IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card Review

Everyone knows that one of the most important parts of travel planning is figuring out where you’re gonna stay. When it comes to booking accommodations, there are many options that you could choose from, such as hotels, Airbnbs, hostels, maybe even a cabin, etc.

The possibilities are endless. If you’re looking for the most comfort and convenience, hotels will usually always be the best option. However, the downside when it comes to hotels is that they will often be on the pricey side compared to the other options.

Luckily, you can easily save hundreds to thousands of dollars on booking hotels when you take advantage of hotel reward redemption programs. For example, I’ve saved over a thousand dollars when using World of Hyatt’s redemption program to book a week’s worth of hotel stays in Japan for less than 60,000 points.

Hyatt is generally considered the best hotel redemption program because of the value of its points, but there are many other hotel chains out there with solid redemption programs as well.

If you’re eyeing a new credit card that has no annual fee but can provide you with a solid amount of points you can use towards booking hotel stays, the <ihg-one-traveler> might be right for you.

A Solid Introductory Offer

The <ihg-one-traveler> currently offers a bonus of 80,000 points after you spend $2,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.

This is a pretty solid introductory offer, considering the amount of points you earn for the amount of spend required. $2,000 is a pretty low spending requirement, and many consumers find it even easier to hit the $2,000 spending requirement compared to the general $5,000 spending requirement I’ve seen on other travel-rewards credit cards.

If you seek to maximize the value of your points when redeeming them, 80,000 IHG points can get you far, allowing you to book multiple nights at a hotel without needing to fork over hundreds of dollars.

For example, you can stay at the Garner Hotel Berlin - Gendarmenmarkt, which is less than a mile from the city center of Berlin, Germany, starting at 18,666 points a night. If you wanted to use all 80,000 points that you’d get from the introductory offer, you could stay at this hotel for four nights without needing to pay anything besides tourist tax.

If you were to book this hotel with cash at a similar refundable fare to booking with points, it would cost you almost $600 out of pocket. IHG points are often worth less than 1 cent per point, so this is a notable weakness compared to Hyatt points, where you can often obtain a value of multiple cents per point.

However, if you find yourself able to save hundreds of dollars on a hotel when using IHG points, you might find it worth booking the reward nights, even if you aren’t hitting a value of 1 cent per point.

In this situation, four nights would cost about 74,664 points, or $600 if you were to pay with cash. This means your points would be worth about 0.8 cents per point, which is actually a pretty solid deal for IHG points. IHG points are usually considered to be worth around 0.5-0.6 cents per point.

Earning Even More Points

The <ihg-one-traveler> earns bonus points across a variety of spending categories, enabling cardholders to accrue even more points that they can use towards booking free hotel nights. Here’s how the earning rate breaks down:

• Up to 17x points per $1 spent at hotels participating in IHG One Rewards
  • 5x points per $1 spent for simply using this card
  • Up to 10x points per $1 spent for being an IHG One Rewards member
  • Up to 2x points per $1 spent for having Silver Elite Status, which is a benefit of this card
• 3x points per $1 spent on dining, utilities, internet services, cable services, phone services, select streaming services, and gas stations
• 2x points per $1 spent on all other purchases

These spending categories are pretty broad and can be easy to hit for the everyday spender, especially someone who needs to pay for utilities and services for their home and everyday life.

Additionally, the standard 2x point earning rate is a solid bonus, considering the value of IHG points and the fact that the standard earning rate of most other credit cards is just 1x point per $1 spent.

Since the spending categories aren’t too niche or targeted to a specific demographic of people, people may find it easy to accrue thousands of extra points when making purchases on the card to hit the $2,000 spending requirement.

This can unlock even more value for the credit card, as you may be able to earn enough points to redeem an extra night or two when trying to redeem the 80,000 points from the introductory offer.

Additionally, after you spend $10,000 within a calendar year, you’ll earn 10,000 bonus points. This is honestly a useless benefit because $10,000 is an exorbitant spending requirement, and 10,000 points is basically worth nothing when it comes to redeeming hotels.

Additional Benefits

As an IHG One Rewards-branded credit card, the <ihg-one-traveler> comes with a variety of benefits that will elevate your experience when booking stays with hotels operated by IHG.

Some of these benefits include, but are not limited to:

• Automatic Silver Elite Status: With Silver Elite Status, you’ll receive access to a few benefits for your hotel stays, such as 2 pm late check-out subject to availability, 20% bonus point earning rate, etc. If you spend $20,000 or more within a calendar year, you’ll be given Gold Elite Status through December 31st of the following year. Gold Elite Status comes with additional benefits such as a 40% bonus point earning rate and Five Star Hertz Gold Plus Rewards® Status.
• Redeem 3 nights, get 4th night free: When you use your IHG points to redeem a consecutive four-night hotel stay, you can receive a fourth Reward Night for free redeemable at that same hotel during that same stay. In the example from earlier, you could use your 80,000 points to stay at the Berlin hotel for five nights instead of four, further increasing the value of your points.

Travel Insurance and Protections

On top of these travel perks, the <ihg-one-traveler> comes with travel protections and insurance that’ll make you feel more secure and safe about your travel plans. These protections include, but are not limited to:

• Baggage Delay Insurance: Reimburses you up to $100 a day for up to 3 days for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing when baggage is delayed over 6 hours.
• Lost Luggage Reimbursement: Provides reimbursement up to $3,000 per covered traveler for the cost to repair or replace checked or carry-on baggage that is lost, damaged or stolen during a covered trip.
• Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance: If your trip is canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather or other covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $5,000 per covered traveler and $10,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours, and hotels.

Final Remarks

The <ihg-one-traveler> is a solid no-annual-fee option for travelers who want to earn hotel points without taking on extra yearly costs. Its generous welcome bonus, everyday spending categories, and automatic Silver Elite status make it a practical entry card into the IHG ecosystem. While IHG points aren’t the most valuable compared to programs like Hyatt, the 4th night free perk when redeeming with points significantly boosts their usefulness.

This card won’t be the right fit if you’re looking for premium perks like airport lounge access, free annual night certificates, or high-value transfer partners. But for travelers who prefer flexibility, occasional hotel stays, and a simple way to stockpile points, the <ihg-one-traveler> is one of the better no-fee hotel cards on the market.