What IHG’s Card Changes Mean for Our Five-Card Portfolio

In ⁠IHG & Me, I described a five-card setup costing $395 a year. Between my wife and me, it produced five annual Free Night Certificates (FNCs), Platinum status, a rebate on points redemptions and fourth-night-free award pricing. IHG was useful for nights that supported another part of a trip, with a relatively low annual cost to keep those options available.

Chase’s October 2026 changes raise that cost to $698 once all our cards renew in 2027, using the reported $99 fee for each legacy Select. They also improve three certificates, add credits with different expiration rules, and introduce elite nights that give the Business card a more substantial role. The question is whether the resulting portfolio still suits how we travel.

This analysis assumes we keep all five cards. Thrifty Traveler’s Chase spokesperson says the legacy Select fee rises to $99 at 2027 renewal. On elite nights, Chase’s published terms currently limit annual elite-night credits to 15 per IHG account, regardless of how many IHG cards are linked to it, but its representative told Frequent Miler that stacking is intended and the wording will be corrected. I use those issuer clarifications as working assumptions unless corrected and will verify actual elite-night posting in early 2027.

The position below reflects information available on October 2, 2026. In the tables, I am Player 1 (P1), and my wife is P2.

A Flex FNC allows points to be added above its stated amount. The legacy Select’s 40K FNC does not.

The overlap is intentional. Both of us have a Select for the 10% redemption rebate and a Premier for fourth-night-free awards. On an eligible four-night points booking, those benefits can work together. The Business card adds another Flex FNC, but its Platinum status and fourth-night-free benefit duplicate benefits I already have.

That becomes more important as fees rise. An additional FNC adds another usable night, while duplicate status adds nothing to our portfolio. The two personal Premiers also currently provide us up to $100 a year in United TravelBank in aggregate. Business loses its United TravelBank benefit, but that benefit did not stack with my personal Premier, so our household allowance remains unchanged.

The Selects retain their 40K FNCs, Platinum status and 10% redemption rebate in this calculation. Their fee increase adds $100 to our annual budget without a reported benefit improvement. The complete card-level comparison is:

*Existing Premier holders retain Platinum through December 31, 2027. †Airfare promotion ends December 31, 2027.

These are changes to cards we already hold, so new-card welcome bonuses do not enter our retention calculation. Chase’s announcement sets out the revised products, while existing holders receive individual notices explaining their transition dates.

There are earning changes too. Personal Premier adds 5X groceries, while its broader 5X travel category narrows to direct airline purchases and car rentals. Business similarly narrows travel and loses its 5X office-supply category. Reductions are protected through December 31, 2026. IHG purchases remain 10X on both cards, and their full-price points-purchase discount increases from 20% to 30%; it does not stack with promotional points sales. These earning changes do not alter where I put everyday spending. Based on points earned alone, I would only deliberately use these cards for IHG purchases rather than their other bonus categories.

The Premier’s status downgrade has no effect on our household while the Selects continue providing Platinum. I also retain Platinum through Business.

*FNC improvement uses my 0.5-cent points valuation. The $447 total assumes full use of dining and airfare credits; it excludes the benefits below.

At my 0.5-cent valuation, a 50K Flex is worth $250 and a 40K Flex $200. The three upgrades therefore add $150 of annual FNC value. Flex allows points to be added above the certificate amount; the property’s award price does not impose a 40K or 50K booking ceiling.

The $150 FNC improvement leaves a $153 annual shortfall against the $303 fee increase. The result then depends on which credits we use:

Assumes current fees and benefits continue, with the airfare promotion ending as scheduled. Each credit-use scenario assumes full redemption of the credits listed. Elite nights and Expensify remain unvalued.

With stacking, my Premier and Business cards together provide 30 annual elite nights, taking me to the 20- and 30-night milestones before any hotel stays. My wife starts with 15 from her Premier and needs five qualifying stay nights to reach the first milestone. I need ten beyond my 30 to reach 40.

At 20 nights, IHG offers points, dining rewards or a confirmable suite upgrade; at 30, points or dining rewards. At 40, there are two selections and annual lounge membership becomes an option. A lounge membership earned in 2027 runs through the end of 2028. Milestone selections must be made within 90 days of reaching the threshold. These are IHG program benefits, distinct from the card’s quarterly vouchers.

That changes the Business decision. Without it, my future annual card-night allocation would fall to 15, requiring 25 stay nights to reach 40 rather than ten. I still would not book unnecessary stays to achieve lounge access, but the extra nights could become useful on travel we already intend to take.

Spending could also change that calculation. Every $5000 charged to a Premier earns two elite nights, while reaching $15,000 adds another five, giving 11 spending-derived nights in total. Added to my assumed 30 annual nights from holding Premier and Business, that would take me to 41 without any stays and unlock the 40-night milestone, where annual lounge membership is an option. That deserves a separate comparison with the rewards I would forgo on other cards, particularly if our actual stays leave me short of 40. I have not included it in the portfolio valuation because it depends on directing spending to these cards.

Each of our three refreshed cards supplies a $25 dining voucher every quarter. That is a $300 annual household maximum, but the vouchers expire at quarter-end. Eligible food and drink must be charged to the cardholder’s room bill at a participating property. Multiple vouchers can be used on one room, but they are nontransferable, and an unused balance is lost once a voucher is redeemed.

For us, that means $50 for P1 per quarter and $25 for P2. Our accounts already showed those three vouchers on October 1, with December 31 expiration dates.

The airfare credit has a different test: each card needs a single qualifying flight-ticket purchase of at least $250 directly with an airline to trigger its $100 statement credit. The terms provide one credit per calendar year through December 31, 2027. Our three cards therefore potentially provide $300 in the remaining part of 2026 and another $300 in 2027.

If we use all three in 2027 against airfare we would otherwise buy, the $698 annual fee budget becomes $398 after those credits alone. That is useful arithmetic for that year, but it is conditional on use and does not establish the portfolio’s ongoing cost after 2027. The promotion currently ends then. I also need to compare the points and travel coverage forgone by paying with these cards instead of another card.

I leave Expensify unvalued until I have tried it. The existing Global Entry/TSA PreCheck/NEXUS fee credits also add no incremental value here, because we already have sufficient coverage through other cards.

Benefits, calendar-year allowances and anniversary renewals operate on different schedules. Some benefits are already available; the fee increases arrive later. Our last annual-fee posting dates provide a working renewal calendar, although the underlying anniversaries and FNC issuance dates can differ slightly.

*Expected fee-posting dates based on our 2026 statements. FNC issuance follows the account anniversary and may fall on a different day.

The higher FNCs arrive at the 2027 anniversaries, alongside the renewal cycle that brings the higher fees. Both Premiers should issue their upgraded FNCs around their February anniversaries, followed by Business around its June anniversary. There is no additional year’s wait for the upgrade.

Existing FNCs retain their displayed expiration dates and redemption limits. The upgraded 2027 FNC is a newly issued benefit, rather than a retroactive increase to a certificate already in the account.

For now, all five IHG cards remain holds. The Selects preserve the rebate and Platinum, plus their 40K FNCs. At the reported $99 fee, that combination remains useful to us. Each Premier continues to supply a Flex FNC and fourth-night-free awards.

Business warrants a closer review because its fee rises by $101 and several benefits already exist elsewhere. At my valuation, its 50K Flex is worth $250 against a $200 fee, so the certificate supports retention on its own. Elite-night stacking adds a separate contribution. By its June renewal, I should have evidence of those nights posting and our use of the quarterly dining vouchers. That review should use the credits we actually redeem rather than their annual maximum.

The $698 annual cost is about 77% above the previous $395. The three Flex upgrades recover $150 of that increase at my points valuation, leaving $153 to cover through credits before counting milestones. The scenario table shows how actual credit use changes the result. From 2028, the scheduled end of the airfare promotion makes dining-voucher use more important to that calculation.

I want the portfolio to continue supporting our travel at an acceptable cost, with benefits we actually use. The 2027 renewal decisions should be made on that basis, followed by another review when the airfare promotion ends.

Chase has also launched a new $350 Premier Select card. Whether adding it, or replacing something with it, improves this portfolio is a separate question. That deserves its own calculation, and I will evaluate that separately.

IHG & Me