The Rewards of IHG Rewards
Oct. 27th, 2021 09:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerA few days ago I wrote about a credit card I have that's tied to Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG). As I mentioned then it's actually one of two I own. The other one is hitting its anniversary, too, so it's time to check the score.
I signed up for the Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier card 2 years ago. At the time I forecast it would be worth $1,200 in its first year. Was it? I actually didn't check the score at the first anniversary. I'll do a quick analysis of both years now.
I value IHG points at $0.007 apiece, so the points are worth $1,174.60. Pretty close to my $1,200 goal, hmm? But I've got to subtract from that total the $89 annual fee as well as an opportunity cost of about $85— the amount I would've earned if I charged those same purchases to a no-fee 2% cash-back card. This yields a net value of $1,000.
So, $1,000 isn't $1,200, but it's still a pretty good score. I think I could've gotten closer to my forecast if travel weren't wrecked for most of 2020 with the Coronavirus pandemic. It's kinda hard to maximize value with a travel affinity card when there's little to no travel for 10 months of the year.
But about those other travel benefits.... The card grants a free-night certificate at renewal time. I made it worth $150. That puts my net up to $136 in the black. Another benefit is that the card offers 4th award nights free. When I book a 4-night stay on points, I pay for 3 of the nights and get the fourth free. I wasn't able to use that benefit in 2020 but I've managed to use it three times this year. Those free nights have saved me $400. That raises my net for this year to $536. That's amazing for a second-year win!
I signed up for the Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier card 2 years ago. At the time I forecast it would be worth $1,200 in its first year. Was it? I actually didn't check the score at the first anniversary. I'll do a quick analysis of both years now.
First Year: Not Quite $1,200
In my first year of owning this card I earned 167,800 points. Most of that was the 125k signup bonus, but I also charged $4,270 to the card to earn the remaining points.I value IHG points at $0.007 apiece, so the points are worth $1,174.60. Pretty close to my $1,200 goal, hmm? But I've got to subtract from that total the $89 annual fee as well as an opportunity cost of about $85— the amount I would've earned if I charged those same purchases to a no-fee 2% cash-back card. This yields a net value of $1,000.
So, $1,000 isn't $1,200, but it's still a pretty good score. I think I could've gotten closer to my forecast if travel weren't wrecked for most of 2020 with the Coronavirus pandemic. It's kinda hard to maximize value with a travel affinity card when there's little to no travel for 10 months of the year.
Second Year: Over $500, Wow!
Travel in the past 12 months has been tempered by Coronavirus pandemic, too, but I've managed to squeeze some nice travel benefits out of this card. First, though, the basics: I earned 11,580 points worth $81 on charges of $315. Offsetting that gain are the annual fee of $89 and an opportunity cost of $6. Uh-oh, it looks like negative territory. I'm $14 in the hole!But about those other travel benefits.... The card grants a free-night certificate at renewal time. I made it worth $150. That puts my net up to $136 in the black. Another benefit is that the card offers 4th award nights free. When I book a 4-night stay on points, I pay for 3 of the nights and get the fourth free. I wasn't able to use that benefit in 2020 but I've managed to use it three times this year. Those free nights have saved me $400. That raises my net for this year to $536. That's amazing for a second-year win!
