In early October 2026, IHG and Chase refreshed the IHG credit card line, increasing the annual fees and chancing the benefits on the existing IHG credit cards. They also introduced the new IHG One Rewards Premier Select Credit Card which has an annual fee of $350.
Across the board, the annual-fee cards get a more valuable free night certificate, ways to earn elite night credits, quarterly food and beverage coupons, and (at least in 2026 and 2027) an airline credit. But the spending categories and the bonuses for large spending become less compelling.
Overall, in our view, the changes are neutral—you can get more value out of each of the cards, but you’ll have to shift more of your spending and sacrifice some rewards elsewhere to do so. You can find details of the newly launched card in our comparison of the IHG cards and details of the current increased welcome bonuses in our article on the IHG card offers.
But here’s what you need to know about what’s changing and our take on the changes to each of the cards.
IHG no-annual-fee (Traveler) card changes
The no-annual fee IHG Traveler card loses its “traveler” branding and simply becomes the IHG One Rewards Credit Card. The big change with this card is the loss of the automatic “Redeem 3 nights, get 4th night free” benefit—this now becomes a benefit that you earn with spending.
Here is what’s changing on the no-annual-fee IHG credit card.
| IHG One Rewards Travel Credit Card (Prior to October 1, 2026) | IHG One Rewards Credit Card (After October 1, 2026) | |
| Earning elite status with spending Lower requirement | Earn Gold status after spending | Earn Gold status after spending $15,000 in a year. |
| Automatic elite nights each year New benefit | – | 5 elite night credits each year. |
| Redeem 3 nights, get 4th night free What used to be an included benefit is now an earned benefit | Earned after spending $5k in a calendar year. | |
| Discount when purchasing points Straight-up improvement to benefit | 30% | |
| Rewards on spending Groceries is probably useful, but overall decrease in number of categories. | IHG properties – 5x Dining – 3x Gas stations – 3x Other purchases – 2x | IHG properties – 5x Dining – 3x Gas stations – 3x Other purchases – 2x Groceries – 3x |
| Big spend bonus Same bonus, but greater spending requirement | Spend | Spend $15,000, earn 10,000 bonus points. |
Our take on the changes: Really, the only reasons to pick up the previous no-annual-fee IHG traveler card were to keep your IHG points alive and to access the “redeem 3 nights, get the 4th night free” benefit. The card offers poor rewards on spending and since the card now requires spending to get that fourth free night, that benefit becomes largely irrelevant.
Really, this card seems good only for the person who have a mountain of IHG points and wants to keep them alive, absent any IHG Rewards account activity during the year.
IHG One Rewards Premier credit card changes
The IHG One Rewards Premier credit card is probably the card that people will care most about, and the changes are a mixed bag. The annual fee is going up, and the status you get with the card drops down to gold. But you get a slightly better free night certificate and an airline credit in 2026 and 2027.
Here’s what’s changing with the IHG Premier card:
| IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (Prior to October 1, 2026) | IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (After October 1, 2026) | |
| Annual fee Annual fee is increasing | $99 | $150 |
| Annual free night certificate Annual certificate is worth more | Worth up to | Worth up to 50k points. |
| Automatic elite status for holding the card Lower level of status granted | Gold | |
| Earning elite status with spending Earning Diamond status requires twice as much spending as before | Earn Diamond status after spending | Earn Platinum status after spending $15k in a year. Earn Diamond status after spending $40k in a year. |
| Automatic elite nights each year New benefit | – | 15 elite night credits each year. |
| Earn elite nights for spending New benefit | – | Earn 2 elite night credits for every $5k spent on the card. Earn a one-time bonus of 5 elite nights when you spend $15k on the card in a calendar year. |
| Food and beverage credit New benefit | – | $100 annually (4x $25 certificates, awarded quarterly) |
| Discount when purchasing points Straight-up improvement to benefit | 30% | |
| Discount when purchasing points New benefit | – | $100 statement credits for $250+ in airline purchases, in 2026 and 2027. |
| Rewards on spending Losing the general travel category on a travel card isn’t offset by a grocery category | IHG properties – 10x Dining – 5x Gas stations – 5x Other purchases – 3x | IHG properties – 10x Dining – 5x Gas stations – 5x Other purchases – 3x Flights booked directly with airlines and car rentals – 5x Grocery – 5x |
| Big spend bonus Lower spending requirement, but much worse spending bonus | Spend | Spend $15,000, earn 15,000 bonus points. |
Our take on the changes: For a $55 bump in the annual fee, are the baseline benefits a fair tradeoff? Maybe. You get a marginally more valuable free night certificate, and airline credit in the next two calendar years, and food and beverage coupons quarterly.
But the lower elite status level earned from having the card is a bit of a disappointment and the card is now less rewarding for spending, thanks to the devalued big spending bonus and the hollowing out of the general travel category.
The card is probably better overall during 2026 and 2027, but, assuming the airline credit goes away, the card isn’t terribly compelling in 2028 and beyond.
IHG One Rewards Business Premier Credit Card changes
The business card’s name is changing and its annual fee is more than doubling to $200. The annual free night certificate gets more valuable and you can earn an additional free night certificate through spending, plus the card also gets the new elite night earnings and airline and food/beverage credits.
Here’s what’s changing with the IHG business card:
| IHG One Rewards Business Premier Credit Card (Prior to October 1, 2026) | IHG One Rewards Business Credit Card (After October 1, 2026) | |
| Annual fee Annual fee is more than doubling | $99 | $200 |
| Annual free night certificate Annual certificate is worth more | Worth up to | Worth up to 50k points. |
| Earned free night certificate Annual certificate is worth more | – | Earn an additional free night certificate with $60k spending on the card in a year. |
| Automatic elite status for holding the card No change—keeping in this table since it changes with other cards | Platinum | Platinum |
| Earning elite status with spending Earning Diamond status requires twice as much spending as before | – | Earn Diamond status after spending $50k in a year. |
| Automatic elite nights each year New benefit | – | 15 elite night credits each year. |
| Earn elite nights for spending New benefit | – | Earn 2 elite night credits for every $5k spent on the card. Earn a one-time bonus of 5 elite nights when you spend $15k on the card in a calendar year. |
| Food and beverage credit New benefit | – | $100 annually (4x $25 certificates, awarded quarterly) |
| Discount when purchasing points Straight-up improvement to benefit | 30% | |
| Discount when purchasing points New benefit | – | $100 statement credits for $250+ in airline purchases, in 2026 and 2027. |
| Rewards on spending Losing the general travel category on a travel card isn’t offset by a grocery category | IHG properties – 10x Dining – 5x Gas stations – 5x Other purchases – 3x Select business purchases – 5x | IHG properties – 10x Dining – 5x Gas stations – 5x Other purchases – 3x Flights booked directly with airlines and car rentals – 5x Select advertising purchases – 5x |
| Big spend bonus Higher spending requirement and worse big spending bonus. | Spend | Spend $25,000, earn 20,000 bonus points. |
Our take on the changes: There’s no doubt that IHG and Chase are trying to get small business owners to spend more on the card—and you can certainly earn some more perks for doing so with the refresh. Being able to earn higher levels of elite status and milestone rewards might be compelling to some, but earning greater-than-Platinum status because of elite nights earned from the credit card is a corner case and IHG’s milestone rewards aren’t terribly valuable. But the low value of IHG points means you’re giving up value by putting (non-IHG) spending on the card.
And the card’s baseline benefits don’t justify doubling the annual fee. A marginally more valuable free night certificate, a $25 quarterly coupon toward food and beverages charged to your room, and a $100 statement credit for airline purchases that isn’t guaranteed to be an ongoing benefit simply isn’t compelling.
