Chase and IHG have officially unveiled their newest credit card, the IHG Premier Select Card. This card is likely intended to compete with other higher annual fee hotel cards, such as the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy and Bountiful cards or the highest annual fee hotel cards, like the Hilton Aspire Card but at a more tolerable price point. The IHG Premier Select Card comes with a $350 annual fee currently.
This blog is for entertainment purposes only and is not financial advice. 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. The information on this page has been collected independently, and 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 200 000 IHG points after you spend $5 000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. The number of points is very high, even for a $350 annual fee card, but IHG points are not a particularly valuable currency. They have a value of around 0.5 ¢/pt, which is about on par with Hilton points. Compared to the no annual fee Traveler Card’s current welcome offer of 125 000 IHG points, the extra 75 000 IHG points is worth around $375, which could justify the additional annual fee in the first year alone.
Earnings
The IHG Premier Select card has a three-tiered structure with different categories than the Traveler Card: 12x points at IHG (6%); 6x points on all other travel and dining (3%); and 3x points on all other purchases (1.5%). The non-IHG earning rates are workable; although they are generally 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). Though I could definitely see 6x points on all other travel making this a good card for public transit-type purchases.
Benefits
For a sizeable $350 annual fee, this card provides substantial perks. Like the Premier Card, this Premier Select card provides Platinum Elite Status with IHG (which is the same status offered by the Chase Sapphire Reserve now). Platinum status offers the 4th night free on points redemptions, 60% bonus points, late checkout, and a welcome amenity. The card offers a free night award worth up to 60 000 points, which alone could cover $300 of the $350 annual fee assuming you stay at IHG hotels at least once per year. As a spending incentive, the card offers a second free night award worth up to 60 000 points if you spend $40 000 on the card in a calendar year (~1.5 pts/$ extra effectively)
With the introduction of this card came refreshes across the entire portfolio of IHG cards. The most noteworthy addition is that all the cards now offer elite night credits. The Premier Select card offers 20 elite night credits just for holding it and then an additional 2 elite night credits for every $5 000 spent on the card (and then an additional 5 bonus elite night credits specifically at $15 000 of spending). All these elite night credits count toward the milestone rewards! I haven’t done any posts on how different loyalty programs work, so I’ll add a more detailed post eventually, but suffice it to say for now that the milestone perks program means that every 10 elite night credits are worth at least 5 000 bonus points beyond any status perks you may unlock. One bit of math that is worth noting with how these elite nights stack with the free night award incentive: ignoring any other potential activity on your IHG account, spending $40 000 on the card would get a 60 000-point free night award and 21 additional elite night credits (which would take you from 20 to 41 at a minimum). The milestone perks associated with the 30 and 40 elite night thresholds are worth at a minimum 25 000 bonus points, so it’s really a swing of up to 85 000 bonus points for $40 000 of spend, which is a 2.13 points/$ bonus.
The card additionally offers a set of coupons of course, including a $75 per quarter food and beverage voucher for IHG hotels, a $200 airline statement credit, a DashPass membership and some credits, a Global Entry credit, United travel bank credit, and Instacart credits. Of these, the only ones that catch my attention are the IHG hotel food vouchers (the Kimpton Marlowe’s restaurant, for example, would be a great place that I’d use them). And the $200 airline statement credit, which just requires charging a $250 flight to the card, which should be very easy to do.
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 (3x) | $0 | 0 | $100 | 300 | $200 | 600 | $100 | 300 |
| Airfare (6x) | $700 | 4 200 | $200 | 1 200 | $0 | 0 | $400 | 2 400 |
| Hotels (12x) | $1 000 | 12 000 | $200 | 2 400 | $0 | 0 | $300 | 3 600 |
| Gen Travel (6x) | $400 | 2 400 | $0 | 0 | $300 | 1 800 | $100 | 600 |
| Dining (6x) | $600 | 3 600 | $300 | 1 800 | $300 | 1 800 | $0 | 0 |
| General (3x) | $1 000 | 3 000 | $500 | 1 500 | $500 | 1 500 | $400 | 1 200 |
| Total | $4 000 | 26 100 | $1 500 | 7 800 | $1 700 | 7 500 | $1 700 | 9 300 |
| Average points/$ | 6.53 | 5.2 | 4.41 | 5.47 |
The IHG Premier card’s broad and rewarding bonus categories mean that the average points earned has a large range of 4.41 – 6.53 points/$, which is worth 2.21 – 3.26 ¢/$, with the valuation of 0.5 ¢/point. The low value of IHG points means that although this card earns substantial numbers of points, there may be better cards for most categories. However, an over 2% return on a card is the minimum that I find to be worth putting substantial spending on, and the spending incentives on this card I think could make it worth getting to the $15 000 or $40 000 spend goals.
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 Select Card ($350) | 2 728 Avios + 4 500 IP (7.9%) | 6 180 IP (13.4%) | $59.60 / $30.90 |
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. If you stay at IHG hotels enough to justify hitting the $40 000 spend goal, then I say yes, this card offers some great value, especially with its introductory points offer!
