According to OMAAT, the Chase IHG credit card annual free night certificate benefit is getting devalued big time:
Ouch: IHG To Devalue Anniversary Nights - One Mile at a Time

According to the post, all free night certs issued after May 1 2018 will be usable only for hotels that require 40K or fewer points per night.
I opened my card in September last year so I don't get to use the no-cap free night cert not even once...