Details on Two New IHG Credit Cards and Their Bonuses

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

Last week we talked a lot about the negative changes coming to the IHG credit card anniversary night. There was plenty to discuss, but I think we zeroed in so much on that one change that we (or rather, I) forgot to look at the two new Chase IHG credit cards. Now that the dust has settled a little on the anniversary night changes, let's circle back and see what these new cards can offer.

Details on Two New IHG Credit Cards

As was rumored, there are indeed two new Chase IHG credit card products that are live and available - the $89 per year IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card and the $29 per year IHG Rewards Traveler Credit Card. Both come with welcome bonuses, and not surprisingly the one with the higher annual fee provides more travel perks and benefits...as well as a higher bonus

The $89 per year IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card is offering a welcome bonus of 80,000 IHG bonus points after spending $2,000 in the first three months plus an additional 40,000 bonus points after spending a total of $5,000 on purchases within 6 months of account opening.

On an ongoing basis, the IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card has the following benefits:

• Earn 10 points per $1 spent at IHG properties
• Earn 2 points per $1 spent on purchases at gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants
• Earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Earn an anniversary free night valid at IHG hotels up to a maximum of 40,000 points per night
• Receive IHG Platinum status
• $100 Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check credit
• Earn 10,000 bonus points per year with $20,000 charged each cardmember year
• No foreign transaction fees
• Save 20% on purchased IHG points
• Redeem 3 award nights, get a 4^th night free

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If you are familiar with the previous IHG Rewards Club Select Card benefits you will note that the 10% rebate on redeemed points is gone on this card in favor of the 4th award night free benefit. This new version of the card also earns more points at IHG hotels at 10x points per dollar compared to 5x on the old card. However, the annual fee is also higher at $89 per year instead of $49, and we all know what has happened to the anniversary award night on both the old and new IHG card.

The $29 per year IHG Rewards Traveler Credit Card has a welcome bonus of 60,000 bonus IHG points after spending $2,000 in the first 3 months. If you add an authorized user who makes a purchase in the first three months then you get an extra 5,000 points. The $29 per year card also has the following built-in benefits:

• Earn 5 points per $1 spent at IHG properties
• Earn 2 points per $1 spent on purchases at gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants
• Earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Earn Gold Elite Member Status with $10,000 spend in a calendar year
• Redeem 3 award nights, get a 4^th night free
• Save 20% on purchased IHG points
• No foreign transaction fees

The lower annual fee version of the card does not come with the annual award night, so if you are deciding between the two, really think long and hard if saving $60 on the annual fee is worth not getting the award night each year. The terms indicate that the bonuses are not available if you have the card or have received a new cardmember bonus for the card in the past 24 months. However, both are brand new cards, so it is unlikely that should be a problem for anyone unless they consider the old IHG card to be the same product as one of the new cards. The first few data points are pointing to that being unlikely. Early reports also point to the new cards not falling under the Chase 5/24 rules, which would be consistent with the old IHG card.

New IHG Credit Cards are Still Solid

I think that the big change with the IHG credit card anniversary night going from being unrestricted to limited to just IHG properties that cost 40,000 points per night or less put a big cloud over what is otherwise a decent enough hotel loyalty card. The annual fee on the Premier version of the card is higher at $89 rather than the old $49 per year card, but that fee puts it in line with other similar hotel cards. It will not be hard to get more value than that from the anniversary night certificate and other benefits for most people. Of course, the welcome bonuses ensure plenty of value in the first year, assuming you hit the spending requirements to earn the 60,000 - 100,000 bonus points.

While the loss of the 10% points rebate on the new cards is indeed a bummer, if you stay anywhere for four nights on points you will likely come out better with this new 4th award night free benefit. As our family has grown and our travel has slowed a bit, that is something that would have real value for us. A fourth award night free will allow you to stretch your points and not feel as rushed to keep hotel stays shorter to minimize costs.