Chase Offer for IHG cardholders: $50 back when spending $499.99+ on airfare

The Deal

• IHG cardholders can receive $50 cash back on an online airfare purchase of $499.99 or more made directly with an airline.
  • The $499.99 threshold must be reached in one purchase
  • $50 maximum cash back
  • Valid one time only
  • Expires  1/31/26

Terms and Conditions

• Offer expires 1/31/2026.
• Offer not valid on purchase made through Chase Travel.
• Offer valid online only.
• Offer not valid on gift card purchase.
• Purchase must be made directly with the merchant, not through a third party or delivery service.
• Offer valid one time only.
• It is possible that the merchant may split your purchase into multiple transactions. Offer redemption awarded as statement credit on the first qualifying transaction amount. Payment must be made in full at time of purchase.
• Payment must be made on or before 1/31/2026.
• Only purchases for airline tickets made directly with the airline will qualify. Other air travel-related purchases will not qualify; for example, in-flight purchases, the purchasing of airline miles or points, non-ticket purchases made within the airport, and airline tickets purchased through travel agencies, discount travel sites, vacation clubs, tour operators, or tickets booked as part of a travel package offered by non-airline merchants.

Quick Thoughts

This is a good offer if you have airfare to buy, although the closer you can stay to $500, the better. The terms specifically exclude gift card purchases, but I’ve seen reports that online AA gift card purchases will trigger the offer. That said, in most cases, it’s probably more reliable to buy an actual ticket, wait 24 hours, then cancel it and bank the credit towards a future flight.

Both the IHG Premier and Business Premier cards earn 5x points on airline purchases. However, we only value IHG points at ~0.6 cents each, and the travel protections on the IHG cards are a significant step down from better travel cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® or Sapphire Reserve®…two more reasons to keep your purchase amount as close to $500 as possible.

It’s also worth noting that, unlike Amex Offers, Chase Offers can be targeted to and used on multiple cards. If you are targeted on both an IHG personal and business card (or the old IHG Select), you can use the offer on each one.