If you stay at IHG hotels even a few times a year, a quiet confirmation from the recent IHG-Chase card refresh is worth knowing about: the elite night credits attached to IHG's co-branded credit cards stack across cards, with no apparent cap.
Here's the setup. IHG has four co-branded Chase cards open to new applicants, each recently refreshed: the IHG One Rewards Premier Select ($350 annual fee, 20 elite nights per year), the IHG One Rewards Business ($200, 15 nights), the IHG One Rewards Premier ($150, 15 nights), and the no-fee IHG One Rewards card (5 nights). On top of that, the three paid cards each add two more elite nights for every $5,000 spent.
Because those credits stack, holding the Premier Select plus either the Premier or the Business card starts you at 35 elite nights every calendar year without a single hotel stay. Add all three and you start at 50. If you still hold the old IHG Select card that's no longer open to applicants, you can product-change into one of the new personal cards to pick up the nights.
Why does this matter more than just status? Because IHG's most valuable perks increasingly live in its Milestone Rewards program, tied to nights in a calendar year rather than status tier. At 20 nights you can pick a confirmable suite upgrade (or points, or food and beverage vouchers). At 40 nights you choose two of: 10,000 bonus points, five $20 food and beverage rewards, another confirmable suite upgrade, or an annual club lounge membership. Hit 40 nights and you could walk away with two suite upgrades, lounge access for the year, and 5,000 bonus points.
That's the catch with status-by-card, too. Earning Diamond through spending doesn't automatically get you lounge access or suite upgrades — those come via milestones. If you do want Diamond, the efficient routes are $25,000 of annual spend on the Premier Select (which also earns 10 extra elite nights and a 20,000-point bonus at $15,000), or $75,000 a year on the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
If you're going to pursue multiple cards, order matters. The Business card is a sensible first application since it doesn't count toward Chase's 5/24 limit. And for the personal pair, apply for the Premier before the Premier Select — the bonus eligibility runs one way: you can get the Premier Select bonus if you already hold the Premier, but not vice versa.
Annual fees do add up across three cards, so this only pencils out if you actually stay with IHG often enough to use the upgrades and lounge access. But for regular guests, starting the year at 35 or 50 nights changes the maths considerably.
