IHG credit cards compared: which of the four to get
Chase relaunched its IHG cards on October 1, 2026 with higher fees, new names and a fourth card. What each one costs, what you get for it, and which to pick.
Chase rebuilt its IHG card lineup on October 1, 2026. There are now four cards, priced at $0, $150, $350 and $200 for the business version, and most of what was written about them before that date is out of date. The $99 Premier that came with Platinum Elite status is gone for new applicants.
What changed on October 1
Start with the Premier. It went from $99 to $150 a year, and its automatic status dropped from Platinum Elite to Gold. In return the anniversary free night now covers rooms up to 50,000 points instead of 40,000, and the card picked up a $100 airline credit and $100 a year in hotel dining vouchers.
On the no-fee card, the word Traveler is gone from the name. So is the easy fourth-night-free benefit, which now takes $5,000 in purchases in a calendar year.
The business card doubled to $200 and kept Platinum Elite.
A new card sits on top of all of them. The IHG One Rewards Premier Select costs $350 and is now the only personal card that comes with Platinum Elite.
What each card gives you
IHG One Rewards Credit Card, $0
You earn 5x at IHG hotels, 3x on dining, gas and groceries, and 2x on everything else. Status is Silver Elite. There is no anniversary night.
The welcome bonus is 125,000 points after $2,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. At our valuation of 0.55 cents a point, that is about $690 in hotel stays from a card with no fee.
IHG One Rewards Premier, $150
Earning steps up to 10x at IHG hotels, 5x on dining, groceries, gas, flights booked with the airline and car rentals, and 3x elsewhere. You get Gold Elite status, an anniversary night worth up to 50,000 points, and the fourth award night free with no spending requirement.
The credits are smaller than they look on the page. You get the $100 airline credit only after $250 in airline purchases, and it runs through 2027. Dining vouchers come as $25 a quarter and work only at IHG hotels. A $50 United TravelBank deposit and a $120 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit every four years round it out.
New cardholders earn 180,000 points after $3,000 in 3 months.
IHG One Rewards Premier Select, $350
This is the new one. It earns 12x at IHG hotels, 6x on dining and other travel, and 3x elsewhere. Platinum Elite is automatic. The anniversary night covers rooms up to 60,000 points, and a second night arrives after $40,000 in yearly spending.
Dining vouchers triple to $300 a year, paid as $75 a quarter. The airline credit doubles to $200.
Its launch offer is the largest of the four: 200,000 points after $5,000 in 3 months.
IHG One Rewards Business, $200
The business card earns 10x at IHG hotels and 5x on dining, gas, and social media and search advertising. Travel and office supply stores also earn 5x through December 31, 2026. After that, only airline tickets and car rentals keep the 5x rate. You get Platinum Elite, an anniversary night up to 50,000 points, and the fourth night free.
Spend $5,000 in the first 3 months and you earn 190,000 points.
The anniversary night covers the Premier’s fee
A 50,000-point night is worth about $275 at 0.55 cents a point, and more at any hotel where the cash rate runs higher than that. Use it once a year and the Premier’s $150 fee is paid before you count anything else. That one benefit is the case for the card.
The Select asks for $200 more. For that you get a night capped 10,000 points higher (about $55), $200 more in dining vouchers, $100 more in airline credit, and Platinum instead of Gold. On paper that clears the gap.
In practice the vouchers arrive $75 a quarter and work only at IHG hotels. Someone who stays twice a year will use half of them at best. The Select makes sense if you are in an IHG hotel most quarters and eat there. Everyone else should take the Premier.
What Gold and Platinum change
Gold adds a 40% bonus to the base points you earn on paid stays. Platinum adds 60%. That difference is why the Premier tops out at 24 points per dollar at IHG hotels and the Business card reaches 26.
Neither tier includes free breakfast. That starts at Diamond.
If Platinum matters to you and you have a business, the Business card is now the cheapest way to get it: $200 against $350 for the Select.
How today’s bonuses compare with past offers
All four cards are carrying launch offers. The Premier’s 180,000 points is 5,000 short of the 185,000 it reached in spring 2026, and that offer took $6,000 in spending over 6 months. Today’s takes $3,000 in 3.
On the no-fee card, 125,000 points matches the highest we have on record, at half the spending the earlier version required. Business applicants get 190,000, just under a brief 200,000-point offer from April 2026 that needed $9,000.
Every offer for each card is charted on the Offer History Tracker if you want to see the full run.
Which one to get
Most IHG guests should take the Premier, even at the higher fee. If you stay three or more nights a year somewhere a 50,000-point night would be useful, it pays for itself.
Stay with IHG only once or twice a year and the no-fee card is enough. You keep the points and pay nothing to hold it.
Choose the Select only if you can name the four hotel stays where you will spend the dining vouchers.
All four are subject to Chase’s 5/24 rule, so check your count before you apply.
