Thanks to reader Sunil for reaching out about the IHG card. I feel (very strongly) that this is the most underrated hotel card and don’t even know what I’d even consider next in line. Probably Hyatt. But the gap is huge.
Why?
Pretty simple. A $49 annual fee to get yearly free nights anywhere is a killer deal. Other cards (like Hyatt) limit their anniversary nights by category. That’s not the case with IHG. Cardholders (at least the ones I know) book a stay worth hundreds of dollars every year with this card.
According to Sunil, it sounds like links are starting to disappear. That means two things…
A) There’s a good chance the clock is ticking on this version of the IHG card.
B) There’s a possibility the new version won’t be as good. It could potentially have no anniversary night and/or a higher annual fee.
There’s no guarantee with any of this…just an educated guess from past experience. But it might be worth looking at the current IHG card very soon if you don’t have it already. Another factor is that, as Chase goes, this is one of the few options available if you apply for bunches of cards every year. This, Hyatt, Ritz, British, and Marriott Business are basically the only Chase products I get approved for anymore. Again, no guarantee here. Who knows, all IHG cards might get converted to the new and potentially worse version in a few months. But I think this is a gamble worth considering. Times change. We knew the IHG opportunity wouldn’t last forever.
