You can earn up to 200,000 points from the IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card offer!  Here’s how you can use IHG points when planning Umrah travel, for a stay in Makkah or Madinah.

The Offers

Let’s take a look at all the IHG card offers.  *Note that the first 2 card offers are currently not elevated, and the last one is a business credit card.*

IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card – Earn 140,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months. Annual Fee is $99.

IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card – Earn 80,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 in the first 3 months + up to 30,000 bonus points by earning an additional 3x on purchases, except at IHG Hotels & Resorts, in the first 6 months.  No annual fee.

IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card – Earn up to 200,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months.  Plus, earn 60,000 bonus points after spending a total of $9,000 in the first 6 months for a total of 200,000 bonus points.  Annual fee is $99.

Searching for a property

Let’s look for a property in Madinah.  I’m running a search for Thanksgiving break 2026.

These two properties tend to be popular options in Madinah:

 

Let’s look at the room options at Intercontinental Dar Al Hijra IC Madinah:

There’s a couple things to note here:

• Room capacity – this is important, especially if you need to book 2 rooms.  *Always confirm prior to booking, with the property, if you have any questions.*
• Points + cash option – there’s flexibility in how you want to pay for each night.
• Not all room types will be available in points.

Six room types were found when I do a search in cash, as opposed to three that were available when searching in points for the same dates.

IHG “Fourth Night Free” Perk

IHG offers a fourth night free to eligible IHG Rewards cardholders when you use points to book a stay of atleast four nights.  So when you book a room in points, for four or more nights, the fourth night ends up costing you zero points.  This discount can be seen when you are completing your booking.  With award stays costing more points these days, getting one night free can be very helpful!

Watch out for a transfer bonus

IHG One Rewards, the loyalty program for IHG Hotels & Resorts, is a hotel transfer partner of Chase Bank.  There are often transfer bonuses to IHG.  If you’re doing an IHG award booking, and are short points, it’s good to check for a transfer bonus.  This way, you’ll need to transfer less points from Chase to IHG, to complete your booking.

I’d recommend earning IHG points from the co-branded cards shown above.  While you can transfer Chase points to IHG, at a 1:1 ratio, I’d only do so when needing to “top off,” or complete an IHG award booking.  Chase flexible points have gotten harder to earn, with lifetime language added to many personal and business cards.  If you can earn airline miles or hotel points, through other co-branded cards, than apply for those cards, respectively.

If there was a transfer bonus to IHG, you’d see the respective promotion as you do here with Wyndham Rewards.  Log into your Chase account, and scroll over to “Travel,” on the top navigation bar.  In the dropdown menu, you’ll see an option for “transfer points to partners.”  This is where you’ll find the option to transfer your Chase points to an airline or hotel travel partner.  Note that transfers are one-way, and can’t be undone.

Cards that earn Chase points

There are multiple card options that earn Chase points.  I recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred as a great starting point in the Chase ecosystem.  It’s also one you’re going to want to keep long-term, especially if you want to transfer Chase points to airline or hotel partners, and then redeem for travel (generally a great way to use and maximize those points!).

Read here why the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card is great for beginners in points and miles.

Check out all Chase Sapphire products here – you can currently hold both at the same time!

Chase also has a great suite of Chase Ink business cards.  Do note the lifetime language on Ink products.

As long as you hold a Sapphire product, you can combine Chase points earned across all your Chase cards, into that one.  You do need a Sapphire product to transfer points to travel partners.

*When applying through my referral link, please use a new browser window.  Don’t log in, if prompted and apply as a guest.  That’s how it credits it back to me, appreciate the support!*

Additional tips

• Book as early as possible.  Umrah travel is often done during peak travel times, and award availibility for flights and hotel rooms goes fast!
• Plan 12-18 months out if you can.  If you’re traveling with multiple people, during peak travel times, I can’t stress this enough.  Earning points from respective cards, and then trying to redeem those points/miles, takes time.
• IHG does have a referral program where you can earn 10,000 bonus points for anyone you refer.  If you need to refer a Player 2 (because you need more points to help cover your stay), do so through a referral link and earn points!

You can check all Umrah travel-related posts here including how I spent just $500 for our 2024 Umrah trip, how I booked, what points and miles I earned, and all the tips you need for a smoother, more feasible Umrah trip!

Umrah Doesn’t Need To Cost Thousands of Dollars

It’s possible to book an Umrah trip on points and miles, as you would any other trip.  Yes, it can be a bit more challenging but it’s certainly possible.  And I’m here to show you how it’s done!

You can check out more blog posts here on how to save money on booking Umrah travel.

Umrah is achievable for thousands of dollars less!

For more in-depth information, check out A Guide to Umrah on Points & Miles that I’ve created that walks you through:

• How to search for award flight availability (economy seats) from the U.S., on popular routes to Jeddah & Madinah
• How to search for award flight availability on partner airlines for airlines in the same airline alliance, with video walkthroughs on both
• How to book hotel stays on points, in the 4 major hotel loyalty programs
• What cards are best for hotel stays & flights, as well as thinking through card lifecycles
• How to cover other travel-related costs (such as transportation between the 2 holy cities) that isn’t booked directly using points/miles (like airfare & hotel stays)
• What “free breakfast” means in each of the major hotel loyalty programs, and how to get that perk
• How to stay organized in award travel with the TravelFreely App

I’ve also spent thousands of dollars to go to Umrah with my family, and I know the feeling of planning and saving up.  With points and miles, the journey is closer and more attainable than you think.