Uses for the IHG Flight Credit
Increasingly, co-branded hotel credit cards don’t just offer perks for hotel stays. Several hotel cards now offer airline credits, from the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card’s quarterly $50 airline credit to the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card’s limited-time $100 airline credit offer. And now that IHG has refreshed its cards and benefits, we have another option. In today’s coupon-filled points and miles world, it’s easy to overthink a card perk that is actually really simple. Here’s the breakdown of uses for the IHG flight credit.
What Is the IHG Flight Credit?
Before we get into uses for the IHG flight credit, here are the credits available across different cards.
The Brand New IHG One Rewards Premier Select Credit Card
- $200 annual airline statement credit on qualifying flight purchases when you spend at least $250 on flights purchased directly with the airline each calendar year through 12/31/27
The New IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
- $100 annual statement credit on flights of $250 or more booked each calendar year with the airline through 12/31/27
The New IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
- $100 annual statement credit on flights of $250 or more booked each calendar year with the airline through 12/31/27
Terms of the IHG Flight Credits
- A one-time statement credit of $XXX (varies by card) per calendar year will automatically be applied to your account when you make a purchase of at least $250 with your IHG One Rewards credit card on flight tickets booked directly with the airline through 12/31/27.
- Calendar year means January 1 through December 31 of that same year. Processing delays can cause purchases made during the current calendar year to count toward the following year’s statement credit.
- Statement credits should post to your account within 3 business days but may take up to 4 weeks.
- Statement credits may be reversed if an eligible purchase is returned, canceled, or modified or if you close your account within 90 days of receiving a statement credit. To receive statement credits, your card account must be open and not in default at the time of fulfillment.
Uses for the IHG Flight Credit
The simplest uses for the IHG flight credit are direct purchases with an airline for at least $250. You’ll get the amount your card has for the credit back as a statement credit. It is that easy.
More Creative Uses for the IHG Flight Credit
My goal when using any flight credit is turning it into a future flight credit. In this case, you are not trying to find some workaround like the Amex airline incidental credits. But plenty of airlines these days allow you to cancel flights and simply receive a credit or funds in a wallet. This allows me to use the credit quickly without procrastinating.
As always, you’ll want to know the airline’s policy for cash flight cancellations, which will be different from award booking cancellation policies. Ideally, you’d book a flight that would offer a flight credit after the initial 24-hour booking window has passed. You would not want to book a refundable fare or anything that creates a direct refund to your card. For example: Find a flight that costs around $250, and then cancel after 24 hours. As you’ll see in my screenshot below, that meant a nearly 40% discount on a credit I can use for a future flight.
Here are some of the airlines that work for this:
- Alaska Airlines: It uses a wallet system. Funds on eligible canceled cash bookings go into your wallet.
- American Airlines: Book an eligible flight that you can cancel for a flight credit.
- Delta Air Lines: Delta uses eCredits. If you have multiple eCredits, they can be stacked toward a cash flight purchase. They are valid for one year.
- JetBlue: Book Blue or above, and you can get a flight credit.
- Southwest Airlines: Things are a bit trickier here with the airline’s new rules. Make sure you buy the right fare.
- Basically, check your favorite airline and see what its policy is for cash flights. Flyertalk is a good resource for some data points and useful ideas.
Uses for the IHG Flight Credit: ToP Thoughts
The IHG cards are favorite under-5/24 options for many award travelers as they round out their lineups. They may not only give you hotel status and other credits, but also an easy-to-use annual flight credit. You can simply use it to save on a cheap flight, or you can turn it into a future flight credit. What are your favorite uses for the IHG flight credit? Come over to our Facebook group and share your thoughts.
