How to Transfer Chase Points to IHG

There's no shortage of places you can book when you transfer Chase points to IHG. Since it's one of the largest hotel chains in the world, IHG has properties almost anywhere you'd want to go.

Unfortunately, IHG doesn't offer much in the way of high-value redemptions. Most award stays don't even get you $0.01 per point, making them a poor value. But you may luck out and find a great deal, so it's still good to know how to transfer Chase points to IHG. This guide will cover that plus another way you can use your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book IHG hotel stays.

What you need to transfer Chase points to IHG

You can only transfer Chase points to IHG if you have an IHG Rewards Club account. If you don't, you can register for a free account on IHG's site. You also need one of these Chase credit cards:

How to transfer Chase points to IHG

Chase makes transfers quick and simple online. Follow these steps when you're ready to transfer Chase points to IHG:

Sign in to your Chase Ultimate Rewards account on the Chase Ultimate Rewards site. If you have more than one Chase card, pick the one with the points you're transferring after you sign in.
Select the "Transfer to Travel Partners" option. To find it, click "Earn / Use" to open that dropdown menu.
Go to the IHG Rewards Club listing select "Transfer Points." This travel partner is listed in the Hotels section.
Choose a transfer recipient. Select the name of the recipient from a dropdown menu and then verify the Rewards Club account by entering the account number. Remember that when you transfer Chase points to IHG, the recipient must be you or an authorized user on your credit card account who is also a member of your household.
Decide how many points to transfer. Chase has set its transfer minimum at 1,000 points. That's also the increment you must use for the transfer. For example, you could send 25,000 points, but not 25,500. You get a 1:1 ratio when you transfer Chase points to IHG (or any of its other travel partners). So, you get 1 IHG point for each Chase Ultimate Rewards point you send over.
Confirm the transfer. The final page in the points transfer process lets you review everything and submit it. Your transfer should process instantaneously.

Keep in mind that there are no cancellations after you transfer Chase points to IHG. You can't get your Ultimate Rewards points back later. Make sure you have an award stay you're ready to book before you make the transfer.

How to book an IHG award stay

The steps to book an IHG award stay are pretty simple. Here's what you need to do:

From the IHG homepage, enter your destination, followed by the dates of your stay. Adjust the number of guests or rooms as needed, and then perform your search.
The search results will list all of IHG's hotels in that area and their cash prices. To switch to the points prices, click the "Points" option. There's also a "Points + Cash" option.
When you've decided on a hotel, click "Select Hotel."
The next page is where you choose a room. There will be points prices for rooms you can book using IHG points and cash prices for rooms that you can't. Click "Select Room" on the option you want.
This takes you to the rate selection, where IHG displays booking options. These typically include points, points and cash, and cash rates.
For points bookings, check the button next to that option and click "Select Rate." If you're not logged in to your IHG account, you'll be prompted to log in, and then you can check out.

The limited value of IHG points

IHG Rewards Club points have one big problem -- they're just not very valuable.

A typical IHG award stay will earn you about $0.005 to $0.007 per point. Because of that low value, it rarely makes sense to transfer Chase points to IHG. There are much better redemptions for Ultimate Rewards points that can easily get you double or triple that value. Even cash back redemptions offer more at $0.01 per point.

Once in a blue moon, you may find an award stay at an IHG property that offers a respectable value. But in most cases, there's a better alternative.

Best bet: Redeem points through the Ultimate Rewards portal

You can also book IHG stays through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal. This valuable feature lets you use your Chase points to make cash travel bookings. The value of your points depends on which Chase card you have. You get:

$0.0125 per point if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Chase Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card
$0.015 per point if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve®

As you can see, you'll likely get much more for each Ultimate Rewards point through the Chase portal than if you transfer Chase points to IHG.

Since this counts as a cash travel booking, you can also earn IHG rewards points on your stay. The rate you'll get at most IHG hotels as a member of the Rewards Club is 10 points per $1. You'll get a bonus of between 10% and 50% on your points if you're in one of the hotel's elite status tiers. Those are points you wouldn't earn on an award booking.

Chase's IHG credit cards

IHG has two hotel credit cards with Chase. The most valuable is the IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card. Here's a rundown on that card's features and annual fee:

140,000-point sign-up bonus for spending $3,000 within the first three months of opening the account
10,000 bonus points for spending $20,000 on purchases and making at least one additional purchase each account anniversary year
Earn 25 points per $1 at IHG (10 points per $1 from the card, 10 points per $1 for being a Rewards Club member, and 5 points per $1 for Platinum Elite status, a complimentary perk of this credit card)
Earn 2 points per $1 on purchases at gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants
Earn 1 point per dollar on all other purchases
Get one free night at an IHG hotel every account anniversary year (you can use your free night at any IHG hotel costing 40,000 or fewer points per night)
Get the fourth reward night free when you book an award stay of at least four nights
$89 annual fee that's waived the first year

Just that free night each year makes the card worth the annual fee since there are plenty of eligible IHG properties that cost more than $89. If you travel often and typically choose IHG, then this card is worth having.

The second option is the IHG® Rewards Club Traveler Credit Card, which is a travel card with no annual fee, but also far fewer perks and no free night every account anniversary year. Considering the IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card isn't that expensive and offers so much more value, it's a better choice for an IHG credit card.

Getting the most out of your Chase points

For the most part, you shouldn't transfer Chase points to IHG. It's silly to get $0.005 per point on an IHG booking when there are so many transfer partners where you can do better. If you want to book an IHG hotel, go through the Ultimate Rewards portal and redeem Chase points toward the purchase that way.

This isn't to say that IHG award stays are a lousy deal. With the amount of points you can earn through cash stays and credit card sign-up bonuses, it doesn't take much to get free nights. These award stays simply aren't worth sacrificing versatile and valuable Ultimate Rewards points.