Name: IHG One Rewards Premier Business Card: Elite Status and Baller Welcome Bonus - NerdWallet
Item: IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card

Overview

The bottom line:

Earn a free night award each year, plus bonus points and an additional night if you hit certain spending markers.

Credit card details

Annual fee

$99

Regular APR

19.74%-28.24% Variable APR

Intro APR

N/A

Rewards rate

3x-26x

Points

Foreign transaction fee

Intro offer

140,000

Points

Pros & Cons

Pros

High rewards rate

Automatic elite status

New cardholder bonus offer

Free night reward on cardholder anniversary

Statement credit for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS

Cons

Has annual fee

Rewards have limited flexibility

Low point redemption value

More details from Chase

Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Enjoy an Anniversary Free Night at IHG Hotels & Resorts. Plus, enjoy a fourth reward night free when you redeem points for a consecutive four-night IHG® hotel stay.
Earn up to 26 total points per $1 spent when you stay at IHG Hotels and Resorts
Earn 5 points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, at gas stations, select advertising, and restaurants. Earn 3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases
Automatic Platinum Elite status as long as you remain a Premier Business cardmember
Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS Statement Credit of up to $120 every 4 years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to your card
IHG One Rewards Bonus points are redeemable at hotels such as InterContinental®, Crowne Plaza®, Kimpton®, EVEN® Hotels, Indigo® Hotels & Holiday Inn®
Member FDIC

Show Less

The IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card is a top-notch

business credit card

for companies and entrepreneurs who frequent any of the

18 brands

and more than 6,000 properties that make up the IHG portfolio.

This card delivers one of the best welcome offers of any hotel business card: Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. And you get a free night (worth 40,000 points) each year on your card anniversary.

Those perks alone make a compelling case for having this card in your wallet, but automatic Platinum Elite status and the card’s generous rewards — anywhere from 3 to 10 points per dollar — seal the deal for IHG loyalists.

The case is not as strong for hotel hoppers. Since you’ll earn the most and get the best redemption value at IHG properties, which include Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Kimpton and Intercontinental, you’ll want to consider other options if those aren’t your locations of choice.

IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card: The basics

Card type:

Small business

Annual fee: $99.

Recommended credit score: FICO score of 690 or higher.

Sign-up bonus: Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Rewards:

10X points on purchases made at hotels participating in IHG Rewards.
5X points on travel; at restaurants, gas stations and office supply stores; and on social media and search engine advertising.
3X points on all other purchases.

APR: 19.74%-28.24% Variable APR.

Foreign transaction fee: None.

Other benefits:

Free night award each year on your account anniversary. Additional free night if you spend more than $60,000 on purchases in a calendar year.
$100 statement credit and 10,000 bonus points when you spend at least $20,000 in a calendar year.
Statement credit of up to $120 every four years toward Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS application fee.
Redeem three rewards nights, get the fourth night free.
Automatic IHG® Rewards Platinum Elite status.

NerdWallet values

IHG points at 0.8 cent each. This is a baseline value, drawn from real-world data, not a maximized value. In other words, you should aim for award redemptions that offer 0.8 cent or more in value from your IHG points.

Why you might want the IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card

Generous rewards, flexible redemption options

Branded business cards can often be a closed loop: You can only earn and redeem rewards through that brand. The IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card stands out, then, for its flexibility.

Sure, you get the best bang for your buck with IHG, earning up to 26 total points per dollar spent at IHG properties: 10 points via your card, 10 points as an IHG rewards member and 6 points with IHG Platinum Elite status. But you also get 5 points per dollar on travel and at restaurants, gas stations and office supply stores, and 3 points per dollar on all other purchases.

When it’s time to cash in your points, you can redeem them for free nights at more than 6,000 IHG properties. This is usually the best value, especially on longer stays: You get your fourth night free when you redeem three nights. You can also transfer your

IHG One Rewards

points to more than 40 partner airlines — and opt to earn miles with those airlines when you use your IHG business card. IHG One Rewards points can also be redeemed for gift cards and other items, but you get a lot less for your points when you go this route.

Free nights and spending bonuses

The IHG business card’s annual free night has a redemption value of 40,000 points, or $280 by

NerdWallet’s calculation

, which easily offsets the $99 annual fee. And you can earn an additional free night each year if you spend at least $60,000 on your IHG card. You’ll also earn 10,000 points and a $100 statement credit when you spend at least $20,000 in a calendar year.

Those spending bonuses can really pay off for businesses that put a lot on their card. Maxing out the free nights and spending bonus alone would be worth $730 by our calculation, and that doesn’t factor in the points you’ll earn on your purchases.

Automatic elite status

IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card holders automatically get IHG® Rewards Platinum Elite status and all the perks that come with it, including:

A 60% bonus on the baseline IHG rewards earned through eligible stays (not earned on the credit card).
Early check-in and complimentary room upgrades (when available).
Promotional discounts on rewards nights.
All the benefits of lower statuses, including member rates, free internet and priority check-in.

Spend $40,000 or more in a calendar year and you’ll get bumped up to Diamond Elite Status (the top rung for IHG members) until December 31 of the following year.

Why you might want a different card

You’re not an IHG loyalist

The main reason to pass on the IHG business card? You don’t book the bulk of your stays at IHG properties. As with other hotel cards, the IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card delivers the best value when you use it to book stays at hotels in the IHG family.

If your business travel takes you to a variety of hotel brands, consider a more general-purpose

business travel card

, like the

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

. You’ll still get a big welcome bonus: Earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

You don’t want to pay an annual fee

At $99, the annual fee for the IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card is lower than other hotel business cards. But it’s still an annual fee, and that alone is a deal breaker for some businesses, especially if you won’t spend enough to earn the welcome bonus.

If that’s the case, consider a

cash-back business card

like the

Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card

or the

U.S. Bank Triple Cash Rewards Visa® Business Card

. Both have $0 annual fees and deliver solid perks, like a welcome bonus and an intro APR period.

Just remember: The IHG business card’s free anniversary night alone is worth more than the annual fee.

Should you get the IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card?

The IHG One Rewards Premier business card is a slam dunk if you frequent IHG properties, like Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Kimpton and Intercontinental. You get a big welcome bonus, huge rewards on IHG stays and a free night every year. If you’re only a casual IHG customer, you’ll get more value from a general travel card.