HUGE Updates to Chase IHG Credit Cards: Better or Worse?

IHG just did a major refresh of their cards, and there's some interesting decisions. This ranges from elite status drops, to new credits and vouchers, to annual fee increases. For this video, we're going to focus on the non-legacy personal cards. If you are a business traveler, then there are a lot of meta-defining changes, but a bit of a rabbit hole. Think of this as our first impressions, and I'll keep diving into those on a future video. Big favorite before we dive into everything is to give this a thumbs up to help with the algorithm. Surprisingly, it does help, and if you know someone affected by this, then share this with them. Let's start off naming. We are seeing some name changes. For the basic level, it's now called the New IHG1 Rewards Credit Card. I actually like the traveler name, but maybe that's just me. The mid-level is arguably the same, the New IHG1 Rewards Premier Credit Card. That makes sense. The business is now the New IHG1 Rewards Business Credit Card, so dropping the Premier. A bit less of a mouthful, so that works. The new flagship card is the Brand New IHG1 Rewards Premier Select credit card. A little bit confusing even for someone that has a lot of cards. I get the idea of having modifiers and kind of a tiered naming system, which does work for science, but I feel like it's a bit weird for marketing purposes and for human discussion purposes. If anything, I wish they kind of did hotel tiers, so deluxe, executive, and club. That would make a bit more sense to me. As much flack as Bonvoy gets, at least it's easy to parse what cards you're talking about. With that said, for this video, I'm probably going to go with no annual fee, mid-level, and flagship just to keep things easy and more straightforward. Let's run through the updates. For the no annual fee card, it's a bit of a mixed bag. It's either slightly good or very, very bad. It's still no annual fee and you still get IHT1 rewards silver elite status. So that's unchanged. One new benefit is that you get five elite knight credits each calendar year. The spending requirement to get IHT1 rewards gold elite status also dropped before it was 20k and now it's 15k per calendar year. The issue though is that for most people, these don't really matter. So silver normally requires 10 knights, but it doesn't do that much. The main draw is 20% bonus points, and for everything else, like late checkout, you also get this as a standard member, so you don't need to be silver. Silver elite also doesn't get you any hurt status. To me at least, spending to get better status here doesn't make any sense, especially because you can get it from later cards. You still get up to 17 points per dollar spent at IHT properties, but 10 is from being a member, 2 is from elite status, and then 5 is from the card itself. The other multipliers are 3 points per dollar spent for dining, gas stations, and grocery stores, and 2 points per dollar spent on everything else. If you're newer to the space, those points might sound pretty good, but IHT points are less valuable. It depends on you, of course, but for a lot of people, I would say it's about 0.6 cents per point as a valuation. My target is a little higher at about 0.8 cents per point. A lot of that though is a function of where I travel to and also how. So for example, for Asia, if you do last minute, you can pretty easily get one cent per point for city hotels and even Michelin key boutique ones, but still a fun stay. For example, the Kempton in Taipei. We'll get into redemptions later, but know that it's a mixed bag. Even with my very aggressive targeting, 3x would only be 2.4%, while 2x is 1.6%, which is below what you'd want to target. So everything we just covered is technically the positives. Starting in 2027, you will need to unlock Fortnite Free by spending $5,000 on the card in a calendar year. This unlocks for the year you earned it, and also the following year. Before, it was part of the card, but also depends on how you travel in terms of how you value it. So for example, for us, we're kind of weirdos. We usually only stay at places for one or two nights at a time, especially when we're in cities and it's easy to hop around. Especially when an XL Uber might only be 5 to 10 bucks for a 30 minute ride. Part of it is to try different areas, but also to speak to stuff. So for example, we've stayed at every FHR hotel in Taipei and can actually give insights on it. Even with that framing, I'd argue the changes are negative. The positives are very minimal and the negatives can be very bad. The main draw would be the intro bonus. With that said, let's look at some of the rules. You might also want to skip the no annual fee, especially as a new applicant. For the no annual fee, you're not eligible if you're currently a card member of any personal card or received a card member bonus for any personal card in the last 24 months. That's pretty much the same language for the mid-level card. Current card member of any personal or previous of any personal with a bonus in the last 24 months. The business one is on its own island, so don't really need to worry about it. With the flagship though, we do have different language. So it's not available the current card members of this card or previous card members of this card with a bonus in the last 24 months. There's nothing in the terms that related to the other personal cards. That means that if your goal is to maximize upside, there's a pretty obvious pathing. Pick one from the no annual fee and mid-level, and then afterwards get the flagship in order to get two intro bonuses. If you flip the order, then you're locked into only one intro bonus, so it depends on you there. Outside of edge cases, for most people, I'd apply for the mid-level, and then the flagship. If having both doesn't make sense, and I would argue it does make sense given the anniversary nights, you do have a downgrade path in the no annual fee cards in year 2. Speaking of which, there are limited time launch offers. For the no annual fee card, you're getting 125k bonus points after spending 2000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, and the offer here and the other ones end November 18th, 2026. 125k bonus points at 0.6 cents per point would be 750 in value divided by 2000 spend would be 37.5% return on spend. At 0.8 cents per point, that's a thousand in value divided by 2000 is 50% return on spend. Pretty strong numbers, especially for no annual fee. For the mid-level, you're looking at 180k bonus points after 3000 on purchases in the first three months. 180k times 0.6 cents per point is 1,080 in value or about 36% return on spend. At 0.8 cents per point, 1,440 in value or about 48% return on spend. A lot more value and makes more sense, at least in my book. For the flagship, you're getting 200,000 bonus points after spending 5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. 200K times 0.6 cents per point is 1,200 value or 24% return on spend and at 0.8 cents per point, 1600 value or 32% return on spend. Lower return on spend, but can still make sense. On the business side, you're looking at 190,000 bonus points after 5,000 spent on purchases in the first three months from account opening. So between 1,140 in value and 1,520 and 22.8 to 30.4% return on spend. On a side note, if you are someone that wants to learn about cards, whether these ones are pretty much any other cards out there, and if you want to support the channel, we have links on the website, asksebi.com, and also down below in the description box. Make sure the links are competitive that they make sense for you, but otherwise it's a huge way to support the channel, so thank you in advance. The mid-level card is probably going to get the most flack. But first off, we have an annual fee increase. It's going from $99 to $150, and will go into effect in 2027 for existing cardholders. The core question for a lot of people is whether the new card is worth the $51 increase. One of the new benefits is that you get up to 100 in annual IHG food and beverage rewards that are issued as $25 per quarter. When we travel, we usually do like to try a few restaurants on property. For example, at Reach in Taipei, they have SoCal's, which is a one Michelin star Chinese restaurant. At Kimpton Taipei, they had a surprisingly good bar and also restaurant as well upstairs with a nice patio for drinks and food. There is a big gotcha though. These are going to be redeemable for credit, against eligible food and beverage on your room bill. The room reservation must be made under the primary cardholder's name for charges to be billed to them. A bit of me does wonder whether opening up a folio like people do in Vegas for Hilton would work here, but I'm guessing probably not. Given the constraints, and speaking for myself at least, I'd probably only value this at about $25, maybe $50. I'm also not a big IHG traveler outside of Asia. On the flip side, if you're a consultant or business traveler, then probably pretty easy to get full value here. The next credit is a little bit confusing. It's going to be up to $100 in annual airline statement credit after you spend at least $250 on flights purchased directly with an airline each calendar year. It's also through December 31st, 2027, and we'll see if they renew it afterwards. Looking at the terms, it doesn't seem that bad, especially if you already do a decent amount of short haul flights. It's basically a round trip to Seattle, LA, or Vegas for the mid-price dates, which does happen a decent amount of time for me. A bit annoying, but not as bad as the food and beverage one. I'd probably value this at about $80 to account for some annoyance, but it doesn't seem that bad. I'm curious what you think of these two. The other major change is the anniversary free night, going from $40k to $50k starting 2027 on your account anniversary. You can still use unlimited additional IHT points in order to top up. I think this is a positive with the caveat that there is point inflation, so don't overvalue this. In terms of multipliers, you're getting up to 24 points per dollar spent at IHT properties, 10 as a member, 10 as a cardholder, and 4 from gold elite status. You get 5 points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines, car rentals, dining, gas stations, and also grocery stores. Also 3x on all other eligible purchases. Breaking everything down, the key ones for us are 10x, which would be about 6-8% value, and 5x, which is about 3-4% value. Even 3x at 2.4% on the top end isn't bad at all though. If you have other flagship cards, it depends on how you value those points and miles. For example, if the Chase Sapphire Reserve, 4x on flights and hotels booked directly, 1 cent per point would be 4%, 2 cents per point would be 8%. Given this, the 10x still makes sense to me, but the 5x for flights feels a lot less defensible. It's not a bad earner if you are focused on IHG, but it just depends on your mix. One of the major changes is that you're no longer getting automatic Platinum Elite status, instead getting automatic Gold Elite status and 15 Elite Knight credits each calendar year. If you do currently have the card, you do retain Platinum Elite status until December 31st, 2027. With the change, you'll also get 2 additional Elite Knight credits for every 5,000 spent. You can also earn status by spending on the card, so Platinum Elite status after spending 15k in the calendar year and then diamond elite status after spending 40k in the calendar year however you want to slice it i think this is a very big negative change and a push for people to go towards the flagship gold elite is normally 20 nights while platinum elite is 40 nights and difference is 40 versus 60 bonus points platinum elite is the sweet spot though and unlocks benefits like complimentary upgrades welcome amenity at check-in and early check-in also reward night discounts, which can be pretty useful. If you're someone stacking cards and looking to get the flagship anyways, then I think the changes are positive. For $51 more, you get a better anniversary night, probably $25 in dining value, and then maybe $70-$80 in flight value. If you wanted to keep it simple though and you didn't want to add another card, and you valued elite status, then probably a negative. At the same time, if you travel enough, I think the top card is well worth considering. Also reminder that the card does have the redeem 3 nights, yet a 4th night free benefit. It does have to be four consecutive nights within the same reward night point redemption room type and stay at the same hotel. If you're a loyalist, then this can be an amazing benefit. On the top level, we have the brand new flagship card. This does have a 350 annual fee. With that, you do get automatic platinum elite status and 20 elite night credits each calendar year. You also get an anniversary free night up to 60,000 points. Also a lot of credits and vouchers. For example, up to 300 annual IHG food and beverage rewards issued as 75 per quarter. I wish it wasn't quarterly, even semi-annually would be better. Again, we do eat at hotels, especially when they have genuinely good food. For example, region Taipei has award-winning beef noodles, and CNN called it one of the best in all of Taipei. I know the intention is breakage or more stays, but quarterly feels very tough to me. I'd probably value this in the 75 to 150 range, and ironically, I prefer the larger sticker number here. Also, in case you're wondering, there's no limit to the number of food and beverage rewards you can use per stay on one room. That means that you can stack them. The airline credit is surprisingly less annoying somehow. So it's up to 200 in annual airline statement credit after you spend at least 250 on flights purchased directly of airlines each calendar year. 200 for 250 doesn't seem that bad at all. Color me surprised. Last one's up to 50 in United Travel Bank cash issued as 25 biannually. Note that there is a one-time registration that's required here. This is going to be directly deposited into your United Travel Bank account to use, and the first half is going to be on or about January 5th, and the second one, July 5th. Note that these do expire after the period. So for example, the January to June one expires July 15th, and then the July to December one expires January 15th, the following calendar year. This pretty much means you need to fly United twice a year, or technically maybe once. Reminder that this is a purchase by date and not a travel by date. For example, you have a window between July 5th and July 15th to use both travel bank amounts or one purchase. Also, yes, you can use both at the same time. That historically hasn't been a problem. It basically just pulls from the ones that you have expiring soonest. If you don't fly United at all, then you might want to discount this. United's my main airline this year, so pretty easy to get value. I might rotate some work flights back to Delta next year, but we'll see. Even then, I'm usually still flying United at least a little bit, given that they represent half the flights out of SFO. In that sense, I'm a bit of a captive audience. Whether the card makes sense for you depends on your numbers. For me, I'd probably value the food and beverage reward at $75, the annual airline statement credit at $180, so $20 as an annoyance fee, and then the United Travel Bank cash at $50, give or take in the $300 range, which feels like a pretty good spot. Given my numbers, that means I'm getting the status and the anniversary free night for about 50 bucks, which is easy value. Based off my usage, I'd probably value that closer to 250 or 300. At this stage of my points journey, I'm mostly out of intro bonuses and the value I get is stacking keeper cards with anniversary knights or ones of spend incentives that I'd happily get. And yet, the fact that this is a new card means that it's a new intro bonus, which is a win. Independent of the bonus, I also just want more free knights. Also, if you want to spend your way towards Diamond Elite status that's going to be after 25k in spend in a calendar year on the card. This would normally be 70 nights a year, and you get 100% bonus points. You're on the top of the list for upgrades, and free breakfast is an option as a check-in amenity. You also get Hertz President Circle. In terms of multipliers, you get up to 28x at IHG properties, 10 as a member, 12 as a cardholder, and 6 with Platinum Elite status. You also get 6 points per dollar spends for dining, as well as travel broadly. Also 3 points per dollar spent for all other purchases. Mapping everything out, it does make sense for IHG Hotels and Resorts, both 12x from the card being 7.2 to 9.6% in value. Also not bad for travel broadly at 6x, which is 3.6 to 4.8%. It is a bit tough for dining though at 6x. If you're on team travel or transfer partners, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve both earn 3x for dining, and if you transfer out the partners that could be worth up to 6%. Let's finish off with redemptions. We'll look at our recent trips and also the prices as of booking. During the Taipei trip we did stay at a bunch of hotels including two Michelin key ones like Capella. One of our favorites though for value is going to be the region especially of points or anniversary nights. Usually you're looking at 200 to 300 on weekdays. That's for a standard room and a direct rate from IHG. For weekends, it can spike up to $400 or $800, especially around holidays. Taking a look at the reward calendar, weekdays usually come in at the $30k to $50k range. For the dates we were there, for the first night, it was $437 as the comparable. We ended up using 39,000 points, so pretty good value. The second night was $448, or also 39,000 points. To be fair, this was also the week heading into Mid-Autumn Festival, and all the hotels were super expensive. For example, the W on a weekday, which normally isn't that expensive, was about $700 a night. Normally for weekdays, that's more of a $400 or $500 per night hotel. Yeah, back to region, it is a bit of an older hotel, but pretty well situated and not a bad hotel by any means. And they also have very good ITG platinum recognition, since we've gotten breakfast every time we've stayed there using our nights. Platinum normally doesn't come with breakfast, so a nice positive. The other one we stayed at was Kimpton, and this is a one Michelin key boutique hotel. The biggest feature was the water garden that makes you feel like you're in a rainforest out on the back. The value still wasn't that bad, 328 a night or 50k points, or 370 a night or 47k points. We did end up paying out of pocket for this since it didn't hit my hurdle rate, but it kind of depends on how you value points. For anniversary nights, it does make a ton of sense. If you're effectively buying it for 50 bucks, even 100 bucks, a 300 or $400 night that you're paying out of pocket for is a great deal. Simplifying it, you're paying $100 to get a coupon that you can redeem for $300 per night hotel. Taking a look at the reward chart, there is a bit more variance, but plenty of $50k or $60k nights. If you are comfortable booking last minute, I have seen it for as low as $35k points for next day. And even when the points price drops, the cash price stays the same. One that we've been to go back to is the Intercontinental in Da Nang. We've been here ages ago and probably one of the best designed resort hotels especially if you like architecture. It was designed by Bill Bensley and probably one of his top three hotels from a design perspective and also the most affordable one to visit. Looking at their points calendar they do have a bunch of 60 and 70k nights and the price is about 500 a night so decently good value depending on your targets. I do feel like of all the hotel groups IHG is the most situational one for me and kind of the one in the bottom of my list. We do still stay with them, but it tends to be once or twice a year rather than the one we go for first. Either way, more than happy to have more free nights in the back pocket. If you want to run your numbers, we have calculators for you to adjust your spend and also how you value different perks and features for your situation. I'll link them down below or search card name worth it ask Sebi and they should pop up. Again, if you want to learn about cards, we have links on our website asksebi.com or down below in the description box. And if you're curious, all legal affiliate disclosures can also be found below in the description box. If you made it to this point, leave a cup of noodles emoji for beef noodles in the comments down below and I'll try to heart it and also respond. Three questions. Number one, what are your thoughts on the changes? Number two, which ones are you going for, if any? And number three, how do you redeem your points in free nights? Let me know and everyone else know in the comments down below. Big favorite, thumbs up, share this, but otherwise, hope you liked it. See you next time.