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The IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card is a great value for the occasional IHG guest. This card charges no annual fee and comes with nice perks like a fourth night free on award redemptions, 20% savings on buying IHG points, and no foreign transaction fees. Here's our full card review to help you decide if it's right for you.
- Earn 80,000 bonus points
- No Annual Fee
- Earn up to 17 points total per $1 spent when you stay at IHG Hotels & Resorts
- Earn 3 points per $1 spent on purchases on monthly bills, at gas stations, and restaurants. Earn 2 points per $1 spent on all other purchases
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- Redeem 3 Nights, Get the 4th Night Free
- IHG One Rewards Bonus points are redeemable at Hotels & Resorts such as InterContinental®, Crowne Plaza®, Kimpton®, EVEN® Hotels, Indigo® Hotels & Holiday Inn®
- Member FDIC
- 17X points total per $1 spent when you stay at an IHG hotel
- 3X points per $1 spent on dining, utilities, select streaming services, and at gas stations
- 2X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
The earning for spending at IHG hotels breaks down as follows:
- Earn 5X points for being a IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Cardmember
- Earn 2X points from IHG® with Silver Elite Status, a benefit of this Card
- Earn 10X points from IHG® for being an IHG® Rewards Club Member (Being a cardholder is not required to earn this bonus for participating in the IHG® loyalty program)
Key Benefits of the IHG One Rewards Traveler Card
- Fourth Reward Night Free — Cardholders receive the fourth night free on award redemptions of four or more nights. That effectively offers a 25% discount on award stays of four nights; redeem your points for a four-night stay at an IHG property, and IHG will only charge you for three nights.
- Save 20% on Points Purchases — There are situations when buying points can save you a bundle compared to paying cash for your stay. It's important to note that—according to the terms and conditions—the 20% discount on points purchases can't be combined with other deals or discounts. In other words, you likely won't be able to combine this discount with points sales where IHG sells points for as little as 0.5¢ each. Still, the benefit could be a great value when you buy points top off your account for high-end redemptions like Kimpton hotels.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees — Foreign transaction fees are fees tacked onto purchases made outside of the U.S. They're typical on most zero-annual-fee credit cards, so the fact that this card doesn't have these fees while also not charging an annual fee is pretty great.
- Pathway to Elite Status — Cardholders receive IHG Gold Elite Status after spending $20k on the card (and then making one additional purchase) in a cardmember year. Gold Elites receive perks like priority check-in, late check-out, and a welcome amenity (usually a mini-bar credit or similar) on every stay. It's worth noting that while this might sound nice, we don't recommend actively pursuing it, as IHG isn't known for being overly rewarding to its lowest-tiered status holders. You're better off putting that $20k in spend on another credit card with a more valuable earning structure.
If you want IHG status, check out the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (full review) for complimentary Platinum Elite status just for having the card—no spending threshold to worry about.
How to Redeem 80,000 IHG Points
IHG has an impressive footprint of almost 6,000 properties worldwide. Award night redemptions generally range from 10k – 70k IHG points per night—although some new high-end properties are pricing higher than 70k points.
This means that you can use your sign-up bonus for 8 free nights at a 10,000-point property—and that's before the fourth reward night free benefit! Here's an example of that 4th-night-free benefit in action at an Intercontinental in Vietnam. The normal price is 20,000 points per night, but when you set up a four-night stay, the total price comes to 60,000 points.
The trick is to find a property that has an especially lucrative redemption rate. Some of my current favorites include the Intercontinental Hanoi Landmark72 at 20k per night, the Holiday Inn Express Cape Town City Center at 20k per night, and Intercontinental Mauritius for only 30k per night.
See our article on IHG redemption sweet-spots for an even more detailed look at getting the most for your points.
Comparisons to the IHG One Rewards Premier Card
The IHG One Rewards Premier Card is Chase's other IHG card, offering additional benefits in return for an $99 annual fee (which isn't waived for the first year). This card also has an excellent offer: New cardmembers can earn 140,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
We previously did a full write-up detailing all of the IHG One Rewards Premier Card‘s benefits here. The key perks which aren't offered by the IHG One Rewards Traveler Card include:
- An annual anniversary reward night certificate toward a reward night costing 40,000 points or less
- Complimentary IHG Rewards Platinum Elite status
- A Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check credit
The sign-up bonus aside, the IHG One Rewards Premier Card‘s value proposition ultimately comes down to whether or not you can make use of the annual reward certificate.
- Earn 140,000 Bonus Points
- Enjoy an Anniversary Free Night at IHG Hotels & Resorts. Plus, enjoy a reward night when you redeem points for a consecutive four-night IHG® hotel stay.
- Earn up to 26 points total per $1 spent when you stay at IHG Hotels & Resorts
- Earn 5 points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, at gas stations, and restaurants. Earn 3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Automatic Platinum Elite status as long as you remain a Premier card member
- Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS Statement Credit of up to $100 every 4 years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to your card
- IHG One Rewards Bonus points are redeemable at Hotels & Resorts such as InterContinental®, Crowne Plaza®, Kimpton®, EVEN® Hotels, Indigo® Hotels & Holiday Inn®
- Member FDIC
- Earn 26 points total per $1 spent when you stay at an IHG hotel
- 5X points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, gas stations, and restaurants
- 3X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
The earning for spending at IHG hotels breaks down as follows:
- Earn 10X points for being a IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card member
- Earn 6X points from IHG® with Platinum Elite Status, a benefit of having this card
- Earn 10X points from IHG® for being an IHG® Rewards Club Member (Being a cardholder is not required to earn this bonus for participating in the IHG® loyalty program)
Application Restrictions
Like most personal cards that Chase offers, the IHG One Rewards Traveler Card is subject to an array of application restrictions that you need to consider before applying, including the rules that apply to the entire family of IHG Rewards cards.
“This product is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of any personal IHG One Rewards Credit Card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of any personal IHG One Rewards Credit Card who received a new cardmember bonus for any personal IHG One Rewards Credit Card within the last 24 months.”
This card also counts towards—and is subject to—Chase's unpublished 5/24 policy. That means that you won't get approved for the IHG One Rewards Traveler Card if you've had 5 or more new accounts added to your personal credit history in the last 24 months.
Additionally, the IHG One Rewards Traveler Card will occupy one of your 5/24 ‘slots' if you do apply and get approved. This is all to say that it's important to consider how this card would fit into your overall credit card portfolio before you decide to apply for it.
Final Thoughts
You may have noticed that we've conspicuously avoided discussing the earning structures of either of these IHG credit cards. The reason for that is simple: their earning structures just aren't lucrative enough to warrant regular spending. It's better to use your spending to generate more valuable flexible award currencies and take advantage of the other benefits they provide.
Still, with 80,000 bonus points on offer, no annual fee, 4th reward night free, and no foreign transaction fees, the IHG One Rewards Traveler Card definitely punches above its weight. Just make sure you've taken your overall 5/24 allotment into account before devoting a slot to it.
- Earn 80,000 bonus points
- No Annual Fee
- Earn up to 17 points total per $1 spent when you stay at IHG Hotels & Resorts
- Earn 3 points per $1 spent on purchases on monthly bills, at gas stations, and restaurants. Earn 2 points per $1 spent on all other purchases
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- Redeem 3 Nights, Get the 4th Night Free
- IHG One Rewards Bonus points are redeemable at Hotels & Resorts such as InterContinental®, Crowne Plaza®, Kimpton®, EVEN® Hotels, Indigo® Hotels & Holiday Inn®
- Member FDIC
- 17X points total per $1 spent when you stay at an IHG hotel
- 3X points per $1 spent on dining, utilities, select streaming services, and at gas stations
- 2X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
The earning for spending at IHG hotels breaks down as follows:
- Earn 5X points for being a IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Cardmember
- Earn 2X points from IHG® with Silver Elite Status, a benefit of this Card
- Earn 10X points from IHG® for being an IHG® Rewards Club Member (Being a cardholder is not required to earn this bonus for participating in the IHG® loyalty program)
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Great news in my email this morning. I had just received the card a couple of months ago. I achieved the spend but I was still waiting for the bonus to hit my IHG account (75K). I asked Chase if they would increase my bonus. The phone representative sent the request and it was approved! I’ll only truly believe it when the 100k bonus is in my account, but so far, that 5 minute phone call and polite request was very worthwhile.
Looks better than the one with 89 annual fee. I’m still having the old ihg card and paying 49 a.f. but it offers free 1 reward night every year so still worth it.
If I have the IHG Rewards Club Premier can I also get the IHG RC Traveler?
It looks like it! The restrictions only note “This product is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of this credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of this credit card who received a new cardmember bonus for this credit card within the last 24 months.”
UR points never expire, but to avoid losing them, you must transfer them to another UR card or to a travel account that accepts UR points transfers, before cancelling your CSR.
I like the rewards card with no annual fees.
I applied and got this card a few months ago. The minimum spend was easy to achieve but I still haven’t actually received the bonus. With that in mind, I called Chase last night and asked if they would increase my bonus to the new 100K. The representative was very nice and said she would put the request in for consideration. Now all I can do is wait. The chance of 25K more points was well worth the 5 minute phone call. I’ll post my results when I get a decision.
I wish Chase would stick with just one reward program. I always get confused with which one I should redeem. Their Ultimate Rewards is good enough for me for traveling so this doesn’t seem appealing to me.
This is an excellent card, I really like it
Nice for a card with no annual fee.
I wish the same and spend a week in that hotel.
This is definitely a card I would get for the opening bonus and the fact that it has no annual fee.
It is interesting that these cards are essentially used to boost the value of the IHG membership.
I think that the “IHG Rewards Premier Card” is a better / more valuable card for the active IHG members.
I’m liking this offer. The extra 100K points would help a lot in getting some cheap roadside Holiday inn’s on my next long road trip.
Nice time to sign up and stretch out the bonus for a few free nights at nice IHG properties!
This is a very nice card promotion. However, it doesn’t seem to have a program in Canada.
I would like to move to that hotel! Awesome