One of our favorite 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 (which is currently waived for the first year).
One of the greatest benefits of the card is that it gives the card holder Platinum status in the IHG Rewards Club. Platinum 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.
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-Downtown Disney. 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.
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.
While annual fees can reduce the money you have for travel, the benefits of this card make the annual fee worthwhile. You can use the anniversary reward night to offset the annual fee. Additionally, achievement of Platinum status, while not the highest IHG status, will still give you some great upgrades and additional points.
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