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Chase has recently unveiled new welcome offers on its IHG Rewards credit cards. The IHG® Rewards Premier credit card has had its welcome offer raised to 175,000 points (the all-time highest points offer we’ve seen on this card) and the no annual fee IHG® Rewards Traveler credit card has had its welcome offer raised to an incredible 120,000 points (also a highest-ever offer). In the right hands, both cards can be excellent additions to a credit card portfolio and with these increased welcome offers they’re clearly worth a closer look.
IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card
I’ve already written a detailed review of the IHG® Rewards Premier Card (I called it the “must have card” for IHG fans) so I’m not going to going to go into great detail all over again, but here are the key things you should know about this card:
Annual fee
- $99
Welcome bonus
- Earn 175,000 IHG Rewards points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening (link to more details).
Note: This product is not available to current cardmembers of any IHG Rewards personal credit card, or previous cardmembers of any IHG Rewards personal credit card who received a new cardmember bonus for that credit card within the last 24 months.
Earnings
- 10 points/dollar on spending at IHG properties worldwide
- 5 points/dollar on spending at restaurants
- 5 points/dollar on spending at gas stations
- 5 points/dollar on travel spending
- 3 points/dollar on spending in all other categories
IHG Rewards members using this card to pay for stays at full-service IHG properties will earn 26 points/dollar on all IHG spending during their stay.
Key benefits
- Get a certificate of a free night at properties costing up to 40,000 points/night every year. The certificate can be topped up with points for more expensive bookings.
- IHG Rewards Platinum elite status for as long as the card is held
- Get the 4th night free on IHG award bookings of 4 nights or more
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit of up to $100 every 4 years
- 10,000 bonus points after a cardholder spends $20,000 and makes one additional purchase each account anniversary year.
- Save 20% on points purchases*
- No foreign transaction fees
Find out how to apply for the Chase IHG® Rewards Premier Card
IHG Rewards Traveler Credit Card
There’s a detailed review of the IHG® Rewards Traveler credit card here, but I can save you some time by telling you that I love this card just as much now as I did when Chase reduced its annual fee to zero – how many other credit cards that don’t charge an annual fee can you name that come with a welcome bonus as good as this one and will give you a 4th night free on all award bookings?
As with the IHG Rewards Premier card, I’m not about to go over a lot of ground I’ve gone over before, but here are the key details you should know about this card:
Annual fee
- $0 (zero)
Welcome bonus
- Earn 120,000 IHG Rewards points after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening (link to more details).
Note: This product is not available to current cardmembers of any IHG Rewards personal credit card, or previous cardmembers of any IHG Rewards personal credit card who received a new cardmember bonus for that credit card within the last 24 months.
Earnings
- Up to 17 points/dollar on spending at IHG Hotels & Resorts worldwide*
- 3 points/dollar on spending at gas stations
- 3 points/dollar on spending on utilities
- 3 points/dollar on spending at restaurants
- 3 points/dollar on spending on select streaming services
- 2 points/dollar on spending in all other categories
*Includes 5x earnings from this card, 10x for being an IHG Rewards member, and 2x for holding Silver Elite status (a benefit of this card).
Key Benefits
- Get the 4th night free on IHG award bookings of 4 nights or more
- Save 20% on points purchases*
- No foreign transaction fees
- Silver Elite status
- Gold Elite status after spending $20,000 on the card in a calendar year and making one additional purchase.
*Does not apply when IHG Rewards is selling points at a discount
Find out how to apply for the Chase IHG Rewards Traveler Card
Bottom Line
Here we have two credit cards that both offer excellent value and which now also offer welcome bonuses that are well worth considering.
If you’re a big fan of IHG Rewards and are only in the market for one of these cards, the IHG® Rewards Premier credit card is the clear choice to go for as it offers the best all-around package.
For travelers who don’t stay at IHG properties with any great frequency but who are looking to boost their earnings when they do stay with IHG and who want access to the highly valuable 4th-night free benefit on award bookings, the IHG® Rewards Traveler credit card is probably the better fit – with no annual fee and a huge 120,000 point welcome offer this is a credit card that’s now very hard to resist.
Just want to clarify…if one holds the legacy IHG card (the one with the $49 annual fee, not the Premier), is one eligible for the bonus on the Traveler card?
No, unfortunately not.
The relevant paragraph above was poorly written (now edited) so to be clear, you can’t get the welcome bonus on either card if you already hold another personal IHG Rewards Card.
Waiting for some 175k love for the business card.