Rewards Plan
Sign up Bonus
Credit Rating
0% Intro
Annual Fee
APR
- Big Rewards on all IGH purchases
- Quality sign-up bonus
- Not For Everyday Purchases
- Annual Fee
Rewards Plan
Sign up Bonus
0% Intro
PROS
- Big Rewards on all IGH purchases
- Quality sign-up bonus
CONS
- Not For Everyday Purchases
- Annual Fee
APR
20.74% - 27.74% Variable
Annual Fee
$99
Balance Transfer Fee
5%
Credit Requirements
Good - Excellent
The IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card has a great rewards rate on all IHG purchases, as well as other fantastic benefits for frequent IHG customers. IHG is the owner of a large group of hotels, including Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, StayBridge Suites, and others
IHG offers 10 IHG Rewards points per dollar spent on hotel stays with the IHG brand when you pay with your credit card, 2 points per $1 spent on purchases at gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants and point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
As a sign up bonus, you'll earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. However, the card charges 20.74% - 27.74% Variable as an annual fee , and it's APR ($99 ) is a bit high and not recommended for those who carry debt in their card.
- Big Rewards on All IGH Purchases
- Automatic Platinum Status
- Many Hotels to Choose From
- Quality Sign-up Bonus
- Free Nights Stay
- Annual Fee
- Not For Everyday Purchases
- Rewards Limited to Hotel Redemption
What Purchases Don't Earn Points?
The IHG Rewards Club Premier card has a tiered reward structure, which means that you can earn points on practically any purchase. There are some exceptions, which are not uncommon across all credit card providers.
This includes cash equivalent purchases such as gift cards and topping up pre paid cards, interest fees and other similar charges.
How Much Are 10,000 Miles/Points Worth?
The points value for the IHG program can fluctuate in value depending on how you redeem them. Some hotel deals will cost more according to the cash value, demand and other factors.
Typically, you can expect a redemption value of $0.005 per point. This means that if you have 10,000 points, they will be worth approximately $50.
How's the IHG Hotel Network?
IHG has over 6,000 hotel locations across 100 countries. Here in the US, there are over 3,800 hotels and resort locations. This means that it should be quite easy to find an IHG location wherever you’re traveling.
When Should You Consider It?
As an IHG branded card, the card rewards are heavily weighted towards IHG stays and purchases with up to 25 points per dollar. So, if you’re brand loyal to IHG when you travel and want to still enjoy rewards for other purchases, this is a good card choice.
When Shouldn't You Consider It?
If you’re not particularly brand loyal to IHG and don’t have strong preferences about which hotel chain you use, there are other travel cards that have general categories, which can provide decent rewards.
These cards typically have a tiered structure, so you can also earn decent rewards on your everyday purchases.
In This Review..
Benefits
Let’s take a closer look at the benefits and drawbacks of the IHG One Rewards Premier Card – and whether or not it’s right for your wallet…
- Big Rewards on All IGH Purchases
When you use your IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card on any IHG purchase, you’ll earn 10 IHG Rewards points per dollar spent on hotel stays with the IHG brand when you pay with your credit card, 2 points per $1 spent on purchases at gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants and point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
You’ll net 25 IHG Rewards points per dollar spent on purchases at IHG hotels. This point earning breaks down as follows:
- 10 IHG Rewards points per dollar for paying with your credit card
- 10 IHG Rewards points per dollar as an IHG loyalty member
- 5 IHG Rewards points per dollar for being a Platinum Elite member
These points are redeemable for free night stays at IHG hotels, upgrades for rooms, and other IHG purchases that you might need.
- Automatic Platinum Status
When you own a IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card, you immediately get the Platinum status of the card. This is something that is extremely rare to see done, especially since it is being done at no extra charge to the card holder.
By holding a platinum status, the card holder gets many extra features, including free upgraded rooms when available, guaranteed availability whenever you travel and stay in an IHG hotel, and priority check-in when arriving at the hotel you choose to stay at.
- Many Hotels to Choose From
IHG is the owner of a large group of hotels, including Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, StayBridge Suites, and others.
This gives the card holder any different options when looking at hotels, and also gives them the freedom to stay in more places, as each hotel chain adds more locations than if it were just one single chain.
- Quality Sign-up Bonus
When you apply and get approved for an IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card, you automatically get 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
This is valuated at +$400 value, which is certainly a great start that can help plan your next trip. These points are immediately redeemable once the $2,000 mark is achieved, and can go towards any type of IHG purchase that you might need.
- Free Nights Stay
When you use the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card to book any three nights in a row at an IHG hotel, you will get the fourth night free.
Not only is this a great perk, but when every year you have an active IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card, IHG gives you a free one night stay at any IHG hotel.
The free night stays offered here go far beyond most other travel credit cards, especially since these are recurring features
Drawbacks
Here are the most important cons you should consider before applying:
- Annual Fee
This card does have an annual fee of $99 , with a variable APR of 20.74% – 27.74% Variable.
You will also need good/excellent standing credit to have a chance at getting approved for the card, so this does mean that if you are building/rebuilding your credit score then you should consider other alternatives.
- Not For Everyday Purchases
When the card does offer great perks for IHG purchases, the everyday purchases are average at best.
- Rewards Limited to Hotel Redemption
Because the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card is strictly a IHG travel rewards card, there are really not rewards or benefits to speak of outside of being able to use it to redeem hotel perks.
If you are not a frequent traveler or are looking for more flexible rewards options, then this card isn’t right for you.
Is the IHG One Rewards Premier Card Right for You?
At the end of the day, the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card has truly incredible travel rewards that are extremely hard to match when it comes to other travel rewards credit cards. The free nights, sign-up bonus, and platinum status are all exceptional benefits that would please any cardholder.
This card is certainly designed for IHG customers and larger IHG purchases, so if you are looking for a more versatile hotel or travel credit card, then this might not be the rught card for you.
With this being said, this card is certainly designed for IHG customers and larger IHG purchases and the rewards are limited to IHG trips, so someone looking for a rewards card with more rewards options will want to consider other cards.
Compare The Alternatives
There are more hotel cards – here are some good alternatives to the IHG One Rewards Premier card:
|
|
| |
|---|---|---|---|
World of Hyatt Credit Card | Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card | Hilton Honors American Express Card | |
Annual Fee | $95 | $95 | $0 |
Rewards |
1X – 4X
4 bonus points per $1 spent for Hyatt stays and experiences including restaurants and spas, 2x for flights purchased directly from the airline, local transit, commuting, restaurants, fitness club, gym memberships and 1 bonus point per $1 spent on all other purchases
|
1x – 17X
up to 17X total Bonvoy points per $1 spent at over 7,000 hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy® with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Card, 3X on the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases each year on grocery stores, gas stations, and dining and 2X Bonvoy points for every $1 spent on all other purchases
|
3X – 7X
7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged directly with hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio, 5x points at U.S. restaurants (including takeout and delivery) U.S.supermarkets, U.S. gas stations and 3x points for each dollar on other eligible purchases
|
Welcome bonus |
30,000 points
30,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening
|
5 Free Nights
5 Free Nights (each night valued up to 50,000 points) after qualifying purchases
|
80,000 points
80,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points and a Free Night Reward after you spend $1,000 in purchases on the Card in the first 3 months of Card Membership
|
Foreign Transaction Fee | $0 | 0%. | $0. See Rates and Fees. |
Purchase APR | 20.99%–27.99% Variable | 20.99% – 27.99% Variable | 20.99%-29.99% Variable
|
FAQ
While the IHG One Rewards Premier card does have a number of travel benefits, car rental insurance is not included in the list of perks. This means that even if you pay for your car rental with your card, you’ll not benefit from any supplemental insurance coverage.
The IHG Rewards program has a number of partner brands that allows you to redeem your points for flights. The list of partner airlines includes American Airlines, British Airways, Alaska Airlines, Delta, Emirates, Jet Blue, Qantas, and Virgin Atlantic. However, the point conversion ratio will depend on which partner program you choose.
There is no official guideline of what credit limit you can expect, but many customers have reported an initial credit limit of $2,000. However, if you have good creditworthiness and sufficient income, you may receive a higher initial credit limit
Your points will expire if there is 12 months of no account activity. So, you’ll need to earn points or redeem them at least once per year to avoid your points expiring.
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