Huge changes to IHG and Chase credit cards: higher fees, new perks and more

IHG One Rewards and Chase have a co-branded credit card partnership. We have just seen the portfolio completely revamped. In a separate article, I explained how we just saw the introduction of the new IHG One Rewards Premier Select credit card.

In this article I would like to explain how the existing portfolio of three IHG credit cards is also completely overhauled. The annual fees for two of the cards are increasing, and some benefits are improving, while others are getting worse.

Changes to the IHG One Rewards credit card portfolio

What’s changing with existing IHG credit cards? Well, pretty much everything from annual fees to benefits. There’s both good news and bad news, so let’s cover the details of each product.

IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card Updates

The new IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card is the updated mid-range IHG personal credit card and features a great limited-time welcome offer of 180,000 bonus IHG One Rewards points after spending $3,000 in the first three months.

I’ll cover the changes in more detail below, but just to summarize, the annual fee increases significantly, but the card benefits from an IHG hotel food and beverage credit, an airline credit, and a more valuable annual free night. Unfortunately, the card automatically loses Platinum status. Here are the changes to the IHG One Rewards Premier card in more detail:

• The card’s annual fee is now $150, up from $99.
• The card now offers up to $100 in annual food and beverage rewards redeemable at IHG properties; this comes in the form of a quarterly $25 credit that will be deposited into your account, which can be used during a hotel stay, and each must be used during a single stay.
• The card now has an annual $100 airline statement credit on eligible flight purchases, currently valid through December 31, 2027; Simply book a flight directly with an airline costing at least $250 and you’ll get a $100 credit on your statement.
• The free night on card anniversary is now valid at properties costing up to 50,000 points, up from the previous cap of 40,000 points; you can always complete the certificates with more points
• The card continues to offer up to $50 in United TravelBank Cash per year, in the form of a $25 semi-annual credit.
• The card continues to offer a free fourth night on rewards redemptions, when you redeem for a consecutive four-night stay.
• The card now offers IHG One Rewards Gold status simply for being a cardholder, and IHG One Rewards Platinum status when you spend $15,000 on the card in a calendar year; previously, the card offered Platinum with no spending requirements
• The card now offers 15 elite night credits toward status each calendar year, to help you unlock Milestone Rewards benefits, plus two additional elite night credits for every $5,000 spent on the card.
• The card now offers 10x points on IHG spending, 5x points on flights booked directly with airlines, rental cars, restaurants, groceries and gas, and 3x points on all other purchases; all that’s changed are the 5x points categories, as the card previously offered 5x points on travel, gas stations, and restaurants.

IHG One Rewards Business Credit Card Updates

The new IHG One Rewards Business Credit Card is the updated IHG Business Credit Card and features a great limited-time welcome offer of 190,000 bonus IHG One Rewards points after spending $5,000 in the first three months.

I’ll cover the changes in more detail below, but just to summarize, the annual fee increases significantly, but the card gets an IHG hotel food and beverage credit, an airline credit, and a more valuable annual free night. Here are the changes to the IHG One Rewards business card in a little more detail:

• The annual fee is now $200, up from $99.
• The card now offers up to $100 in annual food and beverage rewards redeemable at IHG properties; this comes in the form of a quarterly $25 credit that will be deposited into your account, which can be used during a hotel stay, and each must be used during a single stay.
• The card now has an annual $100 airline statement credit on eligible flight purchases, currently valid through December 31, 2027; Simply book a flight directly with an airline costing at least $250 and you’ll get a $100 credit on your statement.
• The card now has an annual $100 Expensify credit, which can be used for one or more transactions.
• The free night on card anniversary is now valid at properties costing up to 50,000 points, up from the previous cap of 40,000 points; you can always complete the certificates with more points
• The card offers a second annual free night if you spend at least $60,000 on the card in a calendar year.
• The card continues to offer a free fourth night on rewards redemptions, when you redeem for a consecutive four-night stay.
• The card continues to offer IHG One Rewards Platinum status just for being a cardholder, and IHG One Rewards Diamond status when you spend $50,000 on the card in a calendar year.
• The card now offers two elite night credits toward status each calendar year when you spend $25,000 in a calendar year, plus two additional elite night credits for every $5,000 spent on the card.
• The card now offers 10x points on IHG spending, 5x points on flights booked directly with airlines, rental cars, restaurants, select advertising and gasoline, and 3x points on all other purchases; all that changed were the 5x point categories

IHG One Rewards Credit Card Updates

The new IHG One Rewards Credit Card is the updated no-annual-fee IHG personal credit card, and it has a great limited-time welcome offer of 125,000 bonus IHG One Rewards points after you spend $2,000 in the first three months.

I’ll cover the changes in more detail below, but just to summarize, the card still won’t have an annual fee, but it loses what I consider its most important benefit: access to the fourth night free with no spending requirements. Here are the changes to the IHG One Rewards card in a little more detail:

• The card continues to have no annual fee
• The card now only offers a free fourth night on rewards redemptions if you spend at least $5,000 on the card per calendar year.
• The card continues to offer IHG One Rewards Silver status simply for being a cardholder, and IHG One Rewards Gold status when you spend $15,000 on the card in a calendar year.
• The card now offers five elite night credits toward status each calendar year.
• The card now offers 5x points on IHG spending, 3x points on restaurants, groceries and gas, and 2x points on all other purchases.

What happens to current IHG Credit Card members?

If you’re already an IHG credit card member, how do these changes impact you? Cardholders are advised that they will be notified of the changes this month (October 2026) and then the new annual fees will apply beginning in 2027, whenever a cardholder’s fee is normally due.

Regarding the transition from old benefits to new benefits, it is very nuanced, given that some changes are positive and others negative.

For example, I have the IHG Premier Card (the mid-range personal card) and the email I received from IHG suggests the following schedule for changes:

• I can maintain IHG One Rewards Platinum status until December 31, 2027.
• The free night reward I receive in 2027 will be worth 50,000 points instead of 40,000 points.
• The updated spending bonus categories will apply starting January 1, 2027.

My take on these changes in the IHG credit card portfolio

I think these changes closely follow the trend we’ve seen in the industry: annual fees are increasing, and while it’s possible to get more value, it also takes more effort to get there. In isolation, that’s totally fine, but for those of us with lots of credit cards, maximizing credit card benefits is a part-time job. Some thoughts:

• I’m glad to see that IHG free night rewards have a higher cap, given the points inflation we’ve seen over the years; which partially offsets annual fee increases
• These new airline credits and food and beverage credits on the IHG One Rewards Premier Card and the IHG One Rewards Business Card certainly help offset the annual fee.
• It’s rather frustrating that the IHG One Rewards Premier card no longer offers Platinum status without spending, even though I already received significant benefits as a Platinum member.
• There really isn’t much benefit to having the IHG One Rewards credit card anymore, as the fourth night free benefit is no longer an automatic perk.
• With these changes, I think the IHG One Rewards Premier Select card might just be the better option, both because of the card’s absolute value proposition and because of the negative changes we’ve seen on other cards.

Conclusion

IHG and Chase have completely overhauled their credit card portfolios. We saw the introduction of the IHG One Rewards Premier Select Card, as well as a redesign of the IHG One Rewards Premier Card, the IHG One Rewards Business Card and the IHG One Rewards Credit Card.

As you might expect, the changes are mixed, although they follow the general industry trend. The good news is that if you’re willing to put in the effort to maximize value, you may find yourself in a better situation than ever. However, if you don’t, these changes will be largely negative.

What do you think of these IHG credit card changes?