BUSINESS

The IHG One Rewards Premier Business card review: The stellar personal version but with a tie

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Our take: The IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card is what you get when the regular Premier card hastily throws a tie on. It offers nearly-identical perks, benefits and rewards as the personal version of the  Premier card, which is a good thing since it includes a 140,000-point welcome bonus worth four nights, another free night each account anniversary, instant Platinum status, up to 26X rewards on IHG purchases and so much more. The caveat is that the Premier Business card is a business card. So if you don’t have legitimate business expenses, look to the personal IHG Premier.

IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card

Intro bonus


140,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening





Annual fee $99
Regular APR 21.49%–28.49% variable


IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card Overview

Card type: Business , Hotel, Travel Rewards

The IHG One Rewards Premier Business instantly reminds me of one of the very first viral comedy YouTube shorts from 2007: Mother’s Day by Barats and Bereta. When Luke shows up to their Mother’s Day photoshoot wearing a TOOL t-shirt, Joseph yells “PUT ON A TIE.” Luke bellows “FINE” in response, and returns with… a badly-tied tie draped over the same t-shirt. 

If you have two minutes, enjoy this piece of YouTube history.  

Anyways, the IHG One Rewards Premier Business card resurfaced this clip in my brain because it appears to be the result of someone commanding the non-business IHG Premier card to “PUT ON A TIE.” The Premier card then returned with the word BUSINESS written on the top right and its perks, benefits and rewards 98% unchanged. 

But even though the IHG One Rewards Premier Business card is just the Premier card with a loose tie thrown on, it’s still one of the most impressive and value-driven hotel rewards cards out there. You’ll get a whopping 140,000-point welcome bonus, automatic Platinum Elite status, free anniversary nights worth up to 40k points, a max 26X on all IHG purchases and much, much more. 

The only caveat is that, well, it’s a business card. That means you must tie the card to a legally registered business when you apply and you can only use the card for business-related purchases. Heck, even your point rewards must be for business-use only, meaning you can’t pay your statements using company money and save the points for your own vacation plans. If you try bending these rules with a few personal expenses here and there, Chase may terminate your account, resulting in the loss of all your points. 

That’s why the IHG One Rewards Premier Business card should only be approached if you’re sure you want to use it for business-purposes only. This makes it ideal for employers and solopreneurs who need hotel rooms, but less ideal for someone who wants to keep the points they earn from swiping the company Visa.

Who is the IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card good for?

The IHG One Rewards Premier Business card is ideal for someone who wants a separate business card for booking and tracking all of their IHG stays. Aside from Platinum Elite status, there’s no personal benefit to using this card—all the purchases and redemptions must be made for work-related reasons, and the rewards and free nights benefit the business. 

Who shouldn’t get the IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card?

If you’d rather have a hotel rewards card that you can use for both personal and business purposes, you’re looking for the regular IHG One Rewards Premier card. That’s because generally speaking, it’s perfectly OK to put business expenses on a personal credit card, but not the other way around. 

And if you’re forced to use the non-business Premier card, you’re not missing much. The tie-wearing variant has higher Purchase Protection claim limits ($10k versus $500) but it also has less travel insurance so the two virtually even out. 
If you’d rather not commit a $99 annual fee to either card, the no-fee IHG One Rewards Traveler card might be a better fit.

IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card: How to earn rewards

The IHG One Rewards Premier Business card offers the following ways to generate points: 

  • 10 points for each $1 spent on qualifying purchases made at hotels participating in IHG One Rewards
  • 10 points for each $1 spent on qualifying purchases made at hotels participating in IHG One Rewards (e.g. social media, SEO, office supply stores)
  • 3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases

You’ll also get that steep welcome bonus worth 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. On average, IHG One Rewards points are worth about 0.7 pennies each, meaning your welcome bonus is worth nearly $1,000 or a four-night stay in most IHG properties. 

That also means that the 10X generated from IHG purchase are only really worth 7 cents in value. Seasoned travelers will compare that to the full 10 cents of value you could earn per dollar spent with the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card card and say the latter is better, but here’s the kicker; the 10X from the IHG cards stacks with other IHG rewards. 

In total, if you book a stay using your IHG One Rewards Premier Business card, you’ll earn 10X for using the card, 10X for being a basic member of IHG One Rewards and 6X for having Platinum Elite status, which is automatic with the card. That adds up to an impressive 26X worth roughly 18 cents in value towards future IHG stays.

How to redeem IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card rewards 

When it comes to cashing in your points, keep in mind that Chase wants you to use them for business purposes only. That sadly means no jaunts to San Diego for Comic-Con (unless you’re in the comic/cosplay/gaming industries themselves).

So for the most part, you’ll be redeeming them for future business trips to lower your overall business expenses. As mentioned, points convert to roughly 0.7 cents per dollar in value, meaning the average $500 stay might cost around 70k points. But if you game IHG’s dynamic pricing model and change up your dates and properties, you might be able to redeem points for 0.8 or even 0.9 cents per dollar. 

IHG One Rewards offers other redemption options, too, but your point values generally plummet outside stays and upgrades. Case in point, most of IHG’s 41 airline partners only take IHG points at a dismal conversation ratio of 5:1, meaning your 140k-point welcome bonus would only convert to 28k miles. 

But if you really need to cash in points for something non-stay related, here’s your complete menu of options: 

  • Free nights and upgrades
  • Points and cash (i.e. combining points with cash for a booking)
  • Experiences/tours
  • IHG One Rewards Access (e.g. courtside tickets, VIP concert tickets etc.)
  • Gift cards and shopping
  • Points donations
  • Digital rewards (e.g. magazines, eBooks, movies)
  • Transfers to one of IHG’s 41 airline partners

IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card rates and fees

The IHG One Rewards Premier Business card’s rates and fees are pretty standard fare for a paid travel rewards card. Aside from the aforementioned $99 annual fee, you’ll have no foreign transaction fees, unforgiving regular APR and no sort of 0% APR incentive. 

In other words, this is a card you’ll want to fully pay off each statement balance to avoid costing yourself (and your business) double-digit interest.

  • Annual fee: $99
  • Foreign transaction fee: None
  • Regular APR: 21.49%–28.49% variable
  • Balance transfer fee: The greater of $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater

Additional benefits

The added benefits are where the IHG One Premier Business card starts deviating from its non-business twin. You’ll get the same suite of high-value perks—notably a free anniversary night, Platinum Elite status and copious statement credits—but you’ll lose some travel insurance and gain better purchase protection. 

The business card also adds a new route to Diamond Elite status, but we’re not sure it’s worth spending $40k to get a free hot breakfast.

  • Earn a $100 statement credit plus 10k points after spending $20k within a calendar year (~$1,667 per month). It’s not much, but it’s appreciated nonetheless.
  • $100 TSA Precheck, Global Entry or NEXUS statement credit every four years as reimbursement for your application fee(s).
  • Up to $50 United Airlines TravelBank Cash each year after linking your IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card with your UA MileagePlus account.
  • Earn Diamond Elite status after spending $40,000 total in a calendar year. Diamond Elite increases your status-based points boost from 6X to 10X and adds better welcome amenity options (including hot breakfast for two) and Dedicated Diamond Support.
  • Trip Interruption/Cancellation Insurance of up to $1,500 per person/$6,000 per trip, though oddly, you won’t get Lost/Delayed Luggage insurance or Trip Delay Reimbursement like you would with the regular Premier card. 
  • Purchase Protection of up to $10k per claim, $50k per account to cover select purchases that were stolen or damaged within 120 days of purchase. This should bring relief to anyone traveling with pricey new business gear (laptops, cameras etc.) and is $9,500 more than the Premier card’s per-claim limit. 

Credit cards similar to IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card

By this point, most business travelers might be wondering: is it worth “upgrading” to the IHG One Rewards Premier Business card over the more flexible base Premier card? 

To find out, let’s do a head-to-head comparison. While we’re at it, we’ll stack the IHG One Rewards Premier Business card against one of our top-rated business travel cards for good measure.


IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card

IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Annual fee Annual fee Annual fee
$99 $99 $95
Welcome bonus Welcome bonus Welcome bonus
Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening Earn 165,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening 100,000 points after spending $8,000 in the first three months of card opening. That’s $1,000 cash back or $1,250 toward travel rewards when you redeem through Chase TravelSM
Rewards Rewards Rewards
Up to 26 total points per $1 spent when you stay at IHG Hotels and Resorts
5 points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, at gas stations, select advertising, and restaurants
3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases
Up to 26X on IHG purchases
5X points on travel, gas stations, and restaurants
3X points on all other purchases
3x points per $1 (up to $150,000 combined) spent on shipping purchases, internet, cable, phone, and advertising with social media sites and search enginesChase-InkBusPreferred-RewardsRate1[/dynamic]1x point per $1 spent on all other purchases

IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card vs. IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card

As hinted throughout the article, the IHG One Rewards Premier Business card is basically just the regular IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card with a tie on. The business variant adds better Purchase Protection and a 3X category for various business expenses like social media marketing and office supplies but beyond that, the two are virtually identical. 

The only major divide between them is what you’re allowed to use them for. You can use the basic Premier card for personal and business expenses but you can only use the Premier Business card for work-related expenses. So if you’d like the option to keep your points for personal travel redemption – and don’t mind losing a 3X rewards category – the regular IHG One Rewards Premier card is definitely a better fit, even for 90% business use.

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card vs. IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card card offers a breathtaking 100k bonus points worth $1,250 in travel redemption through the Chase Travel℠  portal, 5X on Lyft, 3X on travel, shipping, online advertising and internet/cable/phone services and 1X on everything else. The caveats are the $95 annual fee and the fact that you have to spend $8,000 within three months (~$2,667/month) to trigger the welcome bonus. 

Keep in mind, too, that 100% of those expenses have to be business-related or Chase may close your account and withhold your $1,250 bonus. 

If you do have $8,000 to spend, it’s still a tough choice. The Ink Business Preferred Card offers more value upfront and more versatile rewards, but the IHG One Rewards Premier Business card offers more long-term value in the form of a recurring free night each year (worth ~$280). 

This is the part where we’d normally suggest getting both, but you may not have $11,000 in business expenses coming up to trigger both welcome bonuses. Therefore, you might want to consider which is better for your business within the next few months: $1,250 in general travel cash or four free nights at IHG properties. 

Is the IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card right for you?

By putting a tie on, the IHG One Rewards Premier Business card narrows its appeal to business travelers who don’t mind redeeming points for more business travel. It’s a closed-loop system that doesn’t reward your personal life, but it may be rewarding enough to your professional bottom line to justify. 

As a result, the IHG One Rewards Premier Business card may be a fit if you truly want to keep all of your IHG-related business expenses 100% separate, and crucially, pour your points back into the business. If you’d prefer to keep your points to yourself, get the regular, virtually-identical IHG One Rewards Premier card instead.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the IHG Premier and Premier Business?

The IHG One Rewards Premier and IHG One Rewards Premier Business cards are virtually identical in terms of perks, benefits and rewards. The latter offers better Purchase Protection and an extra 3X category for select business expenses (e.g. social media advertising, office supplies) but that’s about it. 

The chief difference is buried in the cardmember agreement. Chase business cards can only be used for business expenses, while personal cards can be used for business or personal expenses. If you put personal expenses on your IHG One Rewards Premier Business card, Chase may void your account and all of your points with it. 

Is the IHG business card worth it?

Yes. The card offers overwhelming value for its $99 annual fee, but only if you plan to use both purchases and rewards for business purposes only. 

How much is the annual fee for the IHG One Rewards Premier Business card?

The IHG One Rewards Premier Business Card has a $99 annual fee.


Fortune Recommends™ has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Fortune Recommends™ and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. 

Please note that card details are accurate as of the publish date, but are subject to change at any time at the discretion of the issuer. Please contact the card issuer to verify rates, fees, and benefits before applying. 


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