AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. Terms Apply to the offers listed on this page. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
Offers for the IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card are not available through this site. All information has been independently collected by AwardWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. Some offers may have expired. Please see our card marketplace for available offers.
The offer on the IHG® Rewards Select Credit Card is no longer available through this site. Instead, check out the review of IHG's new premium rewards card.
Here's why we believe this card is one of the best credit cards to add to your portfolio of points earning cards right now.
Great Signup Bonus
The IHG® Rewards Select Credit Card earns 60,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. If you had 60,000 in total points that'd be enough to cover up to 12 nights accommodation if used during IHG PointsBreaks promotions, or, using 70,000 points and $80 you could redeem them for two nights at the Category 7 Holiday Inn London – Mayfair for over $770 value. The Holiday Inn London – Mayfair is located in the heart of Londons shopping and theater districts, is a short stroll from Buckingham Palace, and has easy access to the tube. Keep in mind award availability fluctuates and may not be available for your preferred dates.
Free Anniversary Night In Any IHG Hotel Worldwide
Unlike most hotel credit cards which restrict annual free night certificates to select categories of hotel, the certificate earned with the IHG Select Card has no exclusions on any of the over 5,000 hotels operating under the IHG Rewards Club umbrella.
The free night certificate is available with no date restrictions, at any hotel, and although you have to redeem it within 12 months, you can book up to 50 weeks in advance giving you a date range of a little over 23 months from the time of issue.
An Affordable Annual Fee
The card comes with a $0 introductory annual fee the first year, then $49. This makes the IHG Select Card one of the most affordable cards on the market. The unrestricted free night certificate every year is well worth the small annual fee.
Platinum Elite Status With IHG Hotels
You also receive IHG Rewards Platinum Elite status for as long as you retain the card, which would typically require 40 qualifying nights or 40,000 rewards points to achieve. Complimentary Platinum Elite status provides some great perks:
- Extended Check-Out
- Complimentary Weekday Newspaper
- Exclusive Toll-Free Service Line
- No Blackout Dates for Reward Nights
- Reward Nights Count Toward Elite Status
- Free Internet
- Priority Check-In
- 50% Bonus Earnings on Top of Base Points
- Elite Rollover Nights
- Complimentary Room Upgrades
- Guaranteed Room Availability
A 10% Rebate On Award Redemptions
Another benefit of the card is a 10% rebate on award redemptions, up to a maximum of 100,000 points per year. Using the example from earlier, if you redeemed 75,000 bonus points for five nights in New York at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Meadowlands, you would be credited 7,500 points back into your rewards account for later use.
IHG Makes It Easy To Earn Rewards Points
As a cardholder, you:
- Earn 5 points per $1 spent when you stay at IHG hotels
- Earn 2 points per $1 spent on purchases at gas stations, grocery stores & restaurants
- Earn 1 point for every $1 spent on all other purchases
If you add the base 10 points earned as an IHG Rewards Club member plus the 50% bonus of five points you receive as a Platinum Elite, plus the five extra points made as a cardholder, you will receive 20 rewards points for every dollar spent with IHG hotels.
IHG also runs regular rewards promotions like the 2016 Share Forever promotion and the IHG Accelerate Summer promotion which are a fast way of accumulating points. While many of IHG's recent promotions provide differing bonuses across accounts, they make a tremendous effort to ensure there is a promotion for everyone, often running simultaneous promotions for different elite tiers or by allowing members to earn their preferred currency of hotel points or air miles such as the current Double Air Miles campaign.
Final Thoughts
Striking the correct balance of cards in your rewards earning portfolio is one of the hardest things to get right as a points and miles enthusiast. Recent changes to how some banks are assessing credit card applications have highlighted the need for an even mix of short and long-term benefits when applying for new points-earning cards, and the IHG® Rewards Select Credit Card achieves that mix perfectly.
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.
I would love to have this one again, BUT Chase will not approve any credit card applications for at least another year even though I have about an 800 FICO score, and have never been late on a payment.
Sounds like a lot of new open accounts in the past few years? Well, sit tight, still a great offer to wait for!