Earning IHG's Top-Tier Spire Elite Status with a Card Sign-Up
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card
TPG Editor-in-Chief Zach Honig discusses his experience earning IHG Spire Elite status without completing a single hotel stay.
This morning, I woke up to find a surprise email from IHG welcoming me to the program's new top tier, Spire Elite. Naturally, I was a bit puzzled by the promotion — I've never credited a stay to this account, though the welcome email said "You've chosen IHG many times along the way, and we appreciate that more than you know." Well, no, I haven't, but you're welcome?
I scrolled down a bit in the email and learned that not only would I receive a 100% bonus on all of my IHG stays, I had also earned a gift: Either 25,000 points or Platinum status to gift to a friend. I headed straight to my IHG account and selected the points option. Assuming this was a mistake, I wanted to accept the gift just in case Intercontinental wised up and rescinded the status.
After doing some digging through my account, I figured out what had happened. The 80,000 points I had earned from a recent IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card sign-up bonus were counted as elite points, bumping me past the 75,000-point qualification level.
It's unclear whether or not this is a fluke, but if this was intentional on IHG's part, it's a very generous way of showing appreciation for credit cardholders. The card normally comes with Platinum status, which is a nice perk, but it's hard to beat earning top-tier status in a major hotel program without a single qualifying stay.
Did you get a surprise upgrade to Spire Elite?
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| 3X | Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases. |
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Pros
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- Annual companion ticket for travel on Delta (upon renewal)
- Ability to earn MQDs through spending
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Cons
- Steep annual fee of $650
- Other Delta cobranded cards offer superior earning categories
- Earn 100,000 Bonus Miles after you spend $6,000 or more in purchases with your new Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership and an additional 25,000 bonus miles after you make an additional $3,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 6 months, starting from the date that your account is opened. Offer Ends 04/01/2026.
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- Terms Apply.
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