LAST CHANCE: Get special bonuses on the IHG x Revolut debit cards

In late June, after much anticipation, IHG One Rewards launched two new Visa debit cards, issued by Revolut.

You can see full details of the new IHG x Revolut debit cards, and apply, by clicking here.

You can choose from a free ‘Essential’ card, with limited benefits, and a paid-for ‘Elite’ card.

The cards come with a generous launch offer. These offers end on Tuesday 25th August, so apply now if you want to maximise your bonus.

I should say up front that IHG has really thrown the kitchen sink into the Elite card in terms of benefits. If you understand how to make the most of IHG One Rewards, I think you will find real value here.

The stumbling block for some will be the requirement to open a Revolut bank account to get the cards, and to keep it funded so that your debit card transactions can be charged to it.

What benefits do you get?

IHG is bringing you a strong package. You get:

a good sign-up bonus – and an even better one until 25th August
instant IHG One Rewards status
Elite Night Credits towards higher status and
low FX rates on foreign currency spending, depending on your Revolut plan and the day of the week

The Elite card comes with additional benefits based on your annual spending:

top-tier Diamond Elite status in IHG One Rewards
up to three Confirmable Suite Upgrades per year, or alternative benefits
a free night voucher worth 40,000 points, which can be topped up

You don’t choose from these three items – you can have them all if you spend £35,000.

Key features of the IHG One Rewards debit cards

You can choose between the IHG x Revolut Essential Debit Card (free) and the IHG x Revolut Elite Debit Card (£18 per month fee)

A Revolut bank account will be opened for you as part of the application process if you do not already have one. Transactions will charged to it so you will need to keep it funded via transfers from your main current account, assuming you don’t move your banking to Revolut.

If you already have a Revolut account, you can hold an IHG One Rewards debit card alongside your existing Revolut debit card

Both cards come with a special sign-up bonus until next Tuesday, 25th August

Both cards come with instant IHG One Rewards status – Silver Elite with the IHG x Revolut Essential Debit Card and Platinum Elite with the IHG x Revolut Elite Debit Card

Status is NOT a one year offer – you will retain your IHG One Rewards status for as long as you retain your debit card

More interestingly (at least for HfP readers), both cards come with Elite Night Credits each year to make your path to higher status and Milestone Rewards easier – five on the free Essential card and 15 on the Elite card, with an uncapped number of additional Elite Night Credits possible via spend

The Elite card comes with an impressive range of additional bonuses triggered at £10,000, £15,000, £25,000 and £35,000 of annual spend

You earn points on both domestic and foreign currency spend, with a higher rate for spending outside Europe and at IHG hotels

You will pay low FX fees on overseas spending, with the exact rate determined by your Revolut plan and the day of the week you spend

Because the cards are debit cards, you should be accepted irrespective of the number of credit cards you hold or your income or employment status although obviously acceptance is at Revolut’s discretion. They are a good option for students, the retired or anyone else without full time employment.

Let’s look at the two cards in detail.

The premium card – IHG x Revolut Elite Debit Card

Unlike most of our card content, I don’t need to quote an APR interest rate because there isn’t one. This is a debit card, with the money taken straight from your Revolut account. If you do not have a Revolut account, one will be opened for you as part of the application process.

What you can’t tell from the image above is that the card is metal and looks very smart with the navy blue coating.

This is what you get (full details are on the application website here):

£18 monthly fee
sign-up bonus of 30,000 IHG One Rewards points if you apply by Tuesday 25th August and spend £3,000 in three months in any currency – we value these at £120
an enhanced sign-up bonus if you had the old IHG Creation credit cards – see a separate article here for details of this
additional IHG One Rewards points for spending at IHG hotels until 31st October 2026 – up to nine points per £1 spent
Platinum Elite status in IHG One Rewards for as long as you hold the card, activated within 48 hours of account opening
15 Elite Night Credits when you trigger the sign-up bonus and each year on the anniversary of opening your account
one additional Elite Night Credit for every £4,000 of eligible spend in any currency, with no cap
strong additional benefits for hitting £10,000, £15,000, £25,000 and £35,000 of annual spend (see below)
low FX fees when spending in foreign currency – rate depends on your Revolut plan and the day of the week

The Elite Night Credits you receive count towards elite status, Milestone Rewards and Rollover Nights which is an important benefit.

The card earns:

1.5 IHG One Rewards points per £1 spent in the UK and Europe
3 IHG One Rewards points per £1 spent outside the UK and Europe

At IHG hotels:

6 IHG One Rewards points per £1 spent at IHG hotels in Canada, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, UAE and USA

4.5 IHG One Rewards points per £1 spent at IHG hotels in all other countries outside the UK and Europe

3 IHG One Rewards points per £1 spent at IHG hotels in the UK and Europe

Until 31st October 2026, you will receive a higher earn rate at IHG hotels:

9 IHG One Rewards points per £1 spent at IHG hotels in Canada, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, UAE and USA

6 IHG One Rewards points per £1 spent at IHG hotels in all other countries outside the UK and Europe

4 IHG One Rewards points per £1 spent at IHG hotels in the UK and Europe

You will receive points in your IHG account every 14 days. The points you earn from the card do NOT count towards elite status, because the card allows you to earn status in other ways.

If you activate it in the app, you will also earn a handful of RevPoints when you shop at ‘bonus’ retailers such as Uber. These can be transferred to Avios and other RevPoints partners. Details are in this HfP article.

Here are the spend-based benefits, which I looked at in an article earlier this week:

£10,000 in a card year – you receive a Cardmember Choice Reward – choose from 5,000 points, two £15 IHG Food & Beverage Rewards or a Confirmable Suite Upgrade

£15,000 in a card year – you receive a Flex Night Certificate, valid for 12 months. This allows you to book a reward night worth up to 40,000 IHG One Rewards points, or receive a 40,000 points discount on a more expensive reward night.

£25,000 in a card year – you receive another Cardmember Choice Reward – choose from 5,000 points, two £15 IHG Food & Beverage Rewards or a Confirmable Suite Upgrade

£35,000 in a card year – you are upgraded to Diamond Elite status in IHG One Rewards for the rest of the current calendar year and all of the following year

For clarity, these bonuses are cumulative and are triggered as you pass each spend target.

You would also receive IHG Milestone Rewards. These start at 20 Elite Night Credits per year, which you will achieve easily due to the 15 Elite Night Credits you receive annually for holding the Elite card and the additional Elite Night Credit per £4,000 spent. At 20 nights, you can choose from 5,000 points, 2 x £15 IHG Food & Beverage Rewards or a Confirmable Suite Upgrade.

You can apply for the IHG x Revolut Elite Debit Card here.

The basic card – IHG x Revolut Essential Debit Card

Again, unlike most of our card content, I don’t need to quote an APR interest rate because there isn’t one. This is a debit card, with the money taken straight from your Revolut account. If you do not have a Revolut account, one will be opened for you as part of the application process.

By default, the Essential card is issued as a virtual card on your smartphone. There is a £10 fee and a delivery charge if you want a physical card issued. This will be plastic, not metal.

This is what you get (full details are on the application website here):

no fee – the Essential card has no monthly charge
sign-up bonus of 10,000 IHG One Rewards points if you apply by Tuesday 25th August and spend £1,000 in three months in any currency – we value these at £40
an enhanced sign-up bonus if you had the old IHG / Creation credit cards – see our article here for details of this
Silver Elite status in IHG One Rewards for as long as you hold the card, activated within 48 hours of account opening
five Elite Night Credits when you trigger the sign-up bonus and each year on the anniversary of opening your account
one additional Elite Night Credit for every £4,000 of eligible spend in any currency, with no cap
low FX fees when spending in foreign currency – rate depends on your Revolut plan and the day of the week

The Elite Night Credits you receive count towards elite status, Milestone Rewards and Rollover Nights which is an important benefit.

The card earns:

0.5 IHG One Rewards points per £1 spent
1 IHG One Rewards point per £1 spent in participating IHG hotels

These rates apply globally, in all currencies.

You will receive points in your IHG account every 14 days. The points you earn from the card do NOT count towards elite status, because the card allows you to earn status in other ways.

Note that the basic card does NOT come with additional spend-based awards.

You can apply for the IHG x Revolut Essential Debit Card here.

Which IHG debit card is best for you?

Essential – not the best choice unless you have a Revolut account already

If you are serious about IHG One Rewards, or are willing to become serious, Essential is NOT for you.

However, if you already have a Revolut account and have occasional IHG hotel stays, you absolutely should claim your free Essential debit card.

The earn rate is weak – 0.5 IHG One Rewards points per £1 for UK and EEA spend, which we’d value at 0.2p. This isn’t going to compete with free credit cards such as the British Airways American Express Credit Card, the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard or the Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard.

However, simply for signing up (it’s free if you are happy with a virtual card), you’d get 10,000 IHG One Rewards points as a sign-up bonus (until 25th August, £1,000 spend required within three months). We’d value these at £40.

You also get Silver Elite status in IHG One Rewards – we have a complete guide to IHG One Rewards here which shows you what the status benefits are.

If you do NOT have a Revolut bank account, you may find the hassle of setting one up and funding it to be too high given the Essential benefits. The only exception, I think, would be if you felt the five annual Elite Night Credits would be valuable to you.

Elite – an excellent benefits package

As I said at the top of this article, IHG has really thrown the kitchen sink at the benefits package for Elite.

Of course, as you have to open and fund a Revolut account to apply and spend, it had little choice. It has done more than I expected though.

If you are invested in IHG One Rewards then it is worth taking Elite very seriously, especially if you could put £35,000 per year through the card to earn Diamond Elite status.

Spend £35,000 in a card year and you’d get:

top tier Diamond Elite status AND

three Confirmable Suite Upgrade awards (the most valuable of the Cardholder Choice Rewards, valid for up to five nights each) or alternative rewards AND

Conclusion

If either of the IHG x Revolut debit cards appear, you should try to apply by Tuesday.

The Elite bonus, currently 30,000 IHG One Rewards points, will drop to 15,000 points from Wednesday.

The Essential bonus, currently 10,000 IHG One Rewards points, will drop to 5,000 points from Wednesday.

More importantly for ex-Creation cardholders, the special extra benefits to reward your earlier loyalty to an IHG payment card are only valid until Tuesday.

You can learn more about both cards, and apply, via the Revolut website here.

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