IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card review: A hotel card with solid benefits for frequent travelers

Frequent travelers who enjoy staying at IHG hotels will appreciate the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (see rates and fees) for its high rate of rewards and potential for free nights. The card also comes with a strong welcome offer and luxury travel perks like trip cancellation and interruption insurance.

CNBC Select breaks down the IHG Premier Card and its benefits to help you decide if it's right for your wallet.

You can earn up to 185,000 bonus points. Earn 150,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months from account opening. Plus, earn 35,000 bonus points after spending a total of $6,000 in the first 6 months from account opening.

The IHG One Rewards Premier Card comes with a handful of useful benefits for travelers wanting a premium experience. The most notable of these is a valuable fourth-night reward perk — when booking a stay of four nights or longer and paying with points, the fourth night will be free. There's no limit on how often you can use this fourth-night reward perk, so take advantage of that free night as often as you want.

You also receive an account anniversary reward night each year with a point redemption cap of 40,000 points (and if your planned stay exceeds this cap, you can use any points in your IHG account to make up the difference).

As a cardholder, you automatically earn Platinum Elite status through IHG's rewards program. This gives you benefits like complimentary upgrades and early check-in (both subject to availability), and 60% bonus earnings on qualifying stays and eligible charges at IHG Hotels and Resorts. You can also use the card to earn Diamond Elite status, IHG's highest reward tier, by making purchases totaling $40,000 or more in a calendar year.

Other notable benefits include

• Statement credit and bonus points: You earn a $100 statement credit and 10,000 bonus points after spending $20,000 each calendar year.
• Baggage delay insurance: Reimburses up to $100 a day for up to 3 days for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing when baggage is delayed over 6 hours.
• Purchase protection: Covers eligible new purchases, up to $500 per item, for 120 days from your date of purchase against damage or theft.
• Lost luggage reimbursement: Reimburses the cost to repair or replace checked or carry-on baggage that is lost, damaged or stolen during a covered trip, up to $3,000 per covered traveler.
• Trip cancelation and interruption insurance: You can be reimbursed up to $5,000 per covered traveler and $10,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours, and hotels, if your trip is canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather or other covered situations.
• Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS Statement Credit: Receive a statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS when charged to your IHG card.
• United TravelBank Cash: Receive up to $50 United TravelBank Cash each calendar after registering your IHG and with your MileagePlus accounts.
• Save 20% on reward points purchases: Save 20% when you purchase points with your IHG One Rewards Premier card.

Earning

With the IHG One Rewards Premier Card you can earn up to 26 total points per $1 spent at IHG Hotels and Resorts (including booking). Breaking this down, for every $1 you spend, you are earning 10 points via the card itself, 10 points from being an IHG One Rewards member, and then an additional 6 points thanks to the Platinum status you receive as a cardholder.

While spending at IHG Hotels and Resorts generates the most value, the card also earns a respectable 5X points on non-IHG travel expenses, gas stations and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services. All other purchases earn 3X points.

The non-IHG spending categories provide decent value, but clearly the best bang for your buck is with IHG purchases. For your other spending, you're likely better off using a different, more lucrative, rewards credit card.

Redeeming

The IHG One Rewards Premier Card offers several ways to redeem your IHG points, but generally, your best value will come when you use them for stays at qualifying IHG properties. As a cardholder, you automatically gain elite status (at the Platinum tier) which protects your points from expiring (points for non-elite IHG members disappear after 12 months of inactivity).

IHG uses a dynamic pricing system for its rewards, meaning how much a room costs in points fluctuates with demand. You can mix points and cash for booking rooms, which is nice when you're just a few points shy of paying for that perfect stay.

You can also transfer your IHG points to one of over 40 different airline partners, but that may be more trouble than it's worth, particularly if you aren't booking at least a month in advance. The transfer ratio for most partners comes in at a disappointing 5:1 ratio, and it can take up to six weeks for the transfer to be complete.

IHG does offer a few additional ways you can redeem your rewards:

• IHG One Rewards catalog: You can redeem IHG points for a wide variety of products, from electronics and office equipment to a heated above-ground spa. You can also purchase gift cards valued between $10 and $100.
• Charitable donation: You can donate to over 50 different charitable organizations, starting at just 1,000 points.
• Digital rewards: Use IHG points to redeem for music, movies, games, magazines, computer software and more through IHG's digital rewards portal.
• IHG One Rewards access: Redeem your rewards for exclusive access to premium seating at sporting events, VIP passes to concerts and celebrity meet-and-greets.
• Trip enhancers: Select cities may offer additional experiences or tours that you can grab with your points.

The IHG One Rewards Premier Card has a $99 annual fee but does not charge any foreign transaction fees. There is a balance transfer fee of $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.

IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card vs. IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card

The IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card (see rates and fees) is the no-annual-fee version of the IHG Premier. The tradeoff is that its rewards and benefits don't pack quite as big of a punch — it earns only 17X points with IHG  Hotels & Resorts and 3X points at restaurants, monthly bills, and at gas stations; plus 2X points on all other purchases.

The IHG Traveler Card, similar to the Premier, also offers the Fourth Reward Night Free perk. But it doesn't come with the free anniversary night that Premier cardholders enjoy. In the same vein, the Traveler Card also gives you elite status but at the Silver tier vs. the Premier's Platinum. Both cards share the same travel and purchase protections, so you'll be covered regardless of which card you choose.

All in all, the IHG One Rewards Traveler Card is a strong option for those who want a hotel card but can't stomach the thought of annual fees. But if you stay at IHG properties frequently, you'll likely get more value out of the Premier's offerings.

IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees) likely needs no introduction, and the hype is well-deserved: This card gives you top-tier benefits and earns rewards in useful, everyday spending categories at a high rate. Best of all, your rewards come in the form of Chase Ultimate Rewards®, which you can transfer to Chase's 14 airline and hotel partners at very favorable ratios.

For example, you can transfer points earned from the Chase card to Hyatt's loyalty program (World of Hyatt) at a 1:1 ratio. Three nights in a VIP suite with a king-sized bed at the Hyatt Regency in Miami runs about 75,000 points, an easily attainable amount when you consider the high rewards rate of the Sapphire Preferred and the generous amount of bonus points you can earn with the card's welcome offer.

If you're an IHG loyalist who would prefer to only stay at their properties, the IHG One Rewards Premier Card might offer you better value, especially when you consider the fourth-night reward perk. But the Chase Sapphire Preferred card shines as an excellent rewards card that brings the goods regardless of where you book your stay.

The IHG One Rewards Premier Card is a solid card for anyone who regularly stays at IHG hotels and wants to experience higher-quality perks at a reasonable annual fee. The no-cost fourth reward night can be used repeatedly and through Platinum Elite status, you'll earn additional benefits and points on purchases.

You'll likely make up the annual fee cost through perks like the anniversary reward night. But if you're looking for a card with no annual fee, or one that offers more flexible rewards, you can find a card that better matches your habits.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit card review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit card products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best credit cards.

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