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Chase and IHG Launch $350 Premium Credit Card With $500 in Travel Perks
ReChase and IHG Launch $350 Premium Credit Card With $500 in Travel Perks
Chase and IHG Hotels & Resorts unveiled a new premium credit card with a $350 annual fee and more than $500 in annual travel credits, alongside fee increases and benefit changes to three existing IHG cards.
Chase and IHG Hotels & Resorts are overhauling their co-branded hotel credit card lineup, introducing a new premium card with a $350 annual fee and more than $500 in annual travel credits while raising fees and reshaping benefits on three existing cards.
The new IHG One Rewards Premier Select World Elite Mastercard, announced Monday, is the centerpiece of the changes. It offers up to $300 a year in Food & Beverage Rewards at IHG properties, paid as $75 in credits each quarter, plus a $200 annual statement credit on qualifying airline purchases and up to $50 in United TravelBank Cash. The airline credit requires a direct airline purchase of at least $250 to trigger.
The card also includes an Anniversary Free Night redeemable for a room costing up to 60,000 IHG One Rewards points, with cardholders able to add their own points if the room costs more. On earning, it provides up to 28x total points on IHG stays, 6x points on dining and other travel including rideshare, and 3x points on other purchases.
One of the more notable perks is automatic Platinum Elite status and 20 Elite Night Credits every calendar year. Because IHG's Milestone Rewards program begins at 20 qualifying nights, simply holding the card places members on the first rung of the Milestone ladder without staying 20 nights. IHG introduced Milestone Rewards as part of its loyalty program overhaul in 2022, offering members a reward choice every 10 qualifying nights beginning at 20 nights, with options including bonus points, Food & Beverage Rewards, and Confirmable Suite Upgrades.
«One of the things that we wanted to do with this product was create more opportunities for those frequent travelers to progress through our IHG1 Rewards program,» said Anuja Stites, vice president of loyalty performance and partnerships at IHG Hotels & Resorts, during a press briefing. She added that the 20 credits «are going to unlock a milestone reward as soon as that happens, where they can choose between bonus points, food and beverage rewards, or confirmable speed upgrades.»
Stites said the Premier Select product is built for card members who consistently choose IHG and want recognition, value, and rewards. «They love status, they love premium perks, and they actually want these benefits to reflect how they travel,» she said. Cardholders can unlock Diamond Elite status after $25,000 in spending and another free-night award after spending $40,000.
Chase framed the lineup as serving a range of travelers. «Everybody travels differently, and there's different use cases,» said Chris Cracchiolo, president of co-branded cards at JPMorgan Chase. «There's the occasional leisure traveler. There's the heavy business traveler. There's the elite member, and there's people just getting to know the IHG rewards status and brand. We want to serve them all, and we feel like we did that with the card lineup.»
The changes extend to existing products. The IHG One Rewards Premier World Elite Mastercard, currently $99 a year, will carry a $150 annual fee. For the additional $51, cardholders receive up to $100 annually in Food & Beverage Rewards, distributed as four $25 quarterly credits, and a $100 airline statement credit that also requires a direct airline purchase of at least $250.
Its Anniversary Free Night is being upgraded from a 40,000-point cap to a 50,000-point cap, with cardholders still able to add their own IHG points for pricier rooms. The earning structure changes to up to 24x total points on IHG stays, 5x points on flights booked directly, car rentals, dining, gas, and grocery purchases, and 3x points on everything else.
Some trade-offs accompany the refresh. The current Premier earns 5x across a broader travel category, but that rate will now apply only to flights booked directly with airlines and car rentals rather than travel purchases more broadly. Automatic status also changes: the existing card comes with Platinum Elite status, while the revamped version starts at Gold Elite. Cardholders will receive 15 Elite Night Credits every calendar year, plus two more for every $5,000 spent, providing a path to higher status.
Chase acknowledged that the $51 fee increase is likely to draw attention, noting that the added value from the cards goes well beyond the higher fee. The revamped lineup is designed to give occasional travelers, frequent business travelers, and elite members distinct options within the IHG One Rewards ecosystem.
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