put your points to use. Points Break awards can be as low as 5k points per night, which can be an excellent deal if you can take advantage of them.
• Related credit cards: Chase IHG Premier , Chase IHG Rewards Club (older version)
• Detailed analysis: Introduction to IHG Points and Elite Status

My Take

I believe the main reason many people keep the old IHG card in the drawer is that paying a $49 annual fee in exchange for a free night at any IHG hotel worldwide was an incredible deal. For example, on New Year’s Eve, IHG hotels in Times Square often sell for $1,500+, and a single free night certificate could cover that, which was amazing value. In the new version, the free night certificate is now limited to eligible hotels under 40,000 points, which is definitely a significant devaluation. Still, it is not hard to get enough value to justify the $99 annual fee.

The previous 10% points rebate was changed to the fourth night free benefit, which is effectively a 25% discount and is excellent for people who stay longer. Of course, it is less flexible than getting a straightforward 10% points rebate. From IHG’s perspective, the cost of these two benefits is probably similar. Earning 10x points on IHG purchases may also persuade many people to use the IHG card instead of a general travel card, since 10x points is roughly equivalent to 5% back. As for the Global Entry credit, that benefit is already everywhere and most people probably already have it on another card.

Also, the extra 20% discount on purchased points may seem interesting. IHG frequently sells points with a 100% bonus, which means the cost is about 0.5 cents per point. If that could be combined with the 20% discount, then the cost would drop to just 0.4 cents per point. And if those purchased points were used for a four-night stay with the fourth night free benefit, the lodging cost would be even lower. If it really worked that way, plenty of people would likely be willing to buy or even stockpile IHG points for future stays.

[Update 2022.9] According to US Credit Card Guide, some users are now receiving targeted IHG mail offers that include a separate Invitation Code. Based on the terms in the letter, you only need to have not received a welcome bonus on the IHG Premier card within the past 24 months; it does not mention the old IHG card. Under the normal application link, cardholders of the old card generally cannot get approved anymore (since after 2022.3, applications for the new card have not been possible through the regular route). There are already data points showing that this restriction can indeed be bypassed, allowing people with the old card to get approved for the new card.

If You Already Have the Old IHG Card

[Update 2022.1 #2] According to M2M, Chase’s IHG co-branded card lineup was about to add a one-card-per-brand-family rule, meaning if you hold one of these co-branded cards, you cannot apply for another. This rule officially took effect in March 2022.

[Expired] Fresh data points: readers Jerry and 栗子 (2020.1 DP) had already held the old IHG credit card for a year and were also at 9/24 (9 new cards in the last 24 months). Today they applied for the new IHG Premier card and were instantly approved. It seems Chase was fairly generous: the new card counted as a new product and did not have the 5/24 restriction added (it probably does now). Personally, I think that although the Free Night benefit has been restricted, it still easily justifies the annual fee. And having the Free Night certificates from both IHG cards together is obviously even more useful. There was also a potentially huge sweet spot: use the old card’s 10% rebate together with the new card’s fourth-night-free benefit, which could create a points redemption discount of over 30%. In addition, combining that with a 20% discount on purchased points could lower hotel costs even further.

Free Night: If you hold both the old card and this new card at the same time, you will get two Free Night certificates.

Stacking with fourth night free: If you book four consecutive nights with points, the points required for the fourth night will automatically be deducted at checkout. In addition, if you hold the old IHG card, the 10% rebate will be returned to you about a month after the points are used. My understanding is that both of these benefits are tied to your account, so it does not matter which credit card you actually use to check in or pay. If you have both cards, then on every 4-night booking, 13,500 points can get you 20,000 points of value (assuming 5,000 points per night, four nights would normally require 15,000 points with the fourth night free, and then a 10% rebate brings the final cost down to 13,500). That means the points value is effectively boosted by 48%. If you have a large IHG points balance, holding both the old and new IHG cards is a very good option. And if the hotel you need also happens to be available on Points Break, the value would be incredible.

Application

• The minimum approved credit line on this card is $2,000.
• Since this is a co-branded card with IHG hotels, if you already have an IHG membership number, you can enter it on the application (otherwise one will be assigned automatically).
• If you already hold the old IHG credit card, you may not be able to apply for this new card; some mail offers with a code can bypass this restriction.

Chase Credit Card Application Guide

• Chase application status check link (login required). Or call: 888-338-2586
• The 5/24 rule: if you have opened more than 5 new cards in the past 2 years (including cards from other banks), you will not be approved for a new Chase card
• You can be approved for at most two Chase credit cards within every 30 days
• If you have received the welcome bonus on this card within the past 24 months (48 months for the Sapphire family), your application will be automatically denied
• You can call the reconsideration line (800-453-9719) to expedite card approval or request a review of a denied application.
• Having a Chase Checking account can help with getting approved for a credit card
• More on applying for Chase credit cards

Application Link