Why the IHG Fourth Night Free Perk Is One of the Best Reasons to Keep an IHG Credit Card

The IHG Fourth Night Free perk is simple, easy to use, and often more valuable than people expect. If you hold an eligible IHG credit card, every time you redeem points for a reward stay of four or more consecutive nights, the fourth reward night is free. Chase describes it as “Redeem Three Nights, Get Fourth Reward Night Free,” and the perk applies to standard room Reward Night stays booked with points. 

What makes this perk so useful is that the discount is built into the booking. You do not need to register, call in, or wait for a rebate later. When the stay qualifies, the award price is reduced during the booking flow. That makes it one of the most practical benefits in the IHG card lineup. 

When the Fourth Night Free Applies

The perk applies when you:

• hold an eligible IHG credit card,
• book a standard room Reward Night stay,
• and redeem points for four or more consecutive nights at the same hotel. 

It does not work the same way on paid stays. This is a points-booking perk, not a cash-booking discount. It is also tied to reward-night pricing, so the biggest savings usually come when the fourth night is expensive in points. 

Which IHG Cards Offer the Benefit of a 4th Free Reward Night?

Whereas other brands give similar perks to loyalty members, IHG requires travelers to have a co-branded credit card. Three IHG rewards credit cards offer this amazing perk:

• IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card
• IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
• IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card

Which IHG Card Should You Get?

Elevated offers are live—choose based on how you travel and which perks you’ll actually use.

IHG One Rewards Traveler

$0 annual fee • Welcome: Earn 90,000 points after $2,000 spend in 3 months, plus up to 30,000 more with an extra 3x on non-IHG purchases in your first 6 months (on up to $10,000 spend).

Earning highlights

• 5× at IHG hotels (card earn).
• 3× dining, utilities, select streaming, gas stations.
• 2× all other purchases.
• Stack at IHG stays: up to 17× total (10× member + ~2× Silver + 5× card).

Key advantages

• Automatic Silver Elite status.
• 4th Reward Night Free on 4+ night points stays (≈25% points savings on 4-night blocks).
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Does not include Anniversary Free Night or Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit (those are on Premier & Premier Business).

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IHG One Rewards Premier

Best for Most

$99 annual fee • Welcome: 175,000 points after $5,000 in 3 months

Earning highlights

• 10× at IHG hotels (card earn).
• 5× travel, restaurants, gas stations.
• 3× all other purchases.
• Stackable total at IHG stays: **up to 26×** (10× base member + ~6× Platinum + 10× card).

Key advantages

• Anniversary Free Night up to 40k points with top-off allowed.
• 4th Reward Night Free on point stays of 4+ consecutive nights (≈25% points savings).
• Automatic Platinum Elite; Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit every 4 years.
• No foreign transaction fees.

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IHG One Rewards Premier Business

$99 annual fee • Welcome (limited time): 140,000 points after $4,000 in 3 months

Earning highlights

• 10× at IHG hotels (card earn).
• 5× travel, dining, gas, office-supply stores, and eligible online ads (search/social).
• 3× all other purchases.
• Stackable total at IHG stays: **up to 26×** (10× base member + ~6× Platinum + 10× card).

Key advantages

• Anniversary Free Night up to 40k points with top-off.
• 4th Reward Night Free on point stays of 4+ consecutive nights.
• Automatic Platinum Elite; Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit every 4 years.
• No foreign transaction fees.

Apply Now

“Up to ××” totals at IHG reflect 10× base member earn + elite bonus (from card status) + card earn. Terms and offers change—always confirm current issuer details.

Real-Life Examples of the Savings

Here are simple examples of how the math works:

Example 1: Four nights at ~15,000 points per night

Without the perk:

• 4 nights × 15,000 points = 60,000 points

With Fourth Night Free:

• pay for 3 nights only = 44,000 points

Savings: 16,000 points

Example 2: Four nights at 35,000 points per night

Without the perk:

• 4 nights × 35,000 = 140,000 points

With the perk:

• pay 105,000 points

Savings: 35,000 points

Example 3: Resort stay at 55,000 points per night

Without the perk:

• 4 nights × 55,000 = 220,000 points

With the perk:

• pay 165,000 points

Savings: 55,000 points

That is why this benefit matters so much more on longer or pricier redemptions. The more expensive the fourth night is, the more valuable the perk becomes.

Best Times To Use It

The Fourth Night Free perk is strongest when:

• you are booking a stay that is already at least four nights long,
• nightly award prices are high,
• or you want to stretch your IHG balance on a family trip, resort stay, or city break.

It can be especially useful for travelers who already earn a lot of IHG points through paid stays, welcome bonuses, or card spending. If you are still building your balance, your guide to earning more IHG points pairs well with this strategy.

One Important Limitation

This benefit is great, but it is narrow by design. It is most useful for people who actually redeem IHG points for four-night stays. If you mostly book one-night stays, short work trips, or cash rates, you may not use it often enough for it to feel valuable.

Still, for anyone who books even one strong four-night award stay per year, this perk can easily save tens of thousands of points and become one of the best reasons to keep an IHG credit card open.

How to Book an IHG Fourth Night Free

Booking IHG Fourth Night Free is straightforward, but it only works if you follow the rules exactly. If you hold an eligible U.S. Chase IHG card, the benefit applies on Reward Night stays of 4 or more consecutive nights at the same property, and the fourth night prices at 0 points. IHG also confirms this works regardless of the fourth night’s point amount. 

Here’s how to do it:

1. Log in to your IHG One Rewards account

Start by signing in to the IHG account that is linked to your eligible Chase IHG card. Chase and IHG both frame this as a cardmember benefit, so you want to be sure you are searching while logged into the correct account. 

2. Search for a stay of at least four consecutive nights

Enter your destination, dates, and hotel, then make sure you are searching for a points booking / Reward Night stay. The Fourth Night Free perk does not apply the same way to cash bookings. It is specifically for Reward Night stays of four or more consecutive nights at the same hotel. 

3. Choose a standard room Reward Night

This benefit applies to stays in standard rooms under the Reward Night program. If the room type does not meet the criteria for a standard stay under the Reward Night program, the offer for a free fourth night may not apply.

During your search, the price is displayed as the average nightly rate for your entire stay.

4. Check the points total before booking

When the perk is working correctly, you should see that you are charged points for only three of the first four nights, with the fourth pricing at 0 points. On longer stays, the pattern continues, so an 8-night stay can effectively include two free nights, depending on how the nights are grouped in the booking. The discount is reflected at booking rather than rebated later. 

5. Complete the reservation in one booking

The stay must be booked as one reservation, with 4 or more consecutive nights, at the same property. If you split the stay into separate bookings, the benefit may not trigger. 

IHG’s new-hotel 15% off Reward Nights offer cannot be combined with the Fourth Reward Night Free benefit on stays of four or more consecutive Reward Nights. For eligible cardmembers, the 15% discount offer is only available on bookings of three nights or fewer. 

Bottom Line

The IHG Fourth Night Free perk is one of the easiest hotel-card benefits to understand and one of the easiest to extract real value from. On qualifying four-night award stays, you pay points for only three nights instead of four, and the savings can be substantial. Chase confirms the perk is available on standard room Reward Night stays of four or more nights, making it a standout feature of the eligible IHG cards. 

If you regularly redeem IHG points for longer stays, this perk is not just a nice extra. It is one of the program’s most useful benefits.