Chase has spent the first half of 2026 running the most aggressive welcome-bonus cycle the IHG One Rewards card lineup has ever seen. In January, all three cards jumped at once. By the end of April, two of those three offers were gone, replaced or expired. As of May 2026, the picture is mixed: the personal Premier card sits at an all-time high of 185,000 points, the no-fee Traveler card is at its own historical peak of 125,000 points, and the Premier Business has fallen back to a baseline 140,000-point offer after a brief run at 200,000.
Here is what changed, what is live now, and what it tells you about Chase's posture on hotel-card market share.
What Happened in January
Chase raised the welcome bonus on all three IHG One Rewards cards in late January 2026, first reported by NerdWallet and confirmed in Chase's public application pages. The Premier moved from 140,000 to 175,000 points after $5,000 in three months. The Traveler moved from 75,000 to a two-tier offer worth up to 120,000 points. The Premier Business stayed at 140,000 points after $4,000 in three months. The simultaneous bump across the lineup, on cards that historically refresh on different schedules, was the news. Chase rarely moves all three at once.
What Replaced Those Offers
The January 175,000-point Premier offer ran for roughly three months. It was replaced in April with a higher, restructured 185,000-point welcome bonus: 150,000 points after $3,000 in three months, plus another 35,000 points after a total of $6,000 in six months. That is currently the highest bonus the personal Premier card has ever carried, according to Upgraded Points' offer-history tracking.
The Traveler card's bonus also moved up. The new structure is 90,000 points after $2,000 in three months, then an additional 35,000 points after $4,000 in six months, for a total of 125,000 points. The Points Guy notes this is the largest bonus the Traveler has carried since launch, though the spending threshold is higher than past offers.
The Premier Business followed a different path. Chase ran a limited-time 200,000-point offer on the business card from late March through 9 a.m. ET on April 30, 2026, an all-time high reported by Doctor of Credit, View from the Wing, and Frequent Miler. That offer expired on schedule. The current public Premier Business bonus is 140,000 points after $4,000 in three months, the card's standard offer.
Why This Matters
Three patterns are worth flagging. First, Chase is treating IHG as a competitive lane against the Hilton-Amex and Marriott-Amex/Chase lineups, where premium hotel-card welcome bonuses now routinely clear 100,000 points. The Premier's two-tier structure, with most of the bonus paying out at the three-month mark and a smaller second tranche at six months, mirrors what Amex has done on Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant.
Second, the business card's 200,000-point offer is the kind of bonus that does not return on a predictable cadence. The card's prior high was 175,000 points. A 200,000-point reissue, if it comes, is more likely in the Q4 2026 or Q1 2027 window than in the next few months.
Third, for readers who missed the January 175,000-point Premier offer, the current 185,000-point structure is a better deal in absolute terms, with a lower upfront spending requirement to trigger the first tier. The trade-off is the back-half spend: you need to put $6,000 on the card over six months to qualify for the full bonus, versus $5,000 in three months under the prior offer.
What to Do Now
If you stay at IHG properties two or more times a year and you are under Chase's 5/24 cap, the IHG One Rewards Premier at 185,000 points is the strongest IHG personal-card offer ever publicly available. The card carries a $99 annual fee, includes automatic Platinum Elite status, an anniversary free night up to 40,000 points, and the fourth-night-free benefit on award stays.
The IHG Traveler at 125,000 points is the right call for occasional IHG guests who want the fourth-night-free benefit without an annual fee. The two-tier structure requires hitting $4,000 in spend over six months for the full bonus.
For business owners who already hold the personal Premier, the Premier Business at 140,000 points is a reasonable add. The card does not count toward 5/24, but the 200,000-point version was substantially better, and waiting for a future increase is defensible if you can be patient.
Eligibility on the personal cards follows Chase's standard 24-month rule: you cannot have received a new-cardmember bonus on any personal IHG card in the prior 24 months. The business card has separate eligibility.
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