2 Chase IHG Credit Cards Just Got a Massive Welcome Bonus Boost: Earn Up to 300,000 Points

You may not be familiar with the IHG hotel chain brand name. But you’ve almost certainly heard of or stayed at its properties a time or two.

IHG brands include Holiday Inn, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood suites, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, and many more. Because IHG has more than 6,000 locations around the world, its rewards are easy to use. No matter where you’re traveling, there’s likely an IHG hotel nearby.

The card_name and card_name have boosted welcome bonuses through Sept. 4, 2024—and it’s a big deal. You’ll now receive between 100,000 and 300,000 points in value, depending on which card you choose. Let’s quickly look at these hotel credit cards to help you decide if either is a good match for your lifestyle.

Massive increase to Chase IHG credit card welcome bonuses for a limited time

In most cases, you’ll receive a value around 0.5 cents per IHG point. That makes these current card bonuses worth between $500 and $1,500, on average, though you can squeeze more value from them with a bit of strategy.

Award nights at a simple roadside IHG hotel typically cost at least 15,000 points (some hotels charge fewer points, but they’re not the norm ). Fancier properties, like resorts in Thailand or French Polynesia, can cost well over 100,000 points per night.

IHG Premier Card new bonus

The card_name offers five Free Night Awards (up to 60,000 points each) after you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening. In other words, you can receive up to 300,000 points in value from this card bonus. That’s more than double the potential value of the card’s previous offer of 140,000 points.

There are a couple important things you should know about IHG Free Night Awards:

• They are single-use. If you use one of your 60,000-point free nights to book a hotel that costs 20,000 points per night, you’ll forfeit the remaining value of 40,000 points.
• You can combine free nights with IHG points. This lets you book a hotel that costs more than 60,000 points. For example, you could redeem a Free Night Reward plus 40,000 points to book one night at a hotel that charges 100,000 points per night.

Even if you find yourself checking into nondescript hotels that cost 15,000 points or so per night, this bonus is still likely to save you over $500 in travel. However, it’s best suited for those seeking fancier properties, where the value can easily reach $1,000 or more.

The card_name also comes with handy ongoing IHG-specific benefits. For a $99 annual fee, you’ll get benefits like:

• A Free Night Reward worth up to 40,000 points after each account anniversary.
• A fourth reward night free when using points for four or more consecutive nights.
• Automatic IHG Platinum status, which comes with benefits like free room upgrades when available, bonus points on paid stays, late checkout, etc.
• Up to $50 in United TravelBank Cash annually (to be used for United purchases).
• Up to $100 in credit every four years to reimburse the application fee of a five-year membership to Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS (all of which expedite your airport security experience).

The card also comes with handy travel insurance features, discounts on purchased IHG points, and more.

IHG Traveler Card new bonus

The card_name currently offers 100,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening. This is a decent increase over its previous offer of 80,000 points.

That may not sound as impressive as five Free Night Rewards (and, admittedly, it’s not), but you can still squeeze five nights out of this bonus by staying at hotels that cost 20,000 points or less. This bonus is not comprised of single-use certificates.

The IHG Traveler Card has no annual fee, and comes with similar (yet slightly less potent) benefits than the IHG Premier Card. For example, you’ll receive:

• A fourth reward night free when using points for four or more consecutive nights.
• Automatic IHG Silver elite status, which comes with bonus points on paid stays, late checkout when available, etc.
• 10,000 bonus points after spending $10,000 and making one additional purchase in a calendar year.
• 20% discount on purchased points.

This card also comes with a variety of travel protections.

Do you qualify for an IHG credit card?

To be approved for either of these Chase credit cards, you should have at least a “good” credit score. This is defined by FICO as a score of 670 or above.

Note that, even with a stellar credit score, your application may be declined if you neglect the all-important “Chase 5/24 rule.” In short, you won’t be approved for either of these cards if you’ve opened five or more personal credit cards (from any bank—not just Chase) in the past 24 months. If you open a new credit card regularly, you’ll want to double check to ensure you haven’t violated this Chase-specific rule before applying.

TIME Stamp: IHG credit cards now offer some of the best welcome bonuses

You’ll almost never see a credit card offering a bonus worth up to 300,000 points. But the $99 annual fee card_name is doing it for a limited time. Even the no annual fee card_name is offering a solid bonus of 100,000 points.

If you’re an IHG fan, or find yourself booking a handful of hotel stays each year, these cards are worth your serious consideration. You could save hundreds of dollars with surprisingly little effort.