While the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card has an annual fee, it also has a better sign-up bonus and more points-earning potential, making it the best IHG credit card.
For frequent travelers who enjoy staying at IHG hotel properties, being part of IHG® One Rewards can help you earn free nights, perks and privileges. One of the best ways to accumulate those points is by getting one of the co-branded IHG credit cards from Chase: the IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card or the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card. Business owners and entrepreneurs can also earn valuable IHG rewards with the IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card. While these cards are similar, they all feature differing annual fees, sign-up bonuses and rewards rates.
Choosing between the IHG cards really depends on how much traveling you do, and if achieving status in the IHG Rewards Program is important to you.
| Credit Cards | Our Ratings | Annual Fee | Rewards Rate | Welcome Offer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card*
Learn More
on Chase's secure site |
Best for no annual fee
|
$0 | Earn up to 17 total points per $1 spent when you stay at IHG Hotels & Resorts. Earn 3 points per $1 spent on purchases on monthly bills, at gas stations, and restaurants. Earn 2 points per $1 spent on all other purchases. | Earn 100,000 Bonus Points after spending $2,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. |
Learn More
on Chase's secure site |
IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card*
|
Best for elevated benefits and status
|
$99 | Earn up to 26 total points per $1 spent when you stay at IHG Hotels & Resorts. Earn 5 points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, at gas stations, and restaurants. Earn 3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases. | Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening | |
IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card*
Learn More
on Chase's secure site |
Best for business owners
|
$99 | Earn up to 26 total points per $1 spent when you stay at an IHG hotel. Earn 5 points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, at gas stations, select advertising, and restaurants. Earn 3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases. | Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening |
Learn More
on Chase's secure site |
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
 Apply Now
on Chase's secure site |
Best for travel rewards
|
$95 | Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases, $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit, plus more. | Get up to $1,050 in Chase Travel℠ value. Earn 60,000 bonus points after $4,000 in purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. That's worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel purchases within your first year. |
Apply Now
on Chase's secure site |
Choosing a hotel credit card should always start by figuring out your needs.
Choose the IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card if ...
You want to earn rewards to put toward occasional hotel stays and you have a brand loyalty to IHG hotels, but don’t want to pay an annual fee.
Choose the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card if ...
You want to achieve tier status in IHG® One Rewards, and you plan to do enough travel to take advantage of the extra card benefits and outearn the annual fee.
Choose the IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card if …
You are a business owner or entrepreneur who wants to take advantage of business spending to earn rewards to put towards hotel stays at IHG hotels.
Choose the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card if …
You need flexible travel rewards to book hotels outside of the IHG umbrella.
The best way to describe how the two personal IHG cards compare is to think of the IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card as an introductory product, and the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card as an upgrade for luxury perks. The IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card is nearly identical to the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card, but geared toward business owners.
For those who plan to get away a few times per year and enjoy IHG properties, the IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card should suffice. On the other hand, frequent travelers who want to score higher-end VIP travel perks will find the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card well worth the annual fee. Business owners can earn the same higher-end perks and rewards with the IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card.
Here’s how the card features match up:
Both IHG cards award points in the same categories, with the exception of monthly bills, but their earning rates on IHG Hotel & Rewards purchases differ. With the IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card, you can earn up to 17 total points per $1 spent when you stay at IHG Hotels & Resorts. Earn 3 points per $1 spent on purchases on monthly bills, at gas stations, and restaurants. Earn 2 points per $1 spent on all other purchases.
The IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card allows you to earn up to 26 total points per $1 spent when you stay at IHG Hotels & Resorts. Earn 5 points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, at gas stations, and restaurants. Earn 3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases.
Winner: IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
Sign-up bonuses are typically a big draw for co-branded hotel cards. The IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card lets you earn 100,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. Based on our estimated point value, this bonus is worth approximately $400. That could be worth as much as three free nights depending on the property you choose.
The IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card offers a slightly higher bonus, but with a higher-spending threshold: You’ll earn 140,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s around $700 in value, which can score as many as five free nights depending on a property’s redemption values.
Winner: IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
Another perk of hotel cards is often an annual bonus or a free room night certificate. The entry-level IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card does not offer any yearly benefits, however. This is where the higher-tier IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card and IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card stand out. Cardholders get a free night certificate on their card anniversary each year. The card also offers a $100 statement credit and a 10,000-point bonus if you reach $20,000 of spending on the card each year.
Winner: IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card and IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
The IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card doesn’t charge an annual fee. The IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card and IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card have an annual fee — but that fee could be worthwhile for certain types of spending styles. The free anniversary night on its own practically cancels it out — assuming you will use the certificate.
Both cards offer a higher sign-up bonus worth more than the IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card, which essentially covers the annual fee for three years. Note that you also need to consider if you can meet a higher spending minimum to activate that bonus.
Deciding if paying the annual fee is worth it really comes down to whether you stay often enough at IHG hotels to take advantage of either card’s higher earning rate on hotel stays and hotel benefits.
Winner: IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card
The IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card offers automatic Silver Elite status, which unlocks benefits like a 20% points bonus and points that don’t expire.
Of course, the higher the IHG elite-status tier, the better the perks and benefits. IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card and IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card reward automatic Platinum Elite status, with no spending threshold required. This gives members access to all of the same Silver and Gold Elite benefits plus additional perks like complimentary room upgrades and 60% bonus earnings on base points.
Status chasers will be well served by the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card, whereas those who don’t plan on using such benefits might opt for the no-fee IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card.
Winner: IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card and IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
All three cards offer the fourth night free when you redeem points on a stay of four or more nights. Cardholders of both programs also get travel protections including baggage delay insurance, lost luggage reimbursement, purchase protection, and trip cancellation/trip interruption insurance.
However, only the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card and IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card offer a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit of up to $100 every four years.
Winner: IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card and IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
IHG points are worth approximately 0.5 cents each.
The value of your IHG points can vary depending on how you choose to redeem them. With hotel co-branded credit cards, typically you get the most value by redeeming them for award stays.
The points needed to book a free night at an IHG hotel or resort varies based on the property and other factors. You can book a room at select IHG properties for as little as 5,000 IHG points in some cases.
IHG is home to 19 hotel brands at over 6,000 destinations around the world. Brands cover a multitude of travel needs and accommodation types from luxury and all-inclusive resorts to extended-stay suites and economy hotels. IHG brands include:
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To make the most of the IHG credit cards’ benefits, try to do the following:
An IHG credit card isn’t necessarily right for everyone.
If you are a frequent traveler or someone who prefers to stay at IHG properties when you do travel, an IHG card is a great option for earning and redeeming points for free stays.
It can also help you gain access to valuable travel and IHG brand benefits. If you aren’t a fan of IHG or prefer to keep your options open, a general travel rewards card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card makes more sense. The points that you earn with a flexible travel card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card can be used for travel with any hotel or airline — not just IHG.
Before you apply for one of the IHG credit cards, here are some other things to know.
None of the IHG credit cards charge foreign transaction fees.
This is a matter of personal preference. If you are loyal to IHG hotel brands when you travel, it is worth considering one of the cards. Whether or not you need the higher-level IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card depends on your travel spending. If you’d rather have more flexibility with how you redeem travel points, a general rewards card might be a better option.
You can, but there really would be no benefit to having both cards as the rewards structure is the same.
You can add up to five additional authorized users to your account.
Your IHG points will not expire as long as there is IHG® One Rewards program activity within 12 months. You will lose all points that haven’t been transferred to IHG® One Rewards if you close your card, or if your card account is closed for program misuse, fraudulent activities, failure to pay, bankruptcy or other reasons described in the terms of the Rewards Program Agreement.
To make choosing the right card easier, we’ve looked at credit cards reviewed on LendingTree as well as cards on major issuer sites to compile a list of the best rewards credit cards available right now. Our recommendations are based on the additional value you can earn with the cards — including the rewards value, cost of ownership and value of benefits such as travel and purchase protections, lounge membership and airline companion passes. Our choices are not influenced by our advertisers. Learn more on how we calculate rewards.
The information related to the IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card, IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card and IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card has been collected by LendingTree and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication. Terms apply.
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