The Rewards of IHG Rewards
A 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.
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!
For Every Season, Churn, Churn, Churn
So, with me able to squeeze several hundred dollars of value from this card even in out years, I'm going to keep it, right? Ha ha, no. I'm going to churn it. Chase and IHG are offering an even more lucrative signup bonus than the one I signed up with two years ago. Now it's 150k. I'll cancel this card soon and apply for a new one in a few months. It's entirely possible I can play the next one for over $1,200 in its first year. Will I score that well the second time around? I'll check back in about 14 months.
[This entry was cross-posted from https://canyonwalker.dreamwidth.org/135894.html. Please comment there using OpenID. That's where most of the action is!]
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!
For Every Season, Churn, Churn, Churn
So, with me able to squeeze several hundred dollars of value from this card even in out years, I'm going to keep it, right? Ha ha, no. I'm going to churn it. Chase and IHG are offering an even more lucrative signup bonus than the one I signed up with two years ago. Now it's 150k. I'll cancel this card soon and apply for a new one in a few months. It's entirely possible I can play the next one for over $1,200 in its first year. Will I score that well the second time around? I'll check back in about 14 months.
[This entry was cross-posted from https://canyonwalker.dreamwidth.org/135894.html. Please comment there using OpenID. That's where most of the action is!]