Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is happening now! Follow us as Greg, Nick, and Stephen compete to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines before November 23rd. Who will complete the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
Update 3/22/24: We’ve been informed that these increased IHG card offers will be ending on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, at 11:59 PM ET. If you’ve been thinking about jumping on one of these, now’s the time to take the leap.
Today, Chase increased the welcome offer on the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card to 165,000 IHG points after spending $3K within the first 3 months…a huge offer for the Premier. We’ve seen 140K offers quite a bit lately, but 165K comes in as one of the best that we’ve ever seen on this card, slightly below last year’s 175K offer.
In addition, the no annual fee IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card has had its welcome offer increased as well, to 100,000 points after $2K in spend within the first 3 months from account opening.
Key Card Details
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
140k points ⓘ Affiliate Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening$99 Annual Fee This card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (click here for details). Recent better offer: Five 60K free night certificates after $4K spend in 3 months (expired 9/4/24) Earning rate: 10X IHG ✦ 5X travel, dining, and gas stations ✦ 3X on all other purchases Card Info: Mastercard World Elite issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: 10K bonus points + $100 statement credit after you spend $20K in a calendar year + make one additional purchase ✦ Diamond status after $40K in purchases + one additional purchase in a calendar year Noteworthy perks: Anniversary free night e-certificate good at IHG properties up to 40K points per night ✦ Ability to add an unlimited number of points to a free night certificate to book a higher-level hotel ✦ Fourth night free on award stays ✦ 20% discount on points purchases ✦ Platinum elite status ✦ Up to $50 in United TravelBank cash per year (must register your card with your United account) |
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
100K Points ⓘ Affiliate Limited time offer - 100K points after $2K spend in 3 monthsNo Annual Fee Recent better offer: 120K after $2K spend (expired 7/4/22) FM Mini Review: A good no annual fee card for anyone who values the 4th night free benefit. Earning rate: ✦ 5X IHG ✦ 3x dining, gas stations utilities, cable, Internet, phone, and select streaming services ✦ 2X everywhere else Card Info: Mastercard World issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: 10K bonus points after $10K in purchases and one additional purchase each calendar year ✦ Gold status after $20K in purchases and one additional purchase each calendar year. Noteworthy perks: Fourth night free on award stays ✦ 20% discount on points purchases ✦ No foreign transaction fees |
Quick Thoughts
Our Reasonable Redemption Values pegs IHG points at .63 cents each. That would make the Premier welcome offer worth ~$1000, one of the most valuable for a Chase consumer card on our Best Offers Page.
While .63 cents per point (cpp) is what you can expect when you’re not cherry-picking awards, I find that I’m able to get much better value by doing exactly that, and often end up around .8cpp – 1.0cpp. Regardless of how selective you are, this is an excellent welcome offer and absolutely worth going for if the IHG program suits your needs.
The Premier card also comes with an annual free night certificate that’s awarded at each card anniversary. IHG increased the utility of these certificates for Premier cardholders back when they overhauled their rewards program. Now, you can “top off” the certificates by adding an unlimited number of points as necessary in order to book a standard room reward at a property with a higher point redemption level.
I did this in Spain, where I redeemed 40K certificates for a room at a Mr and Mrs Smith property that was 70K points/night by adding an additional 30K pts/night from my account. It’s an extremely useful feature that makes it much easier to max out the 40K value of the cert; and can make card a keeper when the the first year’s annual fee comes due
The 100,000 point offer on the IHG Traveler card is also good for a card which doesn’t have an annual fee and comes with IHG’s 4th night free benefit on award bookings. It only earns 5x when paying for IHG stays, but if you rarely pay for hotels anyway, then that lesser earning rate isn’t terribly important. That said, provided you can meet the extra $1,000 in spend that’s required for the Premier, it makes more sense to get the additional 65,000 bonus points, then product change to the Traveler card at renewal if you don’t want to pay the Premier’s annual fee.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
Just wondering if you could expedite the posting of the sign up bonus points on the IHG account when you met the requirement? Anyone had success?
I believe last year the business card elevated bonus offer went live soon after the personal card offer ended…hoping for that again this year!
Would’ve signed up for a Business card if it got an elevated offer 🙁
[…] you are into IHG One Rewards and staying in Holiday Inn type hotels for free, Chase has a new Signup Bonus offer for its IHG One Rewards Premier card. Annual fee is $99 and the signup bonus increased from 140k to 165k after a $3k minimum spend in […]
Signed up 1/31. Just received card. Chase in-bank unable to adjust IHG cards. Called Chase 800-698-0120. Told to call Chase IHG desk 888-211-9874. 1st rep said no changes possible. Elevated to supervisor. Told case being submitted to Marketing and I will hear back in mail. Any successful matches? If no match this card will be sock drawered until renewal date so I can at least get IHG status in 2025.
My P2 was able to successfully get it matched via secured message. Took a really long time, though. 2+ weeks.
Does anyone know if the personal and business IHG premier cards can deposit each of their annual $50 United TravelBank credits into the same United account?
I have this but plan to get the business version. Is this offer likely to trickle down to the biz card some time soon?
Waiting for an elevated Biz offer as well.
P2 got this card last month. Fingers crossed they’ll match this offer.
Been waiting for the elevated offer, it’s here going to get it. Plus go IHG TS coming in March Vegas for 75k. Good deal thanks FM!
You can’t get either of these if you have the old IHG card, correct?
Yeah, unfortunately, that’s correct. The only one that you’re eligible for a welcome offer on (without cancelling your old Select) is the Business card.
Tim- I have the old $49 card. Two Q’s: If I cancel my old card how long should I wait to apply for the 165k card offer? If I cancel my old card will they take back my anniversary free night I’ve already earned?
THANKS!
Hey Benson! No, previously-awarded certs are safe if you cancel a card. Once it goes to your IHG account, it’s yours. In terms of how long you have to wait, Chase’s rules are that you’re eligible for the bonus if you haven’t received a welcome bonus for another IHG card within the last 24 months. Assuming that’s you, you should be fine to apply within a week or so of cancelling, just to give the computers plenty of time to realize that you no longer have the card. I’ve heard of some folks getting approved within 2-3 days of cancelling, but unless there’s a reason you need to rush, I’d just give it a week to be sure.
how about the business card?
The business card is unchanged.
hopefully it gets increased in the next few days
It usually does seem to follow. The last time that the Premier went up, the business card followed after ~2 months. We’ll see what happens this time.