Update: It looks like we now have details about the new Chase IHG $89 annual fee card. More information on that here.
Currently the Chase IHG card is not showing on the Chase website (doesn’t show under the travel card section and the official link leads to an error). The card is still available for new sign ups though (and advertised on the IHG site), currently the best link is offering 60,000 points & a $50 statement credit. There are some unconfirmed reports that the Chase IHG card will be replaced with two new cards in April:
- One card with a $29 annual fee
- Another card with a $89 annual fee
- Neither card comes with a free night certificate
- $89 annual fee card will offer 10x points on IHG spend
Chase sent out a survey regarding potential card changes last year. Those options were as follows:
- $85 annual fee, 80,000 point sign up bonus + free night certificate annually (10x on IHG)
- $29 annual fee, 60,000 point sign up bonus + no free night certificate annually (5x on IHG)
I suspect those survey cards are more likely, I can’t see Chase/IHG offering a card with an $89 annual fee and no free night certificate. That being said it’s possible that current IHG cardholders will be grandfathered into the current card and in that case signing up for the card now to lock in a $49 annual fee with the free night certificate would be a good option. The IHG free night certificate is in my opinion one of the best credit card perks, even at $89/$85 it provides value but just not as much as at the $49 price point.
It should also be noted that Chase frequently removes cards from the website, especially over the weekend. I’d tend to give this sort of thing more weight when it was still not there by Tuesday. We were actually holding off on posting because of this.
Should You Apply Now?
Chase usually grandfathers existing cardholders into the old terms. That means you’d be getting a free night certificate for $49 per year instead of $85/$89 (assuming that card has a free night certificate). The highest sign up bonus we’ve seen on the Chase IHG card is 100,000 points with 80,000 being the standard offer and what I’d expect the new card to have. Personally I’d take the annual fee at $49 instead of $85/$89 and get 20,000 less IHG points. The current offer also has a $50 statement credit. The current Chase IHG card is not subjected to the Chase 5/24 rule and I suspect this will remain the case for any new cards as well but again you never know.
