Should You Upgrade To The New IHG Credit Card?
In early April, Chase made some major changes to their IHG credit card portfolio. They stopped accepting applications for the old IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card, and instead started accepting applications for the all new IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card.
A lot of cardmembers with the old IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card have been receiving upgrade offers, where they can earn 5,000 bonus points for upgrading and making one purchase with the card. @MickeyBoggs asks the following on Twitter, and I’m sure he’s not the only one with this question:
@tebfunk @OneMileataTime @FrequentMiler is there any reason NOT to upgrade IHG card + make 1 purch by end of June to get 5K miles? Similar question for upgrading Mariott card.
— Mickey Boggs (@MickeyBoggs) June 17, 2018
To determine whether or not it’s worth upgrading from the IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card to the IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card, let’s compare the benefits of the two cards.
Comparing the benefits of the IHG Club & IHG Premier Credit Card
On the most basic level, the IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card ($49 annual fee, no longer open to new applications) offers:
- An anniversary free night certificate valid at any IHG hotel retailing for up to 40,000 points per night
- IHG Rewards Club Platinum status for as long as you have the card
- A 10% refund on redeemed points, for a total of up to 100,000 refunded points per year
For the IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card ($89 annual fee), I view the most valuable benefits as being:
- An anniversary free night certificate valid at any IHG hotel retailing for up to 40,000 points per night
- IHG Rewards Club Platinum status for as long as you have the card
- A fourth night free on award redemptions, which can be used an unlimited number of times
- A TSA Pre-Check or Global Entry fee credit once every four years
Deciding which IHG card is better for you
On the surface, the old IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card is probably an all around better value. The card has an annual fee of $49, which is $40 per year cheaper, and offers the same anniversary free night certificate and Platinum status for as long as you have the card.
The other biggest benefit on both cards is the extra value you get when you redeem points — the old IHG Club Card offers a 10% rebate on redeemed points (up to 100,000 points per year), while the new IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card offers a fourth night free on award redemptions.
The fourth night free on award redemptions has the potential to be more valuable, since it potentially offers 25% off. However, that requires redeeming in increments of exactly four nights. If that matches your typical redemption patterns, then I’d say that benefit is more valuable, while otherwise the 10% rebate is likely to be more rewarding, since it applies to all redemptions.
Redeem your anniversary free night certificate at the Crowne Plaza Changi
Why you shouldn’t upgrade to the IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card?
While I think the IHG Premier Card is potentially more valuable for some (specifically, those who often redeem in increments of four nights), I absolutely wouldn’t recommend upgrading from one card to the other. Why? Because you can have both cards, and you don’t want to cancel a card that you can never apply for again, especially one that has benefits that are this good.
You can continue to have the old IHG Club Card for the anniversary free night certificate and 10% refund on redeemed points, which is well worth the $49 annual fee.
Then you can complement that with the $89 annual fee IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card, which has a welcome bonus of 80,000 points upon completing minimum spend and a fourth night free on award redemptions.
The best part is that you can stack those benefits — if you have both cards you get two anniversary free night certificates per year, and you can combine the fourth night free on award redemptions with the 10% refund on redeemed points, which gets you maximum value.
Stack a fourth night free with a 10% refund on redeemed points at the InterContinental Danang
Bottom line
While it might be tempting to upgrade to the new IHG Card for 5,000 points, I’d highly recommend against it. You’d be giving up a card that you’ll never be able to apply for again, and that has a lower annual fee and a unique 10% refund benefit on redeemed points.
I’d much rather keep the IHG Club Card, and then apply for the IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card, which has useful benefits that you can stack, and a big welcome bonus. Also keep in mind that applying for the IHG Card isn’t subjected to the 5/24 restriction.
Anyone have a different take, and think it makes sense to upgrade from the IHG Club Card to the IHG Premier Card?
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