Today, Chase increased the welcome offer on the IHG Premier card to a whopping 185,000 IHG points, the best we’ve seen in terms of total points (there was a 5x60K free-night certificate offer previously).
The bonus is in two tiers: 150,000 bonus points are earned after spending $3K in the first 3 months from account opening, and an additional 35,000 bonus points after spending a total of $6K in the first 6 months from account opening.
The no-annual-fee IHG Traveler card also offers 125,000 points after a total of $4,000 in spend, which is among the best offers we’ve seen for that card as well.
I don’t have either of these offers in my referral links yet, but I imagine they will eventually, creating the opportunity for even more points through a household referral.
Key Card Details
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
 ⓘ $953 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates Up to 185K points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer Limited Time Offer: Earn 150,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months from account opening. Plus, earn 35,000 bonus points after spending a total of $6,000 in the first 6 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 the first 3 months (Expired 7/24/25) Earning rate: 10X IHG ✦ 5X travel, dining, and gas stations ✦ 3X on all other purchases Base: 3X (1.83%) Travel: 5X (3.05%) Flights: 5X (3.05%) Hotels: 5X (3.05%) Dine: 5X (3.05%) Gas: 5X (3.05%) Brand: 10X (6.1%) 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 ✦ Diamond status after $40K in purchases 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) ✦ Complimentary Instacart+ for 3 months (must activate by 12/31/27) ✦ $10 monthly Instacart credit ✦ $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS Statement Credit |
Quick Thoughts
Last year, we redid our Reasonable Redemption Values for IHG points and pegged the average redemption value at 0.61 cents per point. That would make this welcome offer worth ~$1000, one of the most valuable for a Chase consumer card on our Best Offers Page.
While that’s the value you can expect when not cherry-picking awards, I often get much higher value by doing exactly that, usually around 0.8 cpp-1.0cpp. Regardless of how selective you are, this is a terrific welcome offer and is worth pursuing if the IHG program suits your needs.
The Premier card comes with an annual free night certificate, awarded on every card anniversary. You can “top off” these 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. To me, that cert is easily worth the $99 annual fee, making this card a keeper even after the first year anniversary.
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