At 12:01 CDT tonight (or tomorrow morning – however you want to look at it) the registration link for Club Carlson’s “Big Night Getaway” promotion will go live. This promotion will give you between 44,000-50,000 bonus points on your first stay which can be used at any of the following Club Carlson hotel brands, which include: Radisson, Radisson Blu, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson, and Country Inn & Suites.
There are three promotions in total where you are able to register and get the bonus points for all three (up to 138,000 points). So here is a breakdown of each promotion:
- Radisson: “Big Night Getaway“: Earn 50,000 bonus points after a stay at a Radisson or Radisson Blu hotel between May 15-July 15 – limited to the first 100,000 people who register
- Country Inn & Suites: “Stay 1 Get 1 So Go Promotion”: Earn 44,000 bonus points after a stay at a Country Inn & Suites by Carlson hotel between May 15-July 15 – limited to the first 35,000 people who register
- Park Inn Promotion: Earn 44,000 bonus points after a stay at a Park Inn by Radisson hotel between May 22-July 22 (there is no live link for this promotion yet and registration does not begin until May 22) – limited to the first 20,000 people who register
You must register for all three of these promotions individually. So ultimately to earn the maximum amount of 138,000 points you must stay at three different hotels amongst the three different property types. Just to warn you all, there are only 10 Park Inn hotels in total in the US, so this promotion will definitely be challenging for many of you to obtain. In the US, they are located in: Tulsa (airport); Sharon, PA; Toledo, OH; Dallas (DFW airport & Love Field airport); Sainte Marie, MI; Albuquerque, NM; Fresno, CA; Harrisburg, PA
While I actually have limited experience staying at any Club Carlson experience (I stayed at a Radisson once in Florida that was supposed to be a resort and it was horrible), I’ve heard the international Radisson Blu properties are great. During my trip to Copenhagen and Stockholm a few years ago, the Radisson Blu properties (which were branded Radisson SAS at the time) were in great locations and seemed like really nice hotels.
I participated in this exact same promotion last Winter (although it was only held with the Radisson brand and not the other two), and I was able to snag a night at the Radisson on Lexington in NYC for about $85/night. This then netted me 50,000 bonus points (on top of the 20 points per $1 spent and 2,000 points for making my reservation online).
So here are some things to note:
- You can get 10% back by making your reservation through the Top Cash Back online portal. Thank you to another blogger Frequent Miler to making this happen! If you are not currently a member you can register here (note that this is a referral link where I get $10 for each person that joins ans earns $10 in cash back), but feel free to include your referral link in the comments section and we can all get some free cash back – or use Frequent Miler’s referral since he advocated this!
- When redeeming a free night award, Club Carlson points range between 9,000-50,000 points – this means that the 50,000 bonus points you earn from a $100 or less hotel could be redeemed at a $300+ property in Europe
- Like all other hotel programs, Club Carlson free night awards are not always available, so do not assume your points earned from this promotion can absolutely be used – while availability is typically really good, it is not guaranteed (I actually checked on a hotel in Ireland yesterday and there was no availability for a free night redemption)
- The 50,000 points are deposited into your account like any other points – they have the same expiration rules where they do not expire as long as your account remains active by earning or redeeming within a 24 month period (this is really easy to maintain)
- You get a bonus by booking your reservation online: 1,000 points for all members; 2,000 points for Silver/Gold members; 3,000 points for Concierge members
- Radisson is typically very good about status matches – if you have status at another program email Radisson at goldpointsplus@carlson.com requesting a status match and including a screenshot of your hotel status at another chain and your Club Carlson number
- If you are not currently a member you can create a new account here – this will give you a 2,000 bonus once you complete your first stay within 90 days
- Club Carlson currently allows you to combine accounts!
My strategy: I’ve been looking for some good rates in the Northeast and currently have not had much luck. I personally have no need to stay at a Radisson or Club Carlson hotel in the next two months so will probably just “stay” at one of their hotels for the bonus points. I will also be forcing my husband to do this (although he is not aware of this yet, sorry!). Since this is not a Park Inn near us, I will be limiting this promotion to 4 stays in total (1 at a Radisson and 1 at a Club Carlson for both of us). My goal is to not spend more than $350 total between the two of us (which I think is definitely do-able and maybe on the high end for m – especially with the 10% back with top cash back). This pre-payment of $350 will net us 188,000 Club Carlson points which I personally will use in Europe. With the regular points we’ll receive as well this will equal at least 4 free nights depending on how I use them. I am assuming a $200/night hotel (have to be reasonable, although many will redeem for a $400+ night hotel). This $350 pre-payment will get me at least an $800 value at a hotel. Remember, everyone will have a different value and I personally believe this 50% off value will be the average. Many will redeem for a MUCH higher value, which is AWESOME!
As I pointed out last week, Club Carlson often has 25%-30% off sales which will be great to lower my spend. While last weeks sale is now over, I will be sure to post immediately when another one is announced.
I will be staying up late tonight to register, who else is with me?! I personally do not think you need to at all, but why not, right?! 100,000 people is a lot of people, so if you are not crazy (like me), I’d suggest some shut eye and registering in the morning. Although don’t shoot the messenger if I am wrong!
