Priority Club credit card now offering Gold and Platinum elite status as a benefit

UPDATE – JULY 2025:  This is an old article, and the credit card information given is likely to be out of date.

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Very quietly, and without bothering to promote it or even advertise it as a card benefit, Priority Club has added free status as a benefit to its credit cards.

As a reminder, there are two different Priority Club credit cards, both issued by Barclaycard and both Visa branded.

The generic Priority Club card has no annual fee and comes with a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Priority Club points (good for 2,000 Avios).  It earns 1 point per £1 spent.

The Priority Club Black card has a £99 annual fee but earns 2 points per £1 spent (4 per £1 for foreign spend).  It also offers a voucher for a free hotel night (worth up to £250 if spent wisely) when you spend £10,000.  The sign-up bonus is usually 20,000 points but if you look under Credit Cards Update above you will see an ‘open to all’ link offering 30,000 and a theoretically targetted link offering 40,000.

Anyway … my wifes latest card statement contained this news:

Priority Club Rewards are delighted to offer you guaranteed Gold Elite status for as long as you hold a Priority Club Rewards Visa Card.  Not only will you earn points every time you spend on the card but you can enjoy all the privileges of elite status every time you check into an IHG hotel.  If you hold or upgrade to the Priority Club Rewards Black Visa we’ll increase your status to Platinum.

Now this is not a bad deal, especially on the Black card.  Let’s be clear – Priority Club Platinum status is the least rewarding of all of the hotel chains top status levels, with no guaranteed benefits!  You will, however, usually find most hotels make an effort to do something for you.  This can range from a good upgrade and free club access, to something as mundane as a free Kit-Kat (Holiday Inn Sheffield, I’m talking about you!).

Platinum is also fairly easy to earn anyway, requiring just 60,000 points.  You can usually earn this from a modest number of stays given the large number of bonus point promotions Priority Club offers (see this post and this post for examples).

That said, lifetime Priority Club Platinum simply for paying £99 a year for the credit card is not a bad deal.  It may even encourage me to retain my wifes card, although if you do pay the £99 fee then you might as well make the effort to put £10,000 through the card as well to get the free night voucher.

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IHG One Rewards update – July 2025:

Get bonus points: IHG is currently running TWO global promotions. You can register for both.

Promo 1: IHG One Rewards will give you your choice of either 2,000 bonus points for every two nights or 8,000 bonus points for every four nights you stay.  The offer period is 20th May to 31st August. Click here to register and learn more.

Promo 2: IHG One Rewards is running a promotion aimed at five brands – Crowne Plaza, voco, Vignette, Candlewood and Garner.  You will earn triple base points for stays at these brands until 30th September. Click here to register and learn more.

New to IHG One Rewards?  Read our overview of IHG One Rewards here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our article on ‘What are IHG One Rewards points worth?’ is here.

Buy points: If you need additional IHG One Rewards points, you can buy them here.

IHG One Rewards is offering a 100% bonus when you buy points by 17th July 2025. Click here to buy.

Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from IHG and the other major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.