IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card — Review [2023]

Great Card If

• You stay at IHG hotels when you travel, but not often enough to justify the premium version of the card
• You want to earn more IHG Rewards points without paying an annual fee

Don’t Get If

• You want a card that offers more benefits like automatic elite status and a free night certificate
• You don’t stay at IHG hotels

IHG Traveler Card — Is It Worth It?

The IHG Traveler card will be most worth it to those who are looking to earn more IHG Rewards points during their stays, along with receiving a few card benefits, all without an annual fee.

Since the card earns 5x points per $1 on IHG stays, in addition to the 12x points per $1 you’ll earn as an IHG Silver Elite member, you’ll earn a total of 17x points per $1 during your stays when paying with the IHG Traveler card.

Additionally, the IHG Traveler card allows you to get your fourth night free on award stays — a huge benefit for those who often stay at least 4 nights.

Beyond that, you get a handful of great card protections, automatic Silver Elite status, and a 20% discount when purchasing IHG Rewards points.

If this all sounds great to you, then the IHG Traveler card likely would be very worth it to you.

IHG Traveler Card Top Benefits

Fourth Night Free on Award Stays

Perhaps the best benefit of the card is the ability to get the fourth night free on award stays. This effectively gets you a 25% discount on all 4-night stays when redeeming points.

In our view, this certainly makes it well worth it to save up your points until you have enough for a 4-night redemption, as this will boost the value of your IHG Rewards points even further.

Automatic Silver Elite Status

The card comes with automatic IHG Silver Elite status, which is IHG’s lowest status level but earns you 20% bonus points during your IHG stays, giving you 12x for being a Silver member and 5x for paying with your card, for a total of 17x points per $1.

Plus you’ll have the ability to spend your way to IHG Gold Elite status after spending $20,000 on the card in a calendar year.

Discount on Purchased Points

If you find yourself just short of the number of points you need for a certain award, using your IHG Traveler card to purchase IHG Rewards points will give you a 20% discount when doing so.

Card Protections

Cardholders receive the following protections to help keep them covered in the event that things go wrong:

• Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance: If your trip is canceled or cut short by a covered situation, you can be reimbursed up to $5,000 per person and $10,000 per trip for non-refundable travel expenses.
• Purchase Protection: Items purchased with your card are covered for 120 days from the date of purchase against damage or theft, for up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.

How To Earn and Redeem IHG Rewards Points

If you’re just starting out in points and miles, you might think that staying at IHG hotels is the only way to earn IHG Rewards points. However, in addition to adding a co-branded product like the IHG Traveler card, there are tons of great ways to earn IHG Rewards points.

IHG has a huge portfolio of hotels — over 7,000 worldwide — so how should you decide where to stay when you’re ready to redeem your points? We’ve got this covered with our guide to the best ways to redeem your IHG Rewards points.

Alternative Cards to the IHG Traveler Card

IHG Premier Card

If you’re someone who stays at IHG hotels often, then you might want to consider opting for the IHG Premier card instead.

While it does charge an annual fee, it also comes with significantly more benefits. For starters, you’ll earn up to 26x when using the card to pay for your IHG stays.

Not only will you earn more points, but you’ll receive automatic IHG Platinum Elite status, which gets you all the benefits of Gold Elite status plus 50% bonus points on stays, complimentary room upgrades, and guaranteed room availability.

You’ll also still receive your fourth night free on award stays, travel protections, a Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS credit, and an annual free night certificate usable at any IHG hotel costing up to 40,000 points per night — a benefit that more than covers the expense of the annual fee.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

For those looking for a more well-rounded travel rewards card, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better option than the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

You’ll earn 5x points per $1 on travel purchased through the Chase travel portal and 2x points per $1 on all other travel purchases. Plus, earn 3x points per $1 on dining, online grocery purchases, and select streaming purchases.

The card also includes a bevy of card protections, a $50 annual hotel credit through the Chase travel portal, a 25% bonus in point value when redeeming your points through the Chase travel portal, and access to the Chase transfer partners.