10 Reasons You Should Have an IHG Rewards Cards

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If you’ve already opened a flexible rewards travel card, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Capital One Venture, and are looking to open a co-branded card, the IHG Rewards cards can be a great place to start. 

Even if you aren’t loyal to the IHG (Intercontinental Hotel Group) brand, you’re likely to be able to find a great way to use your welcome bonus at one of their 17 hotel brands. IHG hotels include the family friendly Holiday Inns, the boutique Kimpton and Indigo brands, and the luxury InterContinental Hotels. 

IHG Rewards Card Options

There are currently three IHG Rewards cards available: the IHG Rewards Traveler Credit Card, the IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card, and the IHG Rewards Premier Business Credit Card. 

The IHG Rewards Premier card was the first hotel card I opened, and one we plan to keep. With a free anniversary night and fourth night free on award bookings, the IHG Rewards Premier card continues to pay for itself after the first year. 

All the IHG cards, even the no-fee Traveler card, include lost and delayed baggage and trip cancellation/interruption coverage. After a weather related flight cancellation a couple years ago that left us on our own for a hotel, we always make sure to use a card with some travel insurance when we book flights. 

If you’re looking to build point balances without adding cards to your 5/24 count, the IHG Rewards Premier Business card is a good choice. If you’re not familiar with why business cards are an important part of a travel card strategy, check out our article on Chase and the 5/24 rule. 

	IHG Rewards Traveler	IHG Rewards Premier	IHG Rewards Premier Business
Annual Fee	$0	$99	$99
Automatic Status	Silver Elite	Platinum Elite	Platinum Elite
4th Night Free	X	X	X
Anniversary Free Night	N/A	X	X
Trusted Traveler Program Credit	N/A	X	X
United Airlines TravelBank Cash	N/A	X	X
Purchase Protection and Extended Warranty Protection	X	X	X
Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance	X	X	X
Lost Luggage Reimbursement and Baggage Delay Insurance	X	X	N/A
Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver	X	X	X

Top Benefits of IHG Rewards Cards

For all the inclusions and exclusions on these coverages, you’ll need to read the Guide to Benefits that comes with your card. 

1. Status

Go to the IHG website to see all the benefits that come with Silver Elite and Platinum Elite status with IHG. 

Traveler: Silver Elite

This is the lowest elite tier of the IHG One Rewards loyalty program. If you are booking your stay with points, the main benefit is priority check in at participating hotels for elite members. You’ll also receive an additional 2 points per dollar spent at IHG properties (so you’d receive 2,000 points for $1,000 spent).

Premier and Premier Business: Platinum Elite

This is the second highest elite tier of the IHG One Rewards program and, unlike silver elite status, can get you some actual benefits! See all the benefits here. 

• Early check in upon request, subject to availability
• Complimentary room upgrades at participating brands, subject to availability. 
• Welcome amenity, which you will be offered at check in. You may have a choice between extra points or a drink or snack.
• Priority check in
• 6 points per dollar spent at IHG properties ($1,000 spent would earn you 6,000 points)

2. Fourth Night Free

If you have any of the IHG Credit Cards, you are eligible for the fourth night free benefit. When you book a standard room Reward Night for 4 or more nights, every 4th night is free.

This benefit only applies to stays booked fully with points. Note that this benefit does not average the cost per night, but applies to the 4th night. Because of this, you will get the most benefit if the 4th night is the most expensive night of your stay. 

If your booking costs 10,000 points per night for the first 3 nights and 20,000 for the 4th night, your total will be based on the first three nights, so 30,000 points. 

When you have the 4th night free benefit and search for a stay of 4 or more nights, the number you see will be the average of the points you will owe over your stay, accounting for your free night. For the example above, your search results would display 7,500 points per night (30,000 points/4 nights). 

3. Anniversary Free Night

Premier and Premier Business

This benefit alone makes the annual fee on these cards worthwhile.

Every year, on your “account anniversary date” (every twelve months after your account open date), you will receive an Anniversary Free Night. 

Free nights can be used at IHG Hotels and are uploaded directly into your IHG One Rewards account when they are available. They must be used within 12 months from date of issue.

The redemption value of the free night is up to 40,000 points. If you use your night at the full 40,000 value, you should be able to get a $200-$300 hotel room, completely offsetting the $99 annual fee on the card.

You can only book one standard room night per card. This means that if you book a hotel room that is 20,000 points, you forgo the other 20,000 points. You cannot combine multiple nights or rooms to equal 40,000.

If you book a hotel that costs more than 40,000 points, you can add on points from your Rewards account. So if the night you want costs 47,000 points, IHG will apply 40,000 points to your stay and you will need to have 7,000 points in your Rewards account to pay the difference. 

When you book using your annual free night certificate, you will generally only be able to book into a standard room (just like with points) but Katie recently discovered one notable exception: Mr. and Mrs. Smith Properties. If a Mr. and Mrs. Smith property (which are boutique independent hotels) has availability to book with your Free Night Award, you can often book ANY room available. For an upcoming night in Florence, Katie booked a $1500 night suite at Villa Cora using a Free Night Award + 17,000 points.

4. Trusted Traveler Program Credit (TSA PreCheck or Global Entry)

The IHG Rewards Premier and Premier Business cards both provide a statement credit, up to $100, for Global Entry ($100), TSA PreCheck ($85), or NEXUS ($50) applications. 

You do not need to do anything to activate this benefit other than charge your application to the card. After you charge the application fee to your IHG card, the statement credit should be applied to your account within 24 hours. 

You can receive this benefit once every four years. Note that an authorized user or the primary cardholder can use this benefit, but not both. It also doesn’t matter who the application is for, as long as it’s charged to the appropriate card. So you can pay for an application fee for a friend or family member and you will still get the credit.

5. United Airlines TravelBank Cash

Premier and Premier Business

The IHG Rewards Premier and Premier Business cards both include $50 in United Airlines TravelBank Cash per year. You must register for the benefit here. 

After you enroll in this program, $25 will be deposited into your United MileagePlus account twice per year, on or around January 1 and on or around July 1. The Cash is use it or lose it and expires on July 15 (for Cash deposited between January 1 and June 30) and January 15 (for Cash deposited between July 1 and December 31). 

United TravelBank Cash can only be used for air travel purchases on United. It can be combined with cash but cannot be combined with flight credits or travel certificates. 

This is a good benefit that will add to the value of this card if you regularly fly United Airlines. If you don’t regularly use United, you might find the most useful time to book is between January 1-15 or July 1-15 when the entire $50 is accessible. 

6. Purchase Protection

Traveler and Premier

Coverage against damages and theft on new purchases for 120 days. Allows up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.

Premier Business

Coverage against damages and theft on new purchases for 120 days. Allows up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.

Coverage against damages and theft on new purchases for 120 days. Allows up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.

7. Extended Warranty Protection

Extends U.S. manufacturer’s warranties by an additional year, on warranties of three years or less. 

8. Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance

Traveler and Premier

Reimburses up to $5,000 per person and 10,000 per trip. 

Premier Business

Reimburses up to $1,500 per person and $6,000 per trip. 

9. Lost Luggage Reimbursement and Delayed Baggage

Traveler and Premier

Reimburses up to $3,000 per passenger for checked or carry-on luggage that is damaged or lost by the carrier. Reimburses you for essentials, up to $100 a day for three days, for baggage delays over six hours. 

10. Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver

Traveler and Premier

Secondary coverage for theft and collision damage for most rental cars in the U.S. and abroad. 

Premier Business

Provides primary coverage for business-related car rentals. 

Earning Rates

Points earned per dollar spent on purchases. 

	Traveler	Premier	Premier Business
IHG Hotels & Resorts	Up to 17X	Up to 26X	Up to 26X
Travel	2X	5X	5X
Gas Stations	3X	5X	5X
Dining	3X	5X	5X
Select Business	2X	3X	5X
Monthly Bills	3X	3X	3X
All Other Purchases	2X	3X	3X

Where to use your IHG One Rewards Points

Here are some other articles with inspiration of how to use your IHG One Rewards points for family stays.

Editorial Disclosure – Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.