One of our favorite hotel credit cards is the IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card from Chase, which is affiliated with the InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) family of hotels including Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Candlewood Suites, and other hotel brands. If you do a lot of paid travel with stays at IHG properties, you can really enhance your paid and free stays with this card. The card is currently issued as a MasterCard, with a $49 annual fee (the fee for which is currently waived for the first year).
One of the greatest benefits of the card is that it gives the card holder Platinum Elite status in the IHG Rewards Club. Platinum Elite status gives the holder a 50% bonus on base points earned through paid stays and room upgrades, when available, when staying at an IHG property. We have been upgraded many times at IHG properties, including the InterContinental Miami and the Crowne Plaza at Los Angeles International Airport. You also get priority check in, which can come in handy when the line is long and you just want to get to your room.
The card holder also receives one free anniversary reward night at any hotel within the IHG property group. That free night can range from a stay at a Holiday Inn Express (normally $79) to a night at an InterContinental that would normally cost $450. We have used our free stays to stay at the InterContinental Miami (multiple times) and the Holiday Inn Orlando-Disney Springs. To redeem the anniversary reward, a rewards night booking must be available, and you must have paid the annual fee for the card. The reward night must be booked within a year of getting it. We discuss how to book the free night as well, it is very easy.
The card always has a sign up bonus that is available with it, ranging from 60,000 points to 100,000 points for spending $1,000 within the first three months of opening the card. You will also receive 5,000 bonus points if you have an authorized user get the card and make a purchase with it. The card also provides you a 10% rebate on all the points you use throughout the year, up to 100,000 points. This can help you stretch the initial sign up bonus, plus any additional spend you put on the card.
The IHG Rewards Club Select card gives 5 points per dollar for any charge put on the card from an IHG property. Anything charged to your room will give you this multiplier, including taxes, fees, and dining. Eating at the on-property restaurant? Charge that breakfast to your room to earn those extra points. You will earn 2 points per dollar spent at gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants. Any other types of spending on your IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card will earn 1 point per dollar, though there are other credit cards that provide better rewards.
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