Chase Raises IHG Card Fees And Refreshes Perks—New $350 Card Adds Shortcut To Suites And Hotel Lounges

Chase is raising the annual fees on its IHG hotel cards, taking Platinum status away from the Premier card, and putting the no annual fee card’s fourth night free benefit on award redemptions behind a $5,000 spending requirement. It’s also introducing a $350 card that makes confirmed suite upgrades and hotel lounge access much easier to earn. I’ve long thought the IHG cards were worth getting for the bonus and keeping for the benefits. An annual free night and fourth night free on award stays could easily justify a $99 annual fee. But with points worth about half a cent apiece, these weren’t cards I’d generally put ongoing spending on. The new cards finally give me a reason to consider some spending: elite nights that count toward IHG’s Milestone Rewards. Those are how you earn confirmed suite upgrades and annual hotel lounge access. And for someone who stays at IHG hotels, they’re probably more interesting than an effective rebate on card spend outside of accelerator categories that I value at ~ 1.5%. The last major card refresh took effect March 24, 2022. That’s when Chase improved earning, added the ability to top off anniversary free night certificates with points, and launched the Premier Business card. The consumer Premier’s fee went from $89 to $99, with the increase delayed until 2023 for existing customers. Higher Fees, Bigger Free-Night Certificates, And A Status Cut Here’s how the new lineup compares with the cards it replaces. All three cards with annual fees allow you to add your own points to their anniversary certificates. Card Annual Fee Anniversary Free Night Automatic Status Premier Select (new) $350 Up to 60,000 points Platinum Premier $99 → $150 40,000 → 50,000 points Platinum → Gold Business (formerly Premier Business) $99 → $200 40,000 → 50,000 points Platinum IHG One Rewards (formerly Traveler) $0 None Silver An extra 10,000 points of certificate value is worth about $50 at my valuation, provided you use the full amount. That’s nearly the Premier’s $51 fee increase, but only about half the business card’s $101 increase. And a certificate that expires and has to be used for one night isn’t as flexible as points sitting in your account. Premier Select, $350: Up to $300 in annual Food & Beverage Rewards at IHG properties (split up quarterly), a $200 annual airline statement credit on qualifying flight purchases, and up to $50 in United TravelBank Cash. It earns 12x on IHG spend, 6 points per dollar on dining and other travel, including rideshare, and 3 points per dollar on other purchases. Fourth reward night free remains included. Premier, $150: Up to $100 in annual Food & Beverage Rewards (split up quarterly), a $100 annual airline statement credit on qualifying flight purchases, and up to $50 in United TravelBank Cash. Earns 10x on IHG spend. Grocery stores join dining and gas stations at 5 points per dollar. The card bonuses flights booked directly and car rental agencies for 5-point travel earning, which is narrower than the existing card’s travel category. Other purchases earn 3 points per dollar. Fourth reward night free remains included. The Premier loses Platinum status and associated room upgrades and early check-in subject to availability, welcome amenities, and access to promotional award discounts. It will get just Gold status. Business, $200: Up to $100 in annual Food & Beverage Rewards (split up quarterly), a $100 annual airline statement credit on qualifying flight purchases, and up to $100 annually toward Expensify purchases. It keeps Platinum status and fourth reward night free. Earns 10x on IHG spend. The announced 5-point categories are flights booked directly, car rental agencies, dining, gas stations and select advertising; other purchases earn 3 points per dollar. I’d put the Expensify credit at zero unless it covers something the business would otherwise buy. And with the flight purchase credit, the card loses its annual United TravelBank credits. No annual fee IHG One Rewards: Earns 5x on IHG spend. Grocery stores join dining and gas stations at 3 points per dollar, while other purchases earn 2 points per dollar. But fourth reward night free now requires $5,000 in spending. Holding the card used to be enough. That’s disappointing from a consumer standpoint, but understandable for Chase and IHG. Card Elite Nights Are What I’ve Wanted Since 2022 When IHG introduced its new elite program in April 2022, I wrote: I’d like to see the cards offer the ability to earn elite nights for spend, not just status. The cards could earn Diamond status, but that didn’t get you the night-based Milestone Rewards. Now the Premier Select comes with 20 elite-night credits each calendar year, while Premier and Business each come with 15. Even the no-fee card gets 5. At 20 nights, IHG lets you choose 5,000 points, two Food & Beverage Rewards, or a Confirmable Suite Upgrade. So Premier Select gets you a suite upgrade choice without having to stay 20 nights first. The Premier and business cards put you five qualifying hotel nights away. Paid stays and points stays can both help close that gap. That upgrade can cover a stay of up to five nights, with confirmation starting 14 days before arrival, subject to eligible inventory. It can be used on points bookings. IHG’s current rules still exclude anniversary free-night certificates, so don’t plan on combining the certificate and suite upgrade for the same night. At 40 nights, annual hotel lounge membership becomes a choice. Premier Select puts you halfway there. Another 20 qualifying hotel nights does it. Premier and Business leave you needing 25. That’s a meaningful improvement for someone who uses IHG as a second hotel chain, especially for stays at InterContinental properties with good club lounges. Under current rules, membership lasts through the rest of the calendar year in which you earn the milestone and the following year. The three cards with annual fees also earn 2 additional elite nights for every $5,000 in purchases. That means you can combine the annual card nights, actual stays, and spending to reach a milestone. I’d Spend Toward A Specific Reward At half a cent per point, 3 points per dollar is a 1.5% return. Five points is 2.5%. The new Select card’s 6 points on dining and travel is 3%. Those numbers don’t make these my first choice for everyday purchases. Other cards earn more valuable transferable points. On $5,000 of otherwise unbonused spending, a card earning 3 IHG points per dollar produces about $75 in points, compared with $100 from a 2% cash back card. You’re giving up $25 for two elite nights. That can be worthwhile if those nights get you a suite upgrade you’ll use or a year of lounge access. It’s wasted earning if they just leave you at 32 nights instead of 30 with no path to reach 40. With no hotel stays, Premier Select’s 20 annual nights plus $50,000 in spending in the same calendar year would reach 40 nights and the lounge membership choice. On the same unbonused spending comparison, you’d give up about $250 versus 2% cash back. Someone who gets substantial use out of IHG lounges could come out ahead. But there aren’t that many hotels that actually have lounges! The $350 Card Could Be The Better Deal Assuming the Select card’s $200 airline credit replaces airfare you’d buy anyway, you’re left with $150 of annual fee to justify. The 60,000-point anniversary certificate and immediate suite upgrade choice should easily cover that for someone who stays with IHG. And that’s before even assigning value to hotel dining rewards and United TravelBank Cash. Compared with the new $150 Premier, Select costs $200 more. In exchange you get another $100 of airline credit, another $200 in potential hotel dining rewards, a certificate with a 10,000-point higher cap, five more annual elite nights and Platinum status. For the business card, the fee more than doubles while the anniversary certificate improves by only 10,000 points. The new airline credit is more useful than TravelBank cash and elite nights have value. In December 2023, I argued that IHG needed to connect its cards more closely to status and incremental benefits to make the business worth more. After Chase renewed the deal through 2036, I expected investment in the products and wondered how much of the richer economics would reach cardmembers. Elite nights are a real improvement. Higher fees, a lower status tier on the Premier card, and the no fee card’s spending hurdle are what we got. Launch Bonuses And Timing The launch offers run through November 18. Each requires the stated spending within the first three months of account opening. Here’s what the bonus points alone are worth using my half-cent valuation, before the annual fee: Card Bonus Points Required Spending My Points Value Premier Select 200,000 $5,000 $1,000 Premier 180,000 $3,000 $900 Business 190,000 $5,000 $950 No annual fee IHG One Rewards 125,000 $2,000 $625 Existing cardmembers will receive notices in October explaining which benefits change and when. Their annual fees will be adjusted in 2027. Topics on this page