The cobranded IHG One Rewards cards offer many valuable perks. But one of the most valuable on the IHG cards with annual fees that are available to U.S. residents is free night certificates.

The anniversary free night certificate you get each year as a cardmember perk can often provide enough value to justify paying the card's annual fee. And, as an added bonus, you have the opportunity to earn an additional free night certificate on some IHG credit cards each calendar year when you meet specific spending requirements.

So, here's what you should know about IHG free night certificates.

IHG One Rewards may occasionally offer promotional free night certificates, but, by far, the most common way to earn IHG free night certificates is through IHG credit cards. Here's a look at the free night certificates you can earn with select U.S.-issued IHG credit cards that are currently available:

For cardholders of these cards, IHG deposits an anniversary free night certificate into your account on your card anniversary each year. IHG deposits certificates earned based on card spending within eight weeks of when you qualify. You can top off certificates that you earn from these three IHG cards with points from your IHG account if you wish to redeem for a night that costs more than your certificate's redemption value.

However, existing cardholders who opened their accounts before the recent IHG card portfolio revamp will still receive certificates redeemable for a night costing up to 40,000 points through the end of 2026. Existing cardholders will begin getting certificates with the increased redemption value cap starting in 2027. To this point, cardholders of the IHG One Rewards Select Credit Card (which hasn't been open to new applicants for many years) will begin receiving anniversary free night certificates that are eligible for top-off and have a redemption value of up to 50,000 points starting in 2027.

The information for the IHG Select has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

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