IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card – Full Review

Great Card If

• You’re a business owner who regularly stays at IHG hotels
• You want a card that offers you perks on IHG stays like automatic elite status
• You know you can easily get more value from the card than the annual fee you’ll pay

Don’t Get If

• You don’t stay at IHG hotels
• You prefer a card with no annual fee
• You want a card that earns transferable rewards

IHG Premier Business Card — Is It Worth It?

For business owners who regularly stay at IHG hotels, there are few cards on the market that would be a better option for you than the IHG Premier Business card.

The card helps you earn tons of IHG Rewards points thanks to its 10x earnings on IHG Hotels and Resorts, 5x on travel, at gas stations, select advertising, and restaurants, and 3x on all other purchases. And it offers tons of benefits that cardholders are sure to get lots of value from.

For instance, you’ll automatically receive IHG Platinum Elite status that in turn will help you earn 60% more points on stays, late checkout, and room upgrades (when available).

Further, holding the card gets you your fourth night free on award stays, up to $50 in United Airlines TravelBank Cash each year, an annual free night certificate, and more.

When you consider all of the benefits that you receive, even after taking into account the card’s $99 annual fee, it is easy to see how the IHG Premier Business card can be very worthwhile to those who frequent IHG hotels.

IHG Premier Business Card Top Benefits

Automatic Platinum Elite Status

With your IHG Premier Business card, you’ll receive IHG Rewards Platinum Elite status as a benefit of holding the card. Without the card, you’d need to stay 40 qualifying nights or earn 40,000 qualifying points each year to qualify for this status level, making this automatic perk a very valuable one!

Platinum Elite status includes the following perks:

• 60% bonus points earned on IHG stays
• Priority check-in and extended checkout
• Complimentary room upgrades
• Welcome amenity

For those who are trying to earn as many points as possible to eventually book free nights, the 60% bonus in point-earning really comes in handy. This is because it ups the number of points earned during IHG stays from 10x points per $1 to 16x points per $1.

But also remember that when you use your IHG Premier Business card to pay for your stay, you’ll earn another 10x points per $1 spent, bringing your total to 26x points per $1 on all of your IHG Hotels and Resorts — or a 13% return based on our points and miles valuations.

Plus, the card gives you a path towards top-tier Diamond Elite status, requiring you to spend $40,000 on the card in a calendar year instead of staying 70 qualifying nights.

Fourth Night Free on Award Stays

One of the best benefits of the IHG Premier Business card is that it gives you the ability to get your fourth night free on all award stays. This perk alone effectively gives you a 25% discount on all of your 4-night IHG award stays and can lead to massive savings in points if you book multiple award stays each year.

Anniversary Free Night Certificate

Each year on your account anniversary, you’ll be given a free night certificate that can be used for a free night at any IHG hotel that costs up to 40,000 points per night.

For most cardholders, this benefit alone makes up for the card’s annual fee, as almost any hotel that you’d be eligible to redeem this certificate at will cost much more for a night than the $99 annual fee you pay for the card.

That said, IHG recently improved the usability of these free night certificates, as now you can also add points on top of the certificate to stay at a more expensive hotel if you choose. For instance, if a property costs 55,000 points per night, you can use your free night certificate plus 15,000 points to book a free night at the hotel.

United TravelBank Cash

Each calendar year, you’ll receive 1 deposit of $25 in United TravelBank cash on January 1, and another $25 United TravelBank cash deposit on July 1, for a total of $50 each year.

If you’re not already familiar, United TravelBank cash can be spent just like normal cash on any United purchases, including flights, baggage, and other items. This means that you’re being given $50 towards United flights each year, just for being a cardholder!

Discount on Purchased Points

Need to top off your point balance in order to book an award stay? Using your IHG Premier Business card to purchase IHG Rewards points will give you a 20% discount when doing so.

Card Protections

With your IHG Premier Business card, you also receive the following card protections:

• 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

Of course, using your IHG Premier Business card isn’t the only way for you to earn IHG Rewards points. In fact, there are a lot of great ways to earn lots of IHG Rewards points that you may never have thought of.

When it comes to redeeming your points, this is where you will want to employ some strategy to make sure you’re always getting the best value for your points. To help you out in that respect, we’ve put together a guide to the best ways to redeem your IHG Rewards points to help you book some amazing redemptions.

Alternative Cards to the IHG Premier Business Card

World of Hyatt Business Credit Card

Perhaps IHG isn’t your hotel chain of choice, and you prefer to stay at Hyatt hotels when available instead. If this is the case, you’ll want to opt for the World of Hyatt Business card.

Plus, you’ll receive automatic Hyatt Discoverist status, up to $100 in Hyatt statement credits, access to the Hyatt Leverage program, and 5 elite qualifying night credits for every $10,000 spent on the card.

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

If you’re looking for a small business credit card that earns transferable rewards, then the Ink Business Preferred card is worthy of consideration.

The card earns 3x points per $1 spent on the first $150,000 in combined purchases in travel, shipping, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines, plus internet, cable, and phone service purchases.

Since the card earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you can then transfer these points at a 1:1 ratio to 10+ different Chase transfer partners.

The card also offers great perks like travel and purchase protection, cell phone insurance, and employee cards at no additional cost.