Chase IHG Premier & IHG Traveler Cards – Application Links Now Live

Update: Application links are now live. Traveler card worse than expected, requires $10,000 in spend for gold status but really a minor detail given how bad the card is. This is a true devaluation across the board when it comes to IHG credit cards.

Chase has updated their website and it now contains mention of two IHG credit cards:

• Traveler
• Premier

Let’s take a look at each card in more detail.

Chase IHG Premier Card

• Annual fee of $89 (not waived first year)
• Sign up bonus of 80,000 points after $2,000 in spend within the first three months (you can also get another $50 statement credit by doing a dummy booking)
• 5,000 bonus points after you add an authorized user and they make their first purchase
• Card earns at the following rates:
  • 10x points per $1 spent on IHG properties
  • 2x points per $1 spent on gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants
  • 1x points per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Free night certificate on card anniversary, this is limited to properties that cost 40,000 or fewer points
• Automatic Platinum elite status
• Fourth Reward Night Free on any stay of 4 or more nights
• 20% discount when purchasing points
• Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee credit
• 10,000 bonus points when you spend $20,000 or more and make one additional purchase each account anniversary year

Chase IHG Traveler Card

• Annual fee of $29 (not waived first year)
• Sign up bonus of 60,000 points after $2,000 in spend within the first three months
• 5,000 bonus points after you add an authorized user and they make their first purchase
• Card earns at the following rates:
  • 5x points per $1 spent on IHG properties
  • 2x points per $1 spent on gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants
  • 1x points per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Gold elite status when you spend $10,000 on your card each calendar year
• Fourth Reward Night Free on any stay of 4 or more nights
• 20% discount when purchasing points

Card Benefits

These benefits apply to both cards.

Fourth Night Free

For every reward night stay of 4 or more nights, the fourth night is free. Must be at the same property, you will be charged for the first three nights and then the fourth night will be charged 0 points (e.g it’s not a rebate so you can book if you only have enough points for three nights).

20% discount when purchasing points

When purchasing points you’ll receive a 20% discount when using this card.

Our Verdict

Overall both cards are disappointing, especially when compared to the previous card. The Premier card has had the annual fee increased by $40 and the only material benefit compared to the old card is the fact it earns 10x points per $1 spent at IHG instead of 5x (it does now have fourth night free, but no 10% rebate and I’d argue that is more valuable to a lot of people). The free night certificate has been gutted and now only applies to properties that cost 40,000 points or less per night.

I can’t see any reason to hold the Traveler card, it basically has no real benefits and still carries a $29 annual fee. I guess some people might get some value out of the fourth night free benefit/20% points discount but in that case you’d need to ask yourself it it’s worth paying the extra $69 in annual fees to get the free award night on the Premier card. I’m actually quite surprised that they are requiring $10,000 in spend on the Traveler card to get gold status. Nobody is going to do that, or at least nobody should be doing that.

Overall I think most people will find that these cards are now in the sign up and then cancel category. Even that might not be a popular option given that they are no longer waiving the annual fees the first year. Keeping the Premier card long term might make sense if you really get value out of the free night certificate, but that’s far from the easy decision it once was. It’s also worth remembering that Chase mentioning an ‘exciting upgrade opportunity’ for existing IHG cardholders, still no clue what that opportunity will be, I guess it means that existing cardholders won’t be automatically product changed. If that’s the case then keeping the Select card long term might make sense given how superior it is to these lackluster cards.

F.A.Q

Am I eligible for the sign up bonus?

The terms on both cards state the standard ‘This product is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of this credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of this credit card who received a new cardmember bonus for this credit card within the last 24 months’ language. Given that nobody is a current or previous cardmember of either card, you should be eligible for both sign up bonuses. Chase might consider existing/previous IHG Select cardholders as falling under this rule, but according to the fine print this shouldn’t be the case.

Does the 5/24 rule applied to these cards?

No hard data points yet, it didn’t apply to the previous IHG card. Update: One datapoint shows that the Premier card doesn’t fall under 5/24.

Is the old IHG card still available?

Yes, this application link is still working. Don’t forget to ask for a match to the 80,000 point offer if you do apply.

Can I use my free night as part of the fourth night free benefit?

Both cards come with ‘Fourth Reward Night Free’ benefit. The fine print specifically talks about point redemptions, e.g (emphasis mine):

Applies only to 4 or more consecutive nights within the same Reward Night point redemption room stay at the same property

So I believe that you won’t be able to use the free night in conjunction with this benefit.

Can I hold the old select card and the new cards?

According to this datapoint, yes. Another DP here.

Can I get multiple free night certificates by holding Premier & Select cards?

Not entirely clear, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t be possible.

Can I apply for both of the new cards?

You can, still waiting on approval/denial data points though.

Do I receive the 20% discount on points purchased when paying for a cash + points stay?

This isn’t specifically addressed in the fine print. If we find an answer we will update.

I see mention of other IHG cards, what are these?

I assume you’re looking here. Those are old IHG cards that have been discontinued unfortunately.

Hat tip to reader Boxy