Card benefits change often, and this page may be out of date by the time you read it. Always check the bank’s page and your card’s guide to benefits for the current terms before you rely on a benefit.
The IHG One Rewards Premier is Chase’s mid-tier IHG card: a $150 annual fee, an anniversary free night at hotels up to 50,000 points, a fourth night free on award stays, automatic Gold status and 5x on a long list of everyday categories.
The October 2026 refresh raised the fee from $99 to $150 and the free night cap from 40,000 to 50,000 points, cut automatic status from Platinum to Gold, and added a $100 airline credit, $25 quarterly food-and-drink vouchers and 15 Elite Night Credits a year. Below is how it earns, what each credit takes, the protections in Chase’s own numbers, the new application rules, and my verdict.
IHG Premier at a glance
- Annual fee: $150; up from $99 in the October 2026 refresh; existing cardmembers move to the new fee in 2027
- Current public offer: 180,000 points after $3,000 in purchases in the first 3 months, plus 10,000 points for adding an authorized user (offer listed through November 18, 2026) (as of October 14, 2026, per Frequent Miler)
- Is it the best ever?: Close, but no. It was 185,000 points after $4,000 until August 2026, so today’s offer is 5,000 points less for $1,000 less spend. At roughly half a cent a point, 180,000 points is worth about $900 of IHG stays.
- Foreign transaction fee: None
- Best for: Anyone who stays at an IHG hotel at least once a year and will use the anniversary night, especially people who take longer award stays where every 4th night is free.
- Skip it if: You don’t stay at IHG hotels; the points are worth about half a cent and the night certificate is only valuable if you’ll use it within 12 months.
- Bank’s page: IHG One Rewards Premier on chase.com
Jump to: Highlights · Earning · Credits · Free nights and status · Insurance · Application rules · My take · The catch · Keep it? · Offer history · Quick Answers
The highlights
- 10x at IHG hotels (up to 24x with membership and Gold), 5x on flights booked direct, car rentals, restaurants, grocery stores and gas stations, 5x other travel through 12/31/2026 (then 3x), 3x elsewhere
- Anniversary free night at hotels up to 50,000 points, and you can add points to book a pricier hotel; use it within 12 months
- Fourth night free on award stays of 4+ nights, unlimited
- $100 airline credit per calendar year after $250 in flights booked directly with any airline, through 12/31/2027
- $100 IHG food and beverage credit: $25 per quarter, charged to your room at IHG hotels
- $50 United TravelBank cash a year in two $25 deposits, registration required
- Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS credit every 4 years
- IHG Gold status; Platinum, 5 Elite Night Credits and 15,000 points after $15,000 in a calendar year; Diamond after $40,000; 15 Elite Night Credits a year plus 2 per $5,000
- 30% off IHG points purchases; $10 monthly Instacart credit while you have Instacart+; DashPass plus $10 off one non-restaurant DoorDash order a month, through 12/31/2027
- Trip cancellation, lost luggage, baggage delay, secondary rental car coverage and purchase protection; no foreign transaction fees
How it earns
| Category | Rate | Caps and fine print |
|---|---|---|
| IHG hotels (booked direct) | 10x | Up to 24x total: 10x card, up to 10x as an IHG member, up to 4x for Gold Elite |
| Flights booked directly with airlines | 5x | No cap |
| Car rental agencies | 5x | No cap |
| Restaurants, grocery stores and gas stations | 5x | Restaurants include takeout and eligible delivery |
| Other travel | 5x | Through 12/31/2026 only, then 3x (purchases must post by then) |
| Everything else | 3x | — |
IHG points are worth roughly half a cent each in my eyes, so 5x is about 2.5% back toward IHG stays and 3x about 1.5%. They don’t transfer anywhere useful, and they stay active as long as your account has activity at least once every 12 months.
Credits and how to use them
Two of these are easy for most travelers (the airline credit and the anniversary night); the rest depend on staying at IHG often, flying United, or using Instacart and DoorDash.
| Credit | Amount | How often | Where / how | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airline credit | $100 | Calendar year | Automatic statement credit once you’ve spent $250 on flights booked directly with any airline | Through 12/31/2027. The easiest credit on the card if you buy at least one flight a year. |
| Anniversary free night | One night up to 50,000 points | Each account anniversary, starting after year one | Book a standard room on ihg.com; add your own points to use it at a hotel above 50,000 | Must be booked and stayed within 12 months; you pay resort fees and incidentals. |
| IHG Food & Beverage voucher | $25 a quarter ($100 a year) | Calendar quarter | Food and drink charged to your room at participating IHG hotels | Expires at the end of each quarter, so you need an IHG stay every quarter to get all of it. Not valid at some resorts, minibar taxes or delivery. |
| United TravelBank cash | $25 + $25 ($50 a year) | Around January 5 and July 5 | One-time registration through your IHG account, plus a MileagePlus account | Only useful on United; each deposit expires (July 15 and January 15). |
| Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS | Up to $120 | Once every 4 years | Pay the application fee with the card | — |
| Instacart credit | $10 a month | Monthly | One $10+ Instacart order while you’re an Instacart+ member | Only the first 3 months of Instacart+ are free; after that it renews at $99 a year unless you cancel. Through 12/31/2027; unused months don’t roll over. |
| DoorDash non-restaurant promo | $10 off one order a month | Monthly (quarterly if you activated DashPass before 9/1/2026) | Grocery, convenience and other non-restaurant DoorDash orders with DashPass | Needs its own non-restaurant order each month. Through 12/31/2027. |
| DashPass membership | 12 months free | Once | Activate by 12/31/2027 | Renews at the monthly rate afterward unless you cancel. |
Free nights, status and other perks
- Fourth Reward Night free: on a points stay of 4 or more nights in a row at the same hotel, every 4th night is free, with no limit on how many times a year. It doesn’t apply to paid stays or Points & Cash, and you lose the free night if you cancel or check out early.
- IHG Gold Elite status while you have the card, which adds up to 4 bonus points per dollar on stays (40% on top of the member rate) plus perks like late checkout, subject to availability.
- Platinum Elite for the rest of that year and all of the next after $15,000 in purchases in a calendar year, which also earns 5 Elite Night Credits and 15,000 bonus points. Diamond Elite after $40,000 in a calendar year.
- 15 Elite Night Credits when you open the account and again by February 1 each year, plus 2 for every $5,000 you spend, with no cap. Elite Night Credits count toward IHG status as if you’d stayed those nights (IHG’s tiers are Silver at 10 nights, Gold at 20, Platinum at 40 and Diamond at 70) and toward IHG’s Milestone Rewards.
- Save 30% when you buy IHG points with the card (not combinable with other points sales).
- 10,000 bonus points for adding your first authorized user in the first 3 months.
Insurance and protections
| Benefit | What the bank says |
|---|---|
| Auto rental collision damage waiver | Up to $60,000 for theft and collision damage, secondary in the U.S. (primary outside the U.S. or if you have no other insurance), rentals up to 31 days; you have to decline the rental company’s CDW. This comes from the guide to benefits; the card page doesn’t list it. |
| Trip cancellation / interruption | Up to $5,000 per covered traveler and $10,000 per trip ($20,000 per account per 12 months, per the guide), for prepaid, nonrefundable travel One-way and award tickets: Award trips count: the guide covers trips where all or a portion of the cost is charged to the card or paid with redeemable rewards, so putting award taxes on the card qualifies. It doesn’t mention a round-trip requirement. |
| Trip delay | None |
| Baggage delay | Up to $100 a day for up to 3 days after a 6-hour delay One-way and award tickets: Yes to both: the guide covers round-trip or one-way fares paid all or in part with the card or its rewards. |
| Lost luggage | Up to $3,000 per covered traveler ($2,000 per bag and $10,000 per trip for New York residents) One-way and award tickets: Yes to both, same rule as baggage delay. |
| Travel accident insurance | Up to $500,000 on common carrier trips when all or part of the fare is on the card (per the guide) |
| Roadside assistance | Pay-per-use dispatch at a pre-negotiated price, not free (per the guide) |
| Purchase protection | 120 days, up to $500 per item (90 days for New York residents) |
| Extended warranty | Adds one year to U.S. warranties (up to $10,000 per item), per the guide; the card page doesn’t list it |
The card page lists trip cancellation, baggage delay, lost luggage and purchase protection. The rental car, travel accident, roadside and extended warranty terms, and the one-way and award ticket rules, come from the Guide to Benefits the card page links to (World and World Elite Mastercard, effective 10/01/24). Claims need receipts and the carrier’s or supplier’s documentation.
For how this compares with other cards, see my card travel benefits comparison.
Application rules for this card
- Since the October 2026 refresh, Chase’s page says this card isn’t available if you have any personal IHG card open now (the no-fee IHG One Rewards card or the Premier), or if you received a new cardmember bonus on any personal IHG card in the last 24 months. So the no-fee card and the Premier work like one family: you hold one of them and get one bonus every 24 months (Chase rules).
- The $350 Premier Select is checked on its own (only that card’s own holding and 24-month bonus count), so holding the Premier or no-fee card doesn’t block it. The order matters: per One Mile at a Time’s reading of the terms, getting the Premier Select first blocks the other two, since it counts as a personal IHG card for their rule. The IHG business card is also checked separately.
- Chase’s 5/24 rule applies: you’ll be denied if you’ve opened 5 or more personal cards from any bank in the last 24 months.
The full rules for every bank are in my credit card application rules guide.
My take
A $150 fee minus the $100 airline credit, which most people will use without trying, makes it about $50 a year in my eyes, and the anniversary night (up to 50,000 points, or roughly $250 of IHG stays at half a cent a point) covers that several times over if you’ll use it. For anyone who stays at an IHG hotel once a year, this is an easy card to keep.
The 2026 refresh was mixed: the free night got better (50,000 instead of 40,000, and you can still top it up with points), but automatic status dropped from Platinum to Gold, and the new food-and-drink vouchers need IHG stays every quarter. The fourth-night-free benefit is still the best reason to hold an IHG card if you take longer award stays.
Because of the new family rule, choose between the no-fee card and the Premier before you apply; for most people who stay at IHG even once a year, I would pick the Premier for the anniversary night.
In any case, I personally would hate to sign up at 180,000 points when 185,000 was available in the past, though the gap is small and the spend is lower now.
The catch
IHG points are worth about half a cent each, so the big point numbers are less impressive than they look, and the 5x on other travel drops to 3x after 2026. The fee went up by $51 in the refresh while automatic status went down from Platinum to Gold; Platinum now takes $15,000 of spend in a calendar year.
The anniversary night has to be used within 12 months, and resort fees are on you. The $100 airline credit only counts flights booked directly with the airline, after the first $250.
The food and beverage vouchers, United TravelBank cash, Instacart and DoorDash perks only help if you already stay at IHG hotels every quarter, fly United, or use those services. Chase, like other banks with similar hard-to-use credits, hopes that you forget to use these benefits.
Keep it after year one?
The fee to me is $150 minus the $100 airline credit, which is about $50, and one anniversary night at a hotel you’d stay at anyway is worth far more than that. Keep it if you stay at IHG at least once a year. If you don’t, the no-fee IHG One Rewards card keeps the fourth night free (with $5,000 of spend a year starting in 2027) and Silver status; I haven’t confirmed whether Chase will switch you between them, so ask before you cancel.
Offer history
| Offer | Ended |
|---|---|
| Five 60K free nights after $4K in 3 months | 2025-07 |
| 185K after $4K in 3 months (best ever) | 2026-08 |
Quick Answers
$150 a year as of October 2026, up from $99 before the October 2026 refresh (existing cardmembers move to the new fee in 2027). It isn’t waived the first year. The $100 airline credit and the anniversary free night (up to 50,000 points) offset it if you use them.
As of October 14, 2026 the public offer is 180,000 points after $3,000 in purchases in the first 3 months, plus 10,000 points for adding an authorized user, listed through November 18, 2026. It was 185,000 points after $4,000 until August 2026.
The fee went from $99 to $150 (in 2027 for existing cardmembers), the anniversary night now covers hotels up to 50,000 points (up from 40,000), automatic status dropped from Platinum to Gold (Platinum now takes $15,000 of spend a year), grocery stores joined the 5x categories, and the card added a $100 airline credit, $25 quarterly IHG food-and-drink vouchers and 15 Elite Night Credits a year. The $50 of United TravelBank cash stayed.
Not if you apply now. Chase’s page says the Premier isn’t available if you hold any personal IHG card or got a personal IHG card bonus in the last 24 months. The $350 Premier Select is checked separately.
Yes. On award stays of 4 or more nights in a row at the same hotel, every 4th night is free, with no limit per year. It doesn’t apply to paid stays or Points & Cash.
Last checked: October 14, 2026. Card terms change often, so confirm on the bank’s page before you apply. There are no affiliate or referral links on this site, ever; links go to the bank’s own page.