This IHG credit card is the first card we considered featuring in our post series on keeper cards because it’s one that’s been in our wallets for years. The version of IHG’s card we prefer is called the IHG One Rewards Premier credit card. We’ve used it to stay in hotels around the world for very little money, and it is my favorite hotel card for a traveler like myself who isn’t racking up a lot of business travel points but rather just uses the anniversary night and accumulates points via casual spending. Not every card reaches a keeper status with me and makes it past temporary use for a year or two, but IHG’s is one of the distinguished few that warrants it.

The Best Thing About It

You get a free anniversary night every time you renew.

The free nights are always worth while for our purposes as they always get us redemptions much higher than the fee with hotel prices these days. It’s also pretty easy to merge free nights on a reservation if your partner also opens their own separate card. The hotel brands owned under the IHG umbrella include some pretty nice ones like Intercontinental, Kimpton, Hotel Indigo, and Crown Plaza among others. It’s not all about the fancy brands though. IHG also includes Holiday Inn properties and Candlewood Suites to help ensure flexibility to find places to stay in destinations you want or need to head to.

Other Notable perks

Limitations

Anniversary night redemptions are for 40,000 or less points only. This is akin to category caps used by some other hotel rewards networks that prevent redemptions above a certain category of hotel, and I haven’t found it that limiting.

The Fine Print

Ensure you are looking at the premier version of the card for the offer and benefits mentioned.

This Card’s Elder

The IHG One Rewards Premier card is the current incarnation of the previous IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card with the differences from the current card as noted below. I hold this older version of the IHG credit card, and this information is provided for historical context with which to judge the current version and offer by.

  • $49 annual fee with no fee first year
  • No Global Entry or PreCheck credits
  • No 3 night redemption with 4th night free
  • Lower point multipliers for spending

Our Past Points or Nights Redemptions

The IHG cards have gotten us some of our best stays around the world. This gives you an idea of how you can use your anniversary nights and points for stays.