Good deal on the IHG Rewards Club credit cards – sign-up bonus is DOUBLED

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• James67 says:

  19 Sep19 September 05:30

  I can confirm I was declined Hilton card this spring, reason given was because I was holding the IHG premium card at the time. Totally daft policy as many people stay both IHG and Hilton.

  I note closing date is 31/12. The big dilemna here is to jump now or wait in anticipation of a better bonus after new year when they have traditionally run their best offers. IIRC last year it was 60k and a year or two before that it was 40k but annual fee also waived. Without an option to get spire the points now have to work to merit the fee as platinum hardly a benefit anymore. I think I will wait until January, if nothing better I’ll just apply for Hilton card and cancel July so I can reapply January 17 for IHG.

  • BD701 says:

    19 Sep19 September 06:24

    Wonder if this is a new policy as I’ve held both Hilton card and applied for IHG card twice with no issues.

    • James67 says:

      19 Sep19 September 07:44

      I held both at same time before too. I a wondering if it is better tobr holding Hilton first and then apply for IHG as they might want to get the fee. This spring I tried it other way around.

    • Rob says:

      19 Sep19 September 08:28

      Yes

    • RIccati says:

      19 Sep19 September 16:12

      A lot of discussion here. I relayed my experience and the new policies that I was told are “days old” to Raffles.

      I, for one, am going to file with the Financial Ombudsman Service because the rules and policies like this — not issuing a new card if you have/previously have had ANY Barclaycard in 6 months must be communicated very clearly at the start of application.

      I have noticed that Barclaycard system initially approved the application because I was offered to create a new online banking account but then it was cancelled by management decision/manual intervention. (This explains that someone’s application came through if review is manual).

      Credit card companies have not done such things before. Most likely related to EU rules on Visa interchange fees. Essentially, Barclaycard began behaving such that they do not want customers on this rewards cards. They have contractual agreements with IHG, Hilton, etc so they can’t just stop the issuing the cards but can put any number of hurdles in application process.

      • cheekychappie says:

        20 Sep20 September 18:47

        Not heard of people appealing to Ombudsman before because they are declined a card or account! lol 🙂 🙂 🙂

        Good for a laugh I suppose & I guess complaining will cost them £500 or so (I heard it can be considerably less than that depending on demand etc).

        If I were declined, I think I would just get on with my life.

        • Fenny says:

          20 Sep20 September 19:16

          If the t&c don’t state what restrictions there on on a card, being declined just because you’ve previously held a card with the same issuer will just show as being declined a card on your credit report. I’d be a bit hacked off with it, as it’s nothing to do with my credit rating and everything to do with not telling customers what the restrictions are.

          If the card issuers state clearly up front “Customers who have previously held a Barclaycard will not be accepted” or “are not eligible for the sign up bonus”, there’s no problem. But not explaining things is misleading.

        • cheekychappie says:

          20 Sep20 September 19:27

          ‘Please note it’s not possible to apply for a new Barclaycard if you already have a credit card provided by us, including one of our partner cards

          This does not constitute an offer of credit and you may be declined once a full assessment of your application has been completed.’

          Did you do the pre application check?

          What was your ‘Likelihood to be accepted’?

        • Fenny says:

          20 Sep20 September 20:32

          I’m not the one applying, but others are saying they weren’t told, thus are miffed.

        • RIccati says:

          21 Sep21 September 15:45

          Exactly the point.

          There might be some note appearing on Barclaycard website now, but it was not there at the time of application.

        • RIccati says:

          21 Sep21 September 19:13

          As pointed out, this has nothing to do with credit scoring.

          It is a customer-wide policy that was not communicated at all (neither in a prominent place nor in notes nor in terms and conditions’ small print).

  • Rob says:

    19 Sep19 September 08:29

    With the new EU rules on Visa fees I cannot see them offering anything better.

    • James67 says:

      19 Sep19 September 11:17

      Hadn’t thought of that, I guess you are right. Also wondering if IHG maybe wanted the promo brought forward to avoid card holders benefitting from almost 24 months elite status. I will nowneed to consider whether 40k IHG poinrs or a free Hilton night are more useful to me.

      • Rob says:

        19 Sep19 September 11:35

        Here’s the thing. If you apply in late December, your Plat status won’t be processed until January. Does that mean you get all of 2016 and all of 2017? It is very possible.

        • James67 says:

          19 Sep19 September 12:44

          I was thinking about that. Application last few days of year so likely at least 2nd January before IHG hears anything. Will make a decision after I see if I still getspire via the virgin route you highlighted. If so then I will likely stick with Hilton and cancel it in July for ihg application for 2017.

        • Tariq says:

          19 Sep19 September 21:25

          I transferred miles from VS to IHG last week and have successfully been upgraded to Spire Elite as a result.

        • Rob says:

          19 Sep19 September 23:18

          Good to know that still works.

  • Guesswho2000 says:

    19 Sep19 September 08:42

    Interesting, as I’ve held both in the past and my other half currently does! Can’t remember the exact date, but I’ve got an email confirming the Hilton reward certificate in June, so it’d be May when we took the card out, and definitely had the IHG card first. I still had the Hilton card when I applied for IHG, and that was approved, albeit begrudgingly! I suspected that was due to high limits on other barclaycards, but I may be wrong.

• adamcreen says:

  19 Sep19 September 05:50

  For the Premium Visa, the Free Night Voucher does not always arrive promptly.
  Raffles got his within a few weeks of hitting the spending target. I got mine yesterday, 4 months after spending £10,000. Calls and emails to both IHG Rewards Club and Barclaycard saw no quick resolution of this, and it’s the first time I was disappointed by IHG’s customer service.

  • Jason says:

    19 Sep19 September 07:13

    My voucher arrived within a few days of the statement showing £10k has been spent.
    So if I want to apply for the Hilton card I need to cancel IHG first, I thought you could sometimes get barclaycard to split your credit limit between the 2 if they declined your application?

  • thepearce says:

    19 Sep19 September 08:45

    Thanks. I wanted to ask someone this. I hit £10,000 a while back but no free night voucher has been received. I wondered if they waited until my year was up and was thinking about calling. I figured I might just hold off because even though I’ve hit target I don’t need to start the clock on the 12 months to spend the voucher right away.

    Also wondering if to bite or hold out (I got 60k points) in terms of my wife’s premium application.

    • Rob says:

      19 Sep19 September 11:37

      I got my voucher last week, a few weeks after hitting the 10k. You get an email.

      • Leo says:

        20 Sep20 September 18:09

        Mine arrived after about 2 weeks.

  • Waribai says:

    19 Sep19 September 17:50

    I find a social media post is often a quick way to get these matters resolved!

• Mohammed says:

  19 Sep19 September 06:39

  I’ve just signed up recently to this card and got my card last week. Can I somehow get this new improved bonus?

  • Rob says:

    19 Sep19 September 08:28

    Call and ask. Amex would generally say ok. Tell Barclays IHG emailed you, not that you saw it here.

• AndyS says:

  19 Sep19 September 07:16

  I applied for the ihg card yesterday, and was turned down. I hold a standard Barclaycard and think thks is the reason why (website didnt say, just said that they would write to me with the reason for declining)

  • Waribai says:

    19 Sep19 September 08:06

    My wife has held both simultaneously without any problems

    • Rob says:

      19 Sep19 September 08:26

      So have I. But it seems, unless their actions prove different to their words, that things have changed.

      Remember these are Visa cards and so take the full hit of the new EU rules on interchange fees.

  • ScotlishZander says:

    19 Sep19 September 08:14

    As of the 17th September you need to cancel any existing Barclaycard that you hold and wait six months before applying for another card (regular or partner card). I learnt this on the 15th when I was asking about applying for the Hilton card and the CS agent informed me.

    • Rob says:

      19 Sep19 September 08:24

      I thought it was 6 months for the same card?

      • James67 says:

        19 Sep19 September 11:27

        Not if info I was given is correct. I was told I needed to cancel my IHG and wait 6 months before applying for Hilton. Despite this, it is clear from comments here today that others successfully applied for second cards after I had issues; seems to me it might just be the usual Barclay shambles. My dad already had 3 goodwill gestures totalling £80 to keep the ihg white card despite spending nearly nothing on it.

        • Liz says:

          19 Sep19 September 16:49

          I have the IHG Premium card from earlier in the year and my husband is the 2nd card holder. Can he apply for the Hilton card and I be the 2nd card holder for that? Or do they treat 2nd cardholders as existing customers?

      • ScotlishZander says:

        21 Sep21 September 09:19

        No they changed it to any card, cancellation required for 6 months before applying for a new card. It’s ridiculous but hey ho.

        • Funtime says:

          22 Sep22 September 11:23

          Just spent 30 minutes on the phone to the call centre, 14 years and £15k limit on Barclaycard Platinum. Account now closed.

          The guy tried his hardest to keep my account open but wouldn’t/couldn’t let me have an IHG card as well. Note in my diary for 22/03/2016.

        • Alan says:

          22 Sep22 September 11:52

          Wow that seems such a short-sighted approach from Barclaycard to limit customers in this way.

    • Fenny says:

      19 Sep19 September 08:51

      I cancelled my Hilton Card in July. So if they don’t let me apply for IHG for 6 months, I’ll miss one of my Accelerate targets for no reason of my own. I wonder if they will let me argue this, as Barclaycard are preventing me! I was going to apply for it anyway, so the additional bonus is handy.

      Does anyone know whether, if my Accelerate target is to apply for the basic card, I will get the credit for applying for the black card?

      • Rob says:

        19 Sep19 September 11:37

        Knowing IHG, not automatically – and you then end up fighting the Philippines call centre to get it adjusted …..

      • RIccati says:

        19 Sep19 September 16:19

        You can still raise the issue with IHG. I.e., why their rewards scheme must be affected by Hilton rewards scheme, just because they share a card provider.

        Clearly, both IHG and Hilton are at a loss of business to each other because from now on people are only able to apply one card at a time and close the account for 6 months before opening another. This looks like a bad copycat of AMEX policies that ONLY apply 6 months term to the MR bonus on charge cards — you can still have the account, Amex will not reject your application if their credit lending criteria are satisfied.

        There is no other way to affect Barclaycards. If you would have applied and things have not been properly communicated then one could complain to FOS.

    • AndyS says:

      19 Sep19 September 10:12

      Damn, if i’d applied a day earlier I might of got it!

      • RIccati says:

        19 Sep19 September 16:20

        It is hit and miss because of the manual review.

        Applied on 7th and the have already invoked this new policy that was “days old” as I was told.

• Waribai says:

  19 Sep19 September 08:06

  I’m still waiting for my 2013 deal to return. 60k points sign up for the Premimum IHG and the £99 fee waived for the first year!

• @mkcol says:

  19 Sep19 September 08:12

  I held the HHonors VISA & applied for the free IHG card a few months ago, was approved fine.

  They really didn’t like me closing my HHonors card (it was superfluous) and battled to keep me. I’ve now just applied for the IHG Premium VISA….and been approved! Really wasn’t expecting that.

• Brian says:

  19 Sep19 September 08:29

  Gold members also get the free drink voucher. So unless you stay at Crowne Plazas and therefore potentially get lounge access as a result of Platinum status, there really is very little difference between Gold and Platinum.

  I’ve stayed at the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental in San Francisco twice, once as a Platinum, once as a Gold, and got a great upgrade to one of their view rooms on both occasions (both redemptions).

• Sebastian says:

  19 Sep19 September 08:30

  I am going to wait for a better deal, with a £99 fee the Virgin Black duo looks better value, especially with the bonus points now not counting towards Spire.

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