IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card Review (2026.10 Update: Benefits Revamp, 180k+10k Offer, $150 Annual Fee)

     2026-10-01     2026-10-05 81 Comments

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IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card Review

[2026.10 Update] We see a major revamp of this card today. Most of the changes are positive, although the annual fee has increased to $150. The current welcome offer is 180k IHG points after spending $3,000 in the first three months, plus another 10k points for adding an authorized user.

Here are the main changes:

  • The annual FN cap increases from 40k to 50k after card anniversary.
  • Grocery stores have been added as a 5x bonus category.
  • The 5x travel category is being narrowed to airfare and car rentals only.
  • The card now comes with IHG Gold Elite status instead of Platinum. You can earn Platinum after spending $15,000 in a calendar year, while $40,000 in spending earns Diamond.
  • New benefit: $100 IHG Food & Beverage Credit. You receive $25 per quarter, which can be used toward eligible hotel dining charges posted to your room. Each credit is issued at the beginning of the quarter and expires at the end of that quarter.
  • New benefit: $100 Airline Credit. Make a single airline purchase of at least $250 and receive a $100 statement credit.
  • New benefit: 15 Elite Night Credits (ENC) every year, plus 2 additional ENC for every $5,000 in spending. Once you reach $15,000 in annual spending, you also receive an additional 5 ENC.

The $100 airline credit looks pretty useful. You only need a single $250 airline purchase to trigger it. The $100 food-and-beverage credit is a bit harder to use since it is split into $25 quarterly and requires room bill, but it could still benefit frequent IHG guests, especially business travelers.

The new Elite Night Credits are also potentially valuable. It boosts ENC earning a lot. Remember you can choose a Confirmable Suite Upgrade at 20 nights, and Confirmable Suite Upgrade and Lounge Access Membership at 40 nights.

The card’s earn rates at IHG hotels have not changed, but downgrading the automatic status from Platinum to Gold indirectly reduces the total IHG points you earn on stays because of the lower elite-status bonus.

For existing cardholders, the transition is actually fairly favorable. The new $100 IHG food-and-beverage credit and $100 airline credit are already available, existing Platinum status is preserved through the end of 2027, and the higher $150 annual fee does not kick in until your 2027 renewal. That means the next year or so could be particularly attractive for current cardholders. If your annual fee has not yet posted this year, you can potentially receive one $100 airline credit now and another $100 credit next calendar year before paying the higher annual fee.

Application Link

Benefits

  1. 180k+10k offer: earn 180,000 IHG points after spending $3,000 in 3 months. Plus, earn 10,000 IHG points after you add an authorized user in the first 3 months. The best recent offer is 5FN (up to 60k each).
  2. IHG points are valued around 0.5 cents/point (Hotel Points Value). So the 190k offer is worth about $950.
  3. Receive a 50k Free Night (FN) certificate every year after your account renewal anniversary date. You can also use existing IHG points to redeem your FN at hotels above the 50,000 point redemption level.
  4. Earn 10x points at IHG property, 5x points at airline, car rental, dining, supermarket and gas station, and 3x point on other purchases.
  5. [New] Enjoy $100 Food & Beverage Rewards every year. You get $25 F&B rewards each quarter, which can be applied to dining charges on room bill once.
  6. [New] $100 Airline Statement Credit: You get $100 airline credit when you spend at least $250 on flight purchases directly with airline. This benefit lasts until 12/31/2027.
  7. Receive up to $50 United TravelBank Cash each calendar year: You will receive one $25 United TravelBank cash deposit on or about January 1, and another $25 United TravelBank cash deposit on or about July 1. Deposits made between January 1 and June 30 will expire on July 15, regardless of deposit date. Deposits made between July 1 and December 31 will expire on January 15, regardless of deposit date. You must complete a one-time registration to receive this benefit. This benefit is essentially useless because of its short expiration and small amount.
  8. 30% off when you purchase IHG points with your card.
  9. Redeem 3 nights, get the 4th night free.
  10. [New] Elite Night Credits (ENC): Get 15 ENC each year as a card holder, and 2 ENC for every $5000 spend. One-time 5 ENC when you reach $15k spend on the card.
  11. Complimentary IHG Gold Membership as long as you have this card. Get IHG Platinum Membership if you spend $15k and get IHG Diamond Membership if you spend $40k.
  12. Global Entry or TSA PreCheck $100 credit every 4 years.
  13. No foreign transaction fee.
  14. Refer a friend. Please click this link to start referring. You can earn 10,000 bonus IHG points for every approved account you refer, up to a maximum of 5 approved referrals (50,000 IHG points) per calendar year.

Disadvantages

  1. $150 annual fee, NOT waived fist year.
  2. Free night is only valid for one year.

Recommended Application Time

  1. [5/24 Rule] If you have 5 or more new accounts opened in the past 24 months, Chase will not approve your application, no matter how high your credit score is. The number of new accounts includes all credit card accounts, not only Chase accounts. See this post for details about how to possibly bypass this rule.
  2. This product is available to you if you do not have a current IHG Rewards Credit Card and have not received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months. Note that what matters here is the time you got the sign-up bonus, not the time you open the account or close the account. This does not apply to Business Card Credit Card products.
  3. Don’t apply for more than 2 Chase credit cards within 30 days, or it’s highly likely that you will get rejected.
  4. We recommend you to apply for this card after you have a credit history for more than a year.

Summary

Compared to other hotel groups, IHG is strong in national parks and some small towns in the middle of nowhere. Since the revamp in 2026.10, you can now redeem 50k FN with some extra points to book for higher category hotels, and this significantly increased the flexibility for the FN. This card is not a good card for everyday spending because IHG points are not very valuable. Keeping this card for a long time is basically equivalent to use $150 to buy a 50k FN, whether it’s worth it really depends on your traveling frequency etc.

Benefits before 2026.10.1
  1. 5FN+10k offer: earn 5 Free Nights (FN) certificates (with a redemption level up to 40,000 IHG points) after spending $4,000 in 3 months. Plus, earn 10,000 IHG points after you add an authorized user in the first 3 months. The best recent offer is 5FN (up to 60k each).
  2. IHG points are valued around 0.5 cents/point (Hotel Points Value). So the 140k offer is worth about $700.
  3. Receive a 40k Free Night (FN) certificate every year after your account renewal anniversary date. You can also use existing IHG points to redeem your FN at hotels above the 40,000 point redemption level.
  4. Earn 10x points at IHG property, 5x points at dining, supermarket and gas station, and 3x point on other purchases.
  5. Receive up to $50 United TravelBank Cash each calendar year: You will receive one $25 United TravelBank cash deposit on or about January 1, and another $25 United TravelBank cash deposit on or about July 1. Deposits made between January 1 and June 30 will expire on July 15, regardless of deposit date. Deposits made between July 1 and December 31 will expire on January 15, regardless of deposit date. You must complete a one-time registration to receive this benefit. This benefit is essentially useless because of its short expiration and small amount.
  6. Earn 10,000 bonus points + $100 statement credit after you spend $20,000 on purchases and make one additional purchase each account anniversary year.
  7. 20% off 20% on when you purchase IHG points with your card.
  8. Redeem 3 nights, get the 4th night free.
  9. Complimentary IHG Platinum Membership as long as you have this card. Get IHG Diamond Membership if you spend $40k.
  10. Global Entry or TSA PreCheck $100 credit every 4 years.
  11. No foreign transaction fee.
  12. Refer a friend. Please click this link to start referring. You can earn 10,000 bonus IHG points for every approved account you refer, up to a maximum of 5 approved referrals (50,000 IHG points) per calendar year.
  13. $99 annual fee, NOT waived fist year.
  14. Free night is only valid for one year.

Compared to other hotel groups, IHG is strong in national parks and some small towns in the middle of nowhere. Since the revamp in 2022.3, you can now redeem 40k FN with some extra points to book for higher category hotels, and this significantly increased the flexibility for the FN. This card is not a good card for everyday spending because IHG points are not very valuable, so the 10k spending bonus is basically just a joke. Keeping this card for a long time is basically equivalent to use $99 to buy a 40k FN, whether it’s worth it really depend on your traveling frequency etc.

Old Benefits Before 2022.03.24
  1. 140k Offer: Earn 140,000 IHG points after spending $3,000 in 3 months. The best recent offer is 150k+$50+first year annual fee waived.
  2. IHG points are valued around 0.5 cents/point (Hotel Points Value). So the 150k+$50 highest offer is worth about $800.
  3. Receive a free night certificate every year after your account renewal anniversary date. Anniversary free night certificate is only valid at IHG hotels with a current point redemption level of 40,000 points or less.
  4. Earn 10x points at IHG property, 2x points at dining, supermarket and gas station, and 1x point on other purchases.
  5. Earn 10,000 bonus points after you spend $20,000 on purchases and make one additional purchase each account anniversary year.
  6. 20% off 20% on when you purchase IHG points with your card.
  7. 4th reward night free when you redeem points for any stay of 4 or more nights.
  8. Complimentary IHG Platinum Membership.
  9. Cell phone protection: get up to $800 per claim and $1,000 per year in cell phone protection against covered theft or damage for phones listed on your monthly cell phone bill when you pay it with your eligible credit card. Deductible $50.
  10. Global Entry or TSA PreCheck $100 credit every 4 years.
  11. No foreign transaction fee.
  12. Refer a friend. Please click this link to start referring. You can earn 10,000 bonus IHG points for every approved account you refer, up to a maximum of 5 approved referrals (50,000 IHG points) per calendar year.
  13. $89 annual fee, NOT waived fist year.
  14. Free night is only valid for one year, and only valid at IHG hotels with a current point redemption level of 40,000 points or less.

Now the anniversary free night is only valid at IHG hotels with a current point redemption level of 40,000 points or less, and this makes it harder to redeem it in big cities. You may find some good redemptions outside of the US. If you only compare the face value of a hotel, it is mostly higher than the $89 annual fee; however, it is not easy to find a fantastic redemption any more. This card is not a good card for everyday use because IHG points are not very valuable, so the 10k spending bonus is basically just a joke. Keeping this card for a long time is basically equivalent to use $89 to buy a hotel night, whether it’s worth it really depend on your traveling frequency etc.

Related Credit Cards

 Chase IHG One RewardsChase IHG PremierChase IHG BusinessChase IHG Premier Select
Annual Fee$0$150$200$350
Free Nightnone50k50k60k
IHG StatusSilverGoldPlatinumPlatinum
Coupon Booknone$100 IHG F&B ($25/quarter) + $100 Airline Credit + $50 United TravelBank$100 IHG F&B ($25/quarter) + $100 Airline Credit$300 IHG F&B ($75/quarter) + $200 Airline Credit + $50 United TravelBank

After Applying

  • Call 800-436-7927 to check Chase application status. This is an automated telephone line, and the information has the following meanings: Receive decision in 2 weeks means your application is probably approved; Receive decision in 7-10 days means your application is probably rejected; Receive decision in 30 days simply means your application requires further review and there’s nothing to tell you for now.

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Application Link

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