Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is almost done! The last two weeks Greg, Nick, and Stephen competed to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines. But who completed the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
Today, Chase increased the welcome offers on both of its IHG consumers cards. The points haul on the IHG Premier and Traveler cards remain at 140,000 and 80,000 IHG points respectively, but the updated offers also add statement credits good towards IHG stays. The Premier card gets a $100 credit and the Traveler card gets $50. We’ve seen 140K offers in the past, but this is the first time I recall seeing a statement credit as well (as opposed to a waived annual fee).
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 |
|---|
80K Points ⓘ Affiliate 80K 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
If it weren’t for the recent 175K offer that we saw on the Premier, this would rank as one of the better ones that we’ve seen in the last few years. Now, it feels a little ho-hum.
We recently redid our Reasonable Redemption Values for IHG points and found that they went up slightly in value, to .63 cents each. That would make the welcome offer on the Premier worth ~$830, the most valuable for of the three IHG cards on our Best Offers Page. Even the no-fee traveler card has a bonus worth ~$500, decent for a no-annual fee card.
While that’s the value you can expect when not cherry-picking awards, I find that I’m often able to get much higher value by doing exactly that, and can usually get around .7cpp-1.0cpp. Given that, I think that the Premier is worth the extra required spend, as well as the annual fee (my wife and I each hold one, as well as an old $49 IHG Select).
The Premier card comes with an annual free night certificate that’s awarded every card anniversary. IHG increased the utility of these certificates for Premier cardholders last year as part of an overhaul of 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 Seville, 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. This is a great feature and makes it much easier to max out the value of these certificates.
To me, the cert is easily worth the $99 annual fee, making this card a keeper even after the the first year anniversary.
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I spent $20000. Probably reached that goal a month or two ago, and just noticed I received the 10000 bonus points. Any idea how the $100 credit will show up?
Tim, you said you have the Premier and the $49 IHG Select. Is it still possible to get a Premier (or Traveler) if I continue to keep my Select?
No, only the Business card.
Hi guys, lots of buzz going on around the IHG loyalty program with their recent refresh and some new changes (better suite upgrade awards, Iberostar integration). Any chance you guys can do a podcast episode about where IHG ranks now compared to Hilton/Marriott.
I’ve found a lot of value out of IHG and personally have it number 2 behind Hyatt but that’s not really a fair comparison.
FWIW, I agree Den. Top tier at Hilton and Wyndham also, but IHG is #2 behind Hyatt (and often a better deal than Hyatt).