IHG Premier Card

Next up in the IHG card review comes the Premier Card, which is the next step up from the IHG Traveler Card and comes with a $99 annual fee. After a nice stay recently at the Kimpton Marlowe in Cambridge, these cards have been on my mind, but I don’t know if I’ve been convinced to swap over to them as my hotel loyalty program of choice.

I provide the information here just to give readers a vague idea if the rewards offered by the card might make sense for them to consider the card.  All information should be confirmed with the card company before applying.

Welcome Offer

At the time of posting, the IHG Premier credit card has a limited time welcome offer of 140 000 IHG points after you spend $3 000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.  The number of points is very high for a $99 annual fee card, but IHG points are not a particularly valuable currency.  They have a value of around 0.5 ¢/pt, which is on par with Hilton points. The no annual fee Traveler Card currently has a welcome offer of 80 000 IHG points, so the extra 60 000 IHG points (worth around $300) I would argue justify the $99 annual fee for the first year.

Earnings

The IHG Premier card has a three-tiered structure with different categories than the Traveler Card: 10x points at IHG (5%); 5x points on travel, dining, and gas stations (2.5%); and 3x points on all other purchases (1.5%).  The non-IHG earning rates are alright; though not quite as good as the Hilton Amex cards, they’re a bit stronger than the earnings on most Marriott Bonvoy cards (e.g. the Bonvoy Boundless).

Benefits

For a (relatively low) $99 annual fee, this card provides substantial perks over its no annual fee sibling.  For starters, the card provides Platinum Elite Status with IHG, which is strictly better than anything offered by the no annual fee card (but is the same status offered by the Chase Sapphire Reserve now).  Platinum status offers the 4^th night free on points redemptions, 60% bonus points, late checkout, and a welcome amenity.  The card offers a free night award worth up to 40 000 points, which arguably more than justifies the annual fee assuming you stay at IHG hotels at least once per year. As a spending incentive, the card also offers 10 000 bonus points and a $100 statement credit after spending $20 000 on the card in a calendar year, which is an OK incentive. (It works out to be a 0.75% bonus return). If you spend at least $40 000 on the card in a calendar year, you get upgraded to IHG Diamond Status, which is the status level that offers free breakfast.

How to use the points

The main use for IHG points is to redeem them for stays at IHG hotels.  IHG has a large global footprint, but many of its brands are less aspirational and more functional than many of the Hilton/Hyatt/Marriott brands.  I rarely stay at IHG properties, so I don’t have substantial insight to offer yet.

Examples of using the card

These examples assume you spend all your hotel budget at IHG.

Spend per month

	Example A		Example B		Example C		Example D
Groceries (3x)	$300	900	$200	600	$600	1 800	$400	1 200
Gas (5x)	$0	0	$100	500	$200	1 000	$100	1 500
Airfare (5x)	$700	3 500	$200	1 000	$0	0	$400	2 000
Hotels (10x)	$1 000	10 000	$200	2 000	$0	0	$300	3 000
Gen Travel (3x)	$400	1 200	$0	0	$300	900	$100	300
Dining (5x)	$600	3 000	$300	1 500	$300	1 500	$0	0
General (3x)	$1 000	3 000	$500	1 500	$500	1 500	$400	1 200
Total	$4 000	21 600	$1 500	7 100	$1 700	6 700	$1 700	9 200
Average points/$		5.40		4.73		3.94		5.41

The IHG Premier card’s broad and rewarding bonus categories mean that the average points earned has a large range of 3.94 – 5.41 points/$, which is worth 1.97 – 2.70 ¢/$. This is a substantial improvement over the no annual fee card (0.5 – 1.25% better return per dollar spent), with the valuation of 0.5 ¢/point. The low value of IHG points means that although this card earns substantial numbers of points, there are likely to be better cards for most categories.

Specific examples

These examples include the bonus points earned from getting IHG Elite Platinum status from the card.

Card	World Traveller ($750)  (% return)	IHG Hotel night ($230/night)	Points values (WT/Hotel)
No rewards card	2 728 (4.9%)	2 200 IP (4.8%)	$37.10 / $11.00
General 2% cashback card ($0)	2 728 + $15.00 (6.9%)	2 200 IP + $4.60 (6.8%)	$52.10 / $15.60
Chase Sapphire Preferred ($95)	2 728 Avios + 1 500 UR (7.9%)	2 200 IP + 460 UR (7.8%)	$59.60 / $17.90
Amex Green Card ($150)	2 728 Avios + 2 250 MR (9.1%)	2 200 IP + 690 MR (9.3%)	$68.60 / $21.35
IHG Premier Card ($99)	2 728 Avios + 1 500 IP (5.9%)	5 720 IP (12.5%)	$42.60 / $28.85

Is this credit card right for you?

If you stay at IHG hotels with any frequency, this is a great card to pick.  The free night award should cover the annual fee easily, and the Platinum Elite Status is a great perk if you don’t already have a Chase Sapphire Reserve.  In addition, the bonus points should provide additional value over some simpler cards.  I don’t often stay at IHG hotels, but if I did, I’d definitely pick up this card.  I’d argue this card is one of the better mid-tier hotel credit cards.  I definitely recommend this card strongly over the no annual fee card if you stay at IHG hotels at all.  And I don’t recommend an IHG credit card if you don’t stay at IHG hotels.