Club Carlson launched March 31, 2011 as the redesigned hotel loyalty program for Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. The loyalty program includes over 1,100 hotels globally in the hotel brands of Radisson Blu, Radisson, Park Plaza, Park Inn and Country Inns & Suites. Hotel Missoni, a luxury brand with only two properties currently open in Edinburgh and Kuwait is not yet participating in Club Carlson.

Six competitive advantages of Club Carlson 

1. Members receive complimentary internet at all hotel brands in North America and all Radisson hotels worldwide.

2. Club Carlson offers the fastest earning standard free nights of any hotel loyalty program when compared to rate of base points earned per dollar in hotel spend. Top category 6 hotels at 50,000 points require $2,500 in hotel spend to earn 50,000 base points. Bonus points and elite status and online booking bonuses reduce this spend level. HHonors Points & Points earners need $3,333 to earn 50,000 points for a top tier category 7 reward. Marriott Rewards members need at least $4,000 in hotel spend to earn 40,000 points for a top tier category 8 hotel reward night.

Read More…

The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group Global Business Conference 2012 last week in Nassau, Bahamas is the third annual conference I have attended. This is the annual conference bringing together hotel owners, managers and parent company executives for the hotel brands of Radisson, Country Inns & Suites, Park Inn and Park Plaza hotels.

The Radisson hotel chain has puzzled me for a decade as I tried to understand the difference between several different Radisson brand names like Radisson in the USA and Radisson SAS, then Radisson Blu in Europe and Radisson Edwardian in London.

The variability in earning points in goldpoints plus depending on whether your hotel stay was in the U.S., Asia, Europe or Africa was another confounding aspect of the hotel loyalty program. Goldpoints plus had the feel of IHG Priority Club and InterContinental Ambassador, another program where hotel brand acquisitions brought together a European/international program with a US based hotel loyalty program and an odd mix results.

This Loyalty Traveler post will attempt to share the basics of the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group for readers who may have recently joined the Club Carlson program after the 2011 Q-4 Big Night Giveaway for 50,000 points with one hotel stay at a Radisson. This is an overview of the hotel chain and I will follow up with another post describing the Club Carlson loyalty program in detail.

Ambition 2015

In 2010 the Carlson Hotels company launched a five year initiative – Ambition 2015 – to create a stronger global presence as a major hotel company and hotel loyalty program.

Two years ago in Orlando the company executives pledged an investment of 1.5 billion dollars to support the five year improvement plan.

Read More…

February 14 is Day 1 of a 25% discount sale for participating Radisson, Country Inns & Suites and Park Inn hotels in the U.S.

• Sale ends February 16 11:59pm Central Time.
• Bookings available for stays February 14-February 29, 2012.
• Discount is 25% off standard room rate.
• Radisson Hotels sale
• Country Inn & Suites sale
• Park Inn sale

Remember Club Carlson offers online booking bonus and currently has the Triple points promotion for hotel stays through March 16, 2012.

Club Carlson – January 10 – March 16, 2012 Triple Points for all hotels worldwide is 60 points/$1. Club Carlson already has the fastest earning program for free nights and triple points gets you there so much faster. The highest category hotel reward night requires about $800 in hotel spend. Most hotel loyalty programs will require $2,000 to $4,000+ for a free night at their top hotels – even with promotion bonuses. LT post January 11.

Life in the slow lane

I am seriously suffering through the worst internet service here at the Sheraton Nassau Resort that I have experienced in years. $40 resort fee includes high speed internet. This data flow may have been high speed in 1995.

On the other hand I have a suite room I love and the patio doors are open letting the sounds of birds and waves fill the room space.

When I get a decent internet connection I’ll share photos of the Sheraton Nassau.

I’m outta here.

Gone to beach.

Club Carlson launches the best promotional offer so far in 2012 with triple points on all hotel stays worldwide from January 10 to March 16, 2012. Club Carlson members normally earn 20 points per dollar at all 1,070 Carlson Hotels worldwide in brands including Radisson and Radisson Blu, Country Inn & Suites, Park Plaza and Park Inn.

Club Carlson Triple Points promotion registration is required.

Two terms of this offer make the Club Carlson  triple points offer so much better than the current Starwood double and triple points promotion. The main problem with the SPG offer is there are no bonus points for one night Starwood Hotel stays and triple points applies only to stays of three nights or more at Starwood Hotels. There are also about 300 Starwood Hotels globally not participating in the SPG offer.

Club Carlson offers the triple points bonus on any paid stay at any hotel worldwide on any number of nights.

Kudos to Club Carlson promotion rollout

I want to commend the rollout of this offer compared to November’s Radisson 50,000 points promotion launch. This offer is announced with the registration page ready for member enrollment. Starwood Preferred Guest really screwed up their triple points promotion launch with the page being available for registration after it had been publicized across several blogs and then disappearing again without even a message on the website to state why the link didn’t work.

A global promotion with no excluded hotels is another reason to like this Club Carlson promotion. Since last year I feel like I am punished as a loyalty member of Hilton HHonors and Starwood Preferred Guest with the number of hotels in the San Francisco Bay Area opting out of global promotions.

And finally, it appears Club Carlson picked up a valuable customer service tactic with the promotion registration confirmation page appearing upon registration for this triple points offer.

Registration Confirmation for Club Carlson Triple Points promotion 2012

The future’s so bright, gotta wear shades.

Club Carlson is less than a year old as a hotel loyalty program. Carlson Hotels are about to start year 3 of a five year plan called Ambition 2015 with the goal of making Carlson Hotels a globally recognized major player in the hotel industry. Club Carlson loyalty program promotions have been one nice deal after another. Club Carlson may just fill the void while the other hotel loyalty programs appear to pull back in 2012 on their bonus offers for hotel stays. Double points with Priority Club or triple points with SPG or two free low category hotel nights with Marriott are not particularly lucrative bonuses. And Priority Club is about to raise the price of reward nights at 25% of its hotels around the world.

Club Carlson leading the way with hotel rewards

One measure to consider when comparing hotel loyalty programs is the cost of reward nights. Hotel loyalty programs earn points at different rates with SPG earning 2 points per dollar, Hyatt Gold Passport earns 5 points per dollar, Hilton HHonors, IHG Priority Club and Marriott Rewards earn 10 points per dollar and Club Carlson earns 20 points per dollar.

Club Carlson has the fastest earning rate for free nights when the amount of spend is compared to the cost of hotel reward nights across the major hotel loyalty programs. A good promotion makes that gap even more favorable for Club Carlson.

Club Carlson has a top category hotel reward of 50,000 points per night. This is equivalent to $2,500 in hotel spend to earn 50,000 points. Elite status, loyalty promotions like triple points, and Club Carlson’s online booking bonus lower the $2,500 in spend needed to earn a free category-6 reward night.

Hotel Spend needed to earn base points for high category reward night

• Club Carlson Category-6 = 50,000 points = $2,500 hotel spend.
• Hilton HHonors Category-7 = 50,000 points = $3,333 hotel spend.
• Marriott Rewards Category-8 = 40,000 points = $4,000 hotel spend.
• Hyatt Gold Passport Category-6 = 22,000 points = $4,400 hotel spend.
• IHG Priority Club InterContinental Hotel high tier = 50,000 points = $5,000 hotel spend.
• SPG Category-5 = 12,000 points = $6,000 hotel spend.
• SPG Category-6 = 20,000 points = $10,000 hotel spend.

Elite status and hotel loyalty promotions reduce these amounts of spend.

Comparison of SPG and Club Carlson triple points promotions

Starwood triple points is 6 points per dollar for hotel stays. Club Carlson triple points means 60 points per dollar.

The number of points earned in a hotel loyalty program is only relevant to the cost of reward nights in that program. SPG is a good earning program for the category 1, 2 and 3 hotels on reward nights using points and Cash & Points stays where the cost of hotel night is 1,200 to 7,000 points. A person spending $1,000 can expect to earn 7,000 points or more as a Gold member on a triple points stay.

The higher SPG reward categories make redemption options prohibitively expensive for most members earning points primarily through Starwood Hotel stays. Low season category-6 hotels at 20,000 points will require more than $3,000 in spend to earn the points for one free night even with triple points bonus.

Low-season SPG category-5 hotel rewards at 12,000 points comparison to Club Carlson Category-6 hotels at 50,000 points.

• 5-night stay at Starwood Hotel at $200/night earns 6,000 points (3x points) + 1,000 Gold elite bonus points = 7,000 points.
• 5-night stay at Radisson Hotel at $200/night earns 60,000 points (3x points) + 10,000 Gold elite bonus points = 70,000 points.

7,000 SPG points can buy:

• Category-4 hotel Cash & Points Reward night for $60 + 4,000 points.
• Category-3 hotel Cash & Points Reward night for $45 + 2,800 points.

or

• Category 3 reward night at 7,000 points.

These redemption options are likely around $300 rebate value for $1,000 in Starwood Hotel spend.

70,000 Club Carlson points can buy:

• Category 6 reward night (50,000 points) and one category 2 reward night (15,000 points). These redemptions are likely $300 to $500 value depending on hotels.

The difference in promotions is not that great for $1,000 in hotel spend on an extended stay at Starwood or Radisson Blu.

One Night Stays make a difference

A person making frequent one night stays has a lucrative Club Carlson option for earning points. Spend $1,000 on ten Club Carlson Hotel 1-night stays in the U.S. and earn 60,000 bonus points and 10,000 online booking bonus points and Silver elite status for 25% bonus points on all stays through 2013.

SPG members making ten 1-night stays earn Gold elite through 2013, but no promotional bonus points during the double/triple points promotion over the next three months. 2,000 Starpoints after $1,000 in spend is not too exciting and not all that valuable. SPG category-1 hotel weekend nights are a cheap 2,000 points, but really, are you in that neighborhood for a free Friday or Saturday night?

In general, I am not big on spend-based promotions for double points or triple points. My goal is to not spend a lot of money at hotels while staying frequently. Club Carlson’s triple points promotion is a good offer for someone seeking elite status for the next two years (Silver elite after 10 stays or 15 nights). There are good Radisson Blu hotels around the world and hundreds of Country Inn & Suites when road tripping around the USA. This is a good time to invest some stays in Club Carlson and earn more free nights while triple point bonuses combine with the fastest earning free nights among hotel loyalty programs.

Club Carlson Triple Points Registration Page.

Club Carlson Hotel Rewards.

Post-shower post script Jan 11 10:35am Pacific: I received a comment that my ratings are too lenient lately. Club Carlson Triple points is more of a 4-star promotion in and of itself. The 5-star aspect of Club Carlson for this time period is multiple high value promotions following one after another. Earning 50,000+ points in November-December with the Radisson Big Night Giveaway along with 50% off Europe hotel rewards in late 2011 and reward night 9,000 points redemption rebate per stay through the end of January 2012, easy elite status match when most hotel programs are getting more restrictive, and to top it off, members earn online booking bonuses of 1,000 to 3,000 points.

The Club Carlson credit card is coming so take advantage of the giveaways while the earning is good.

Carlson Hotels has a 30% discount offer code 30PCTOFF for hotels in the Americas booked by December 13 for stays from December 23 through March 3, 2012.

This offer is valid for Radisson Hotels, Country Inns & Suites and Park Inn hotels in US and Mexico.

This offer has overlap with the Radisson Big Night Giveaway 50,000 points bonus for a stay at a Radisson Hotel by December 30. The Park Inn promotion for 15,000 points ends December 31 and overlaps a week when these discount rates are in effect.

[LT update Dec 2: Club Carlson extended this offer from end-date Dec 15 to December 31. Thanks to reader Kumar for pointing out the change to the promotion period in the comments of this post.]

These discount rates earn Club Carlson points and are eligible for the Radisson Big Night Giveaway bonus during the one week promotion overlap from December 23-30, 2011. The 30% discount rate only applies to standard rooms, so don’t expect big suite discounts.

Radisson Hotels 30% discount page and list of participating hotels in Americas.

Park Inn Hotels 30% discount page and list of participating hotels in US and Mexico.

Country Inns & Suites 30% discount page and list of participating hotels in Americas.

T.G.I. Friday’s loyalty program enrollment earns 1,000 Club Carlson points and 100 bonus Stripes credits.

Carlson is a family owned global company that consists of more than 900 T.G.I. Friday’s restaurants in 60 countries in addition to 1,100 Carlson Hotels.

T.G.I. Friday’s has its own loyalty program – Stripes. Enroll now and you will receive 1,000 Club Carlson Gold Points in addition to 100 Stripes credits. This offer expires December 18, 2011.

T.G.I. Fridays Stripes enrollment bonus for 1,000 Club Carlson Gold Points.

Club Carlson for Business recently launched for small to medium size businesses. This hotel loyalty program for businesses offers the ability to register with Club Carlson as a business partner and receive a 5% discount on standard rates at Radisson, Park Plaza, Park Inn and Country Inns & Suites hotels globally. In addition to discount rates the business account bookings earn 10 points per dollar when made through Carlson Hotels websites.

The best part of Club Carlson for Business is the employee guest staying in the hotel room still earns 20 points/US$1 in a personal Club Carlson account for stays booked through Club Carlson Business account.

Club Carlson Business Qualification

Must be a company with a government issued Tax ID number from one of the following countries:

• US
• Canada
• Australia
• Brazil
• China
• Denmark
• France
• Germany
• India
• Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Russia
• Singapore
• Sweden
• UK

More countries are anticipated to join in the future.

The Club Carlson for Business program is open to companies that do not currently have an existing Preferred Corporate Rate (PCR) with Carlson Hotels.

Club Carlson for Business Enrollment Request form.

Frequently Asked Questions.

This seems to be a great deal for a small business with frequent travelers. A company with $10,000 in hotel travel among a few employees staying at Carlson Hotels can pull in 100,000 points for a company account. That is 2 to 10 nights worth of points with Club Carlson Hotel rewards.

And if you are a frequent traveler for your own business then Club Carlson for Business can mean a potential 30 points per dollar for Carlson Hotel stays. You will find that to be the fastest earning free hotel nights of any hotel loyalty program.

You need to spend only  $1,667 to earn 50,000 points when earning 30 points per US$1. Promotion bonus points and elite status reduce that spend even more. Club Carlson for Business looks like a rewarding way to faster points.

Club Carlson has a promotion for 15,000 bonus points after one stay at a Park Inn in the US or Canada by December 31, 2011. Promotion registration is required before booking the Park Inn stay to be eligible for the 15,000 bonus points.

Update: December 2 – This offer originally was for stays through December 15 and I see the offer changed to December 31. There is currently a 30% discount rate available for booking through December 13 for stays from December 23. Here is 30% off Park Inn discount link.

This is a high value promotion and I hate to be critical again about the websites, but I just spent 15 minutes looking over the Park Inn website and I can’t figure out  all the Park Inn locations. According to the hotel locator map, Canada has 4 Park Inns there are 11 in the U.S. so it seems like it would have been simple enough to place a list of the 15 properties on the promotion registration page.

But they didn’t.

Here is a list of 9 hotels I found on the Park Inn directory for the U.S.

Park Inn Hotels in the U.S.

Here are three Park Inn hotels listed for Canada.

Park Inn hotels in Canada.

Loyalty Traveler analysis:

Carlson Hotels launched a five year strategic plan in 2010 called Ambition 2015. A major part of the plan is to gain recognition in the United States and Canada where 50% of the global portfolio of hotels are located, primarily as Radisson and Country Inn & Suites brands.

Park Inn is a midscale brand that has had success in Europe and in my mind they are kind of like Hyatt Place and Starwood’s Aloft brand.

Club Carlson launched this year as a replacement for the former Goldpoints Plus program. Improvements included changing the earn rate for Country Inn and Park Inn brands from 15 points per US dollar to 20 points per US dollar.

Hotel rewards are in six categories with a nightly cost from 9,000 points to 50,000 points. Club Carlson has the fastest earning rate for free nights of any hotel loyalty program based on points earned per $1 and the points cost of hotel night rewards.

Several promotions happening simultaneously this calendar quarter give Club Carlson members a great opportunity to earn loads of points and redeem points at discount rates.

Stay one night at a Radisson Hotel in U.S. or Canada and earn 50,000 points if you are one of the first 50,000 members to register November 10, 2011 (or earn 15,000 points if you are not in the first 50,000 registrants).

Stay one night at a Park Inn in U.S. or Canada and earn 15,000 points.

New Club Carlson enrollees can earn 2,000 bonus points using this enrollment link.

Club Carlson members earn 1,000 points for online booking. Booking bonuses are a rarity these days.

Assume you spend $250 for one night at a Radisson and one night at a Park Inn.

Points earned:

• $250 x 20 points/$1 = 5,000 points
• Radisson stay = 50,000 bonus points
• Park Inn stay = 15,000 bonus points
• Online booking bonus = 2,000 bonus points
• Total = 72,000 Club Carlson points.

You might even have the opportunity to take advantage of the 50% off reward nights in Europe through December 15, 2011. The points might not post in time for this specific promotion on discount reward nights, but keep in mind this has been a periodic offer the past few years.

There is also a Club Carlson car rental offer for 9,000 points with a three day rental from Avis or Budget by Dec 31.

Country Inn & Suites has an offer for a free night certificate with a two night stay between Sunday and Thursday October 2-December 1, 2011.

Club Carlson is throwing members a lot of promotional pitches and hitting a home run isn’t too difficult in this game.

Club Carlson offers one free night award for a two night stay at a Country Inn & Suites in U.S. or Canada between October 2 and December 1, 2011 when booked using “Free Night Fall” rate. The free night certificate is valid for Country Inn & Suites hotels in U.S. and Canada for stays between December 15 and February 15, 2012. There is no limit to the number of free night certificates posted in the promotion terms and conditions.

Country Inns & Suites Free Night Fall promotion link.

• Book a stay of two or more consecutive nights Sunday-Thursday at a Country Inns & Suites property in U.S. or Canada using Free Night Fall rate. Offer is not valid for existing reservations.
• Complete stay between October 2 – December 1, 2011.
• Club Carlson will send email about two weeks after your stay with directions for registering the qualifying stay to receive free night certificate.
• Free Night Reward Certificate will be issued to member. Certificate is not transferable.
• Redeem free night at a Country Inns & Suites property in U.S. or Canada December 15, 2011 – February 15, 2012.
• Reservations must be made at least three days in advance for the Free Night Fall rate and when redeeming free night certificate.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

This is a high value offer in the midscale hotel market segment. There appears to be no limit for earning free nights during the promotion period and potentially a member could earn two certificates each week of the promotion with two 2-night stays. Free internet and free breakfast are provided at Country Inns & Suites. Club Carlson members earn at least 1,000 bonus points for online reservations and 20 points per $1 on hotel rate.

There are around 500 Country Inns & Suites in US and Canada giving this promotion some room for leverage. For example, some properties I checked in Atlanta, Georgia have room rates under $75 using the Free Night Fall rate while California properties tend to be over $100 per night.

The Country Inns & Suites Free Night Fall rate is higher than other rates available like AAA and Advance Purchase. The difference ranged from under $10 to $35 per night for hotels I checked. Basically the member may need to pay $20 to $70 more for a two-night stay to earn the free night.

Club Carlson members can potentially earn a free night for under $20 compared to booking lowest available rate and redeem the free night for a hotel costing over $100.  That is a midscale hotel high value deal from this offer.

The Free Night  Fall rate at Country Inns & Suites, Norcross, Georgia is only $72 per night or $85 per night for a suite. The AAA rate here is $64.80 for the standard room or $61.20 for Advance Purchase prepaid, nonrefundable rate. The AAA rate is $76.50 for the suite.

This hotel stay in a suite will only cost $17 more for a two night stay using the Free Night Fall rate. That is a low premium to pay for a free night certificate that can be used at another hotel with rates over $100 per night.

In contrast, the nearest Country Inns & Suites to my home is San Carlos, California about ten miles south of San Francisco and the rate difference between Free Night Fall and Advance Purchase is over $35 per night.

This Country Inns & Suites San Carlos, California hotel stay is $139 per night using Free Night Fall rate. The AAA rate is slightly less at $125.10. The big rate difference for these dates is the availability of an advance purchase rate at $104.25. This makes the Free Night Fall Rate about $80 more after tax for a two-night stay compared to the advance purchase prepaid nonrefundable rate.

Loyalty Traveler Hotel Promotion Rank = 4 keys out of 5.

This is probably the best U.S. midscale hotel chain deal for the fall season. The large number of Country Inns & Suites around the U.S. makes this an easy offer to earn and burn for a good value rebate on hotel stays. The Sunday to Thursday nights requirement makes this offer geared more to business travelers.

If weekends or one-night stays are your travel pattern, then consider Marriott’s MegaBonus for a free night after two stays as another high value offer.

Turns out the Club Carlson Double Points promotion I analyzed two days ago was not the actual Club Carlson Double Points worldwide promotion that rolled out yesterday. An email I received today reveals a very different offer with favorable terms and conditions for Club Carlson members to earn 40 points/$1 for hotel stays worldwide from July 27 through September 15, 2011 on any normally eligible rate for earning Club Carlson points including AAA rates, senior rates and advance purchase rates.

I apologize to Club Carlson and my readers for the previous post. The earlier post was based on analysis of Double Points hotel rates that required a higher rate than otherwise available. I am leaving the previous post up since I think it does illustrate that paying higher rates may negate the value of double points. Fortunately, the current Club Carlson Double Points promotion does not require paying higher rates.

Club Carlson Double Points Promotion registration link: https://www.clubcarlson.com/secure/offers/4340574.

• Promotion registration is required before stay is completed to earn double points for hotel stays from July 27 to September 15, 2011.
• Non-members may join Club Carlson and register for Double Points promotion for immediate eligibility.
• Check-in and check-out must occur during promotion period dates to be eligible for double points.
• Radisson, Country Inn & Suites, Park Inn and Park Plaza hotels worldwide participate.
• Member earns double points (40 points/$1) on any eligible rate that normally earns Club Carlson points. Double points does not require a higher rate. AAA, senior and other eligible points-earning rates apply.
• Member earns double points (40 points/$1) on food and beverage charged to the room.
• Member may earn double points credit for up to three hotel rooms at a time applied to member’s Club Carlson account.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis:

In my previous post I showed the higher cost of a Double Points hotel rate canceled out the value of Club Carlson double points. Since the Double Points promotion offer running July 27 to September 15 is applicable on any eligible points-earning rate, then there is no higher cost to earn double points. Club Carlson members earn 40 points per US$1 on rates including AAA and senior rates.

Another way to look at this Double Points offer and illustrate the high value of 40 points per US$1 on stays at Radisson, Country Inn & Suites, Park Inn and Park Plaza is to compare the base earn rate of points to the cost for award nights in Club Carlson and other major hotel loyalty programs.

The highest category hotel in Club Carlson is 50,000 points per night for a Category 6 hotel like the Radisson Martinique on Broadway, New York City. This hotel for August 16, 2011 has a AAA discount rate of $327.20 or $375.49 after tax.

The current double points promotion makes the cost of earning 50,000 points only $1,250 in hotel spend. Getting $375 future value out of $1,250 in hotel spend is a decent 30% return on your hotel travel dollars.

Club Carlson spend needed to earn free nights during Double Points promotion (July 27-September 15)

• Free Club Carlson category 1 Hotel night = 9,000 points = $225 in hotel spend earning 40 points/$1.
• Club Carlson Category 2 Hotel night = 15,000 points = $375.
• Club Carlson Category 3 Hotel Night = 28,000 points = $700.
• Club Carlson Category 4 Hotel Night = 38,000 points = $950.
• Club Carlson Category 5 Hotel night = 44,000 points = $1,100.
• Club Carlson Category 6 Hotel night = 50,000 points = $1,250.

Now compare the Club Carlson base hotel spend above to the cost to earn a free night in some other hotel loyalty programs.

Lowest tier Hyatt Category 1 = 5,000 points = $1,000 at 5 points/$1.

Highest tier Hyatt Category 6 = 22,000 points = $4,400 at 5 points/$1.

Hyatt Gold Passport does not have any lucrative bonus points offers currently, but maybe something coming August 4?

Lowest tier Starwood Preferred Guest category 1 = 3,000 points (weekday) = $1,000 in hotel spend.

High tier Starwood Preferred Guest category 5 = 12,000 points (weekday) = $4,000 in hotel spend for an upper upscale property. Starwood hotels in the luxury category tend to be 20,000 to 30,000 points per night.

Hilton HHonors Tier 3 hotel = 25,000 points = $1,667 in hotel spend for Points & Points earner. HHonors Category 3 is near the bottom of Hilton tiers in practical terms since so few hotels are actually located in category 1 or 2 for HHonors. The current double points promotion with HHonors means 25 points/$1 and reduces the hotel spend to $1,000. In contrast a Club Carlson category 3 hotel, likely a comparable hotel class, takes only $700 in spend to earn 28,000 points.

Marriott Rewards Category 5 = 25,000 points = $2,500 in hotel spend. These hotels are typical Marriott and Renaissance hotels in secondary cities and some major cities. Club Carlson members can earn two free Category 6 nights for the same amount of spend as earning one night for a comparable Marriott reward night.

Loyalty Travler conclusion:

Club Carlson double points promotion is a 4-key offer out of five keys. Double points is a high value rebate on future hotel stays with Carlson properties. This is a good opportunity to branch out to another program if you find a Carlson property is in your area at a reasonable price. The ability to earn sufficient points for a free night with relatively little hotel spend is something to keep in mind when searching hotels for your upcoming trips.

Country Inn & Suites are positioned throughout the U.S. and Radisson hotels are worldwide. This is a good promotional offer since double points is applicable when paying lowest rates like AAA, senior and advance purchase rates.

Club Carlson Double Points Worldwide July 27-September 15

UPDATE JULY 28: The original Loyalty Traveler post here is inaccurate and incorrectly represents the Club Carlson double points promotion running July 27 to September 15, 2011. The actual double points promotion outlined in an email I received today from Club Carlson looks like a good offer and better than the Double Points rate offer originally analyzed in this post. Here is my July 28, 2011 analysis of the Club Carlson worldwide double points promotion.

Club Carlson Double Points Promotion is a limited time offer for Club Carlson members who register for the Double Points promotion. and stay in any participating Club Carlson hotel worldwide from July 27 to September 15, 2011.

Registration Link: https://www.clubcarlson.com/secure/offers/4340574

• Members earn 40 points per dollar for hotels stays at Radisson, Park Inn, Park Plaza and Country Inn & Suites worldwide. Food and beverage charged to your room also earn 40 points/$1 for any hotel stay on an eligible rate.
• Double points promotion does not require a special rate. Any rate that normally earns points will earn double points for registered Club Carlson members.
• Double points registration is required before the hotel stay to earn double points.
• A member may earn double points credit for up to three hotel rooms during a stay.

My confusion came from the fact that I had seen a reference to the Club Carlson Double Points promotion in a trade journal without a direct link to the promotion. My searches of the Club Carlson site and Radisson only turned up a Double Points rate when checking hotels.

The Double Points promotion outlined in the Club Carlson email I received July 28th, two days after I posted this article, is not the same promotional offer analyzed in this Loyalty Traveler post.

My apologies to Club Carlson. I created another post to properly analyze the current double points promotion. I will keep this post intact as I feel it does offer Club Carlson members a good analysis on the value of paying more money for double points hotel rates.

[ORIGINAL LOYALTY TRAVELER JULY 26 POST analyzes only Club Carlson double points hotel rates which are a separate offer from the worldwide Club Carlson Double Points promotion for Club Carlson members July 27-Sep 15, 2011.

Apparently the double points promotion may be combined with a double points rate, outlined in this original post to earn 60 points/$1 for stays through September 15. My analysis shows paying higher rates for double points is not so great a deal. But 60 points/$1 can add up to a free hotel night quickly. - Original Loyalty Traveler post below:]

Club Carlson offers double points, 40 points per dollar, for Radisson and Country Inn & Suites stays in the Americas. for stays July 27 to September 15. This sounds like a great deal when the top hotels in the Club Carlson program are 50,000 points per night or merely $1,250 in spend for a free night.

I’m thinking a $400 per night hotel for free can be a great deal.

Then I plugged in the numbers and analyzed the rates and discovered the deal is not as good as it seems.

Club Carlson Double Points rate is 10% higher than the lowest available rate for hotels I checked. The lowest available rate is 5% to 10% higher than the AAA rate for these same hotels.

By the Numbers

Country Inn & Suites San Carlos, California on Friday, July 29, 2011.

• Double Points rate $108.90 x 40 points = 4,356 points.
• Lowest Available Rate = $99.00.
• AAA rate = $89.10 x 20 points = 1,782 points.

Double Points rate is $120.09 after tax compared to $98.31 after tax for AAA rate.

$21.78 in additional cash earns 2,574 additional Club Carlson points for a rate of $8.46 per 1,000 points.

Country Inn & Suites San Carlos is a Club Carlson Category 4 hotel at 38,000 points. Weekday rates for this Silicon Valley location hotel run about $170 after tax for AAA rate making points worth about $4.47 per 1,000 points.

Paying an additional $8.46 per 1,000 points using the higher Club Carlson Double Points rate for points worth $4.47 per 1,000 points on a free night is not such a great deal for this hotel. You may always be able to leverage a better deal redeeming points for a free night at another hotel, but to get $8.46 value means finding a hotel at these rates after tax.

• Category 1 = 9,000 points = $76.14 (There are about 50 category-1 hotels in the Club Carlson properties.)
• Category 2 = 15,000 points = $126.90
• Category 3 = 28,000 points = $236.88
• Category 4 = 38,000 points = $321.48
• Category 5 = 44,000 points = $372.24
• Category 6 = 50,000 points = $423.00

There are probably some good savings with points at the category 1 level for a place like St. Petersburg, Russia but savings are probably harder to find when moving up the redemption category chain. The idea I am trying to illustrate here is paying a higher rate for Double Points is likely costing more than the points will be worth unless you are very selective in redemptions.

Example 2 Rate Analysis

Radisson Plaza Hotel Minneapolis – Club Carlson Category 5 Hotel at 44,000 points

Friday, July 29, 2011

• Double Points rate = $141.90 (10% premium) = 5,676 points
• Lowest Available Rate = $129.00 = 2,580 points
• AAA rate = $122.55 (5% discount) = 2,451 points

Double Points rate is $160.91 after tax compared to AAA rate at $138.97 after tax.  An extra $21.94 earns an additional 3,225 points for a rate of $6.80 per 1,000 points.

Friday night rate for Minneapolis is lower than weekday rates, but the redemption cost of 44,000 points per night remains the same regardless of day of week. Based on the room rate for Tuesday, October 11 at $297.33 after tax, then the value of points increases significantly when used for a free night at the Radisson Plaza Hotel Minneapolis.

$297.33 / 44,000 points =  $6.76 per 1,000 points.

Even in this example the additional points earned paying the double points rate at the Radisson Plaza Minneapolis still cost slightly more than the redemption value when redeeming points for a free night on a date when the hotel costs twice as much as this next weekend’s rate.

Loyalty Traveler promotion rating = 2 keys out of 5 keys. Don’t go out of your way to earn this promotion unless you have a planned use for points where you will get more value than what you pay to earn double points.