IHG’s $350 Card Keeps Platinum as Premier Drops to Gold

Chase and IHG launched a $350 Premier Select card on October 1, 2026, with automatic Platinum Elite status. The old $99 Premier card, which used to grant Platinum on its own, now opens at Gold Elite and costs $150 for new accounts.

People who actually sleep at IHG hotels, and who will use the new food and airline credits, can still make the math work. Holders who kept a Premier card as a cheap Platinum badge, or who used the no-fee card’s fourth award night with no spend hurdle, lose the perks that made those products worth holding.

A Four-Card Lineup From Zero to $350

The stack is now four Chase cards, renamed in two cases, with fees from $0 to $350. New applications already get the new names, earning rates, and welcome bonuses. Limited-time offers run through November 18, 2026: 125,000 points after $2,000 on the no-fee card, 180,000 after $3,000 on Premier, 190,000 after $5,000 on Business, and 200,000 after $5,000 on Premier Select.

THE NEW IHG CHASE CARDS

IHG, which lists 21 brands and more than 7,100 hotels in over 100 countries, is using the cards to push night credits, hotel food vouchers, and paid elite tiers. Chase says the Premier card offers over $700 in value your first year if those credits get used. That claim assumes you stay, fly, and redeem the new coupons. It does not replace the Platinum nights the $99 card used to hand out on day one.

Instant Platinum on a Personal Card Now Costs $350

The IHG One Rewards Premier Select Credit Card is the new top personal card. Chase prices it at $350 a year and sells it as over $1,000 in value in the first year for people who already pick IHG. Automatic Platinum Elite is the line that used to live on the cheaper Premier card.

You also get 20 elite night credits each calendar year, which is enough to hit IHG’s first Milestone Reward as soon as the account opens. That 20-night menu is 5,000 bonus points, two food and beverage rewards, or one confirmable suite upgrade. Spend adds 2 more night credits per $5,000, plus 5 extra credits after $15,000. Diamond Elite unlocks after $25,000 on the card in a calendar year, and a second free night (capped at 60,000 points, same as the anniversary certificate) unlocks after $40,000.

Stays can earn up to 28X total points on stays, built as 12X from the card, up to 10X from IHG membership, and up to 6X from Platinum. Dining and other travel, including rideshare, earn 6X. Everything else earns 3X. The anniversary free night tops out at 60,000 points, and you can add points from your account to stretch it. Fourth reward night free still applies on a four-night award stay, with no extra spend gate on this card.

Guests today have more options than ever, and higher expectations about what their travel experience should be like. With one of the world’s largest hotel portfolios and a loyalty program designed around choice and flexibility, we’re continuing to create more ways for members to get value out of every hotel stay. These enhanced Chase credit cards help bring that commitment to life.

Paul Proctor, Senior Vice President of Global Loyalty and Partnerships, IHG Hotels & Resorts

Chris Cracchiolo, president of co-brand cards at Chase, said the new card and the rest of the stack let members earn toward the next trip, unlock new credits, and use elevated status in the hotel. That is the pitch for people who already live in Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo, and InterContinental nights. It is a steep fee if you wanted Platinum and a free night without becoming an IHG regular.

What Platinum Still Gets You at IHG Hotels

Gold Elite, the new automatic tier on the $150 Premier card, is 20 qualifying nights or 40,000 qualifying points and a 40% bonus on base points. Platinum Elite is 40 nights or 60,000 points and a 60% bonus. The hotel difference is not late checkout, which IHG already lists at 2 p.m. for every member when a room is free. Platinum is where upgrades, a 72-hour room guarantee, a welcome amenity, early check-in, and award-night discounts begin.

GOLD VS PLATINUM AT THE FRONT DESK

IHG’s own tier chart is blunt about complimentary upgrades, when available. They are a Platinum and Diamond item, not a Gold one. Lounge access and extra suite upgrades still sit on Milestone Rewards at 40 and 70 nights, not on the card itself. Premier Select’s 20 credits get you the first milestone. The refreshed Premier’s 15 credits do not. You would still need five more nights, or enough card spend to mint extra credits, before that first suite-upgrade choice appears.

Existing Premier holders keep Platinum through December 31, 2027. After that, Platinum on that card takes $15,000 of calendar-year spend, and Diamond takes $40,000. New Premier applicants start at Gold. If you opened the card for status and almost never put spend on it, that path is closed.

Fourth Award Nights on the Free Card Need $5,000

The no-annual-fee IHG One Rewards Credit Card, formerly the Traveler card, still costs $0 and still comes with Silver Elite. It now adds 5 elite night credits a year, which Chase says should post within 6 to 8 weeks of opening and by February 1 each year. Existing holders see those credits for the first time in 2027. The spend hurdle for Gold Elite on this card falls from $20,000 to $15,000, and grocery stores join dining and gas at 3 points per dollar.

The cut is the award-stay perk people actually used. Through December 31, 2026, the fourth reward night on a consecutive four-night points stay stays automatic. Starting in 2027, you must put $5,000 on the card in a calendar year to unlock that fourth night for the rest of that year and the next calendar year. Chase’s terms say a cancelled stay, or a checkout before night four, forfeits the free night with no cash or point value.

Utilities, internet, cable, phone, and streaming also leave the bonus column on this card for transactions posted after December 31, 2026. The free card is still a fine way to collect Silver status and a 125,000-point bonus after $2,000. It is no longer a no-spend coupon for four-night award trips.

Business Cardholders Pay $200 and Keep Platinum

The IHG One Rewards Business Credit Card, formerly Premier Business, is the awkward winner in the stack. Its fee rises from $99 to $200, a $101 jump, and that new fee hits existing holders on their 2027 anniversary. Automatic Platinum Elite stays. That is $50 more than the new personal Premier card, and it skips the $15,000 spend test Premier now uses for Platinum.

The free-night cap rises from 40,000 to 50,000 points, matching personal Premier, and the card adds up to $100 in IHG food and beverage rewards ($25 a quarter), a $100 airline statement credit after $250 in direct airline spend (through December 31, 2027), and up to $100 toward eligible Expensify purchases. You still get 15 elite night credits a year and 2 more per $5,000 spent. Diamond Elite still takes $40,000 of card spend in 2026. On January 1, 2027, that Diamond number becomes $50,000.

United TravelBank cash on this card ends after December 31, 2026. New Business holders do not get it. Office-supply bonus points go away, and the wide travel category shrinks to flights booked direct and car rentals, also after December 31, 2026. If you held the business card for Platinum, a 40,000-point night, and TravelBank, you keep the status and a richer certificate while paying more than double and losing the United deposit.

Food Credits Work Only if You Sleep at IHG

Chase did not just raise fees. It replaced some of the old automatic hotel value with coupons that need a stay, a flight, or a software bill. The $350 card is the loudest version of that trade. Up to $300 in food and beverage rewards arrives as a $75 voucher each quarter, usable at IHG hotels. The $200 airline credit needs at least $250 in flights bought direct from the airline, and that credit is written through December 31, 2027. Up to $50 in United TravelBank cash still posts as two $25 deposits after you register the card with MileagePlus.

WHAT MOVED ON AND OFF THE CARDS

• Personal Platinum: Instant Platinum leaves the $150 Premier card and now lives on the $350 Premier Select card, with a spend path back to Platinum after $15,000.
• Night four: The $0 card keeps the perk only if you spend $5,000 in a year, starting in 2027; paid cards still include it without that gate.
• Free-night caps: Premier and Business certificates rise from 40,000 to 50,000 points; Premier Select issues a 60,000-point night.

Hotel food: New quarterly IHG dining vouchers, $100 a year on Premier and Business, $300 on Premier Select, useless if you do not stay.

• Airline credit: $100 on Premier and Business, $200 on Premier Select, after $250 in direct flights, through December 31, 2027.
• Business extras: Expensify credits arrive; United TravelBank and office-supply bonuses leave after December 31, 2026.

If those vouchers match trips you already take, the higher fee can look small. If you do not eat at the hotel, or you buy flights on an online travel agency, the new credits are paper. That is why the $350 card is a product for people who already cycle through IHG, not a status sticker you buy and forget.

Existing Holders Keep Old Fees Through 2026

Chase says current IHG cardmembers will get a notice in October 2026 that lists which changes apply and when. Annual fees on Premier and Business move in 2027, on each account’s anniversary. A holder whose fee posts before the end of 2026 still pays $99 for that cycle. The richer 50,000-point free night is written as a 2027 anniversary benefit, so a late-2026 renewal can still produce a 40,000-point certificate.

WHEN THE CUTS AND EXTRAS LAND

1. October 1, 2026: New cards and most new benefits open to applicants. Premier Select, the $150 Premier, the $200 Business card, and the renamed no-fee card are live.
2. October 2026: Existing holders receive account-level notices with effective dates for each change.
3. November 18, 2026: Launch welcome bonuses end across all four cards.
4. December 31, 2026: Older bonus categories, including the Business card’s United TravelBank cash, stop for later transactions. The no-fee card’s automatic fourth night last applies under the old rule.
5. 2027 account anniversary: Existing Premier and Business holders pay $150 and $200. Enhanced 50,000-point free nights issue on that date.
6. January 1, 2027: The $5,000 spend gate for the no-fee fourth night begins. Business Diamond spend rises to $50,000. The $15,000 Platinum clock on Premier starts.
7. December 31, 2027: Existing Premier Platinum grace ends. Airline statement credits are written through this date.

What happens to the older IHG One Rewards Select Card is still unstated. Holders of that product should wait for Chase’s letter instead of assuming they were folded into Premier Select.

Launch bonuses on all four cards end on November 18, 2026. After that date, Platinum on a personal IHG card is a $350 product, Gold is what $150 buys, and a fourth award night on the free card is something you unlock with spend.

Disclaimer: This article is news reporting on Chase and IHG credit card terms and is for information only. It is not financial, credit, tax, or rewards advice, and it is not an offer or solicitation to apply for any card. Before you apply, product-change, or cancel, talk with a qualified financial advisor or credit counselor who can review your credit, spend, and tax situation. Fees, bonus categories, elite-status rules, and statement credits are those published by Chase and IHG as of October 1, 2026, and they can change with new terms, your account anniversary, or a later notice from the issuer.