Hilton HHonors is far and away the biggest program for airline partnerships. That can be a major factor for a frequent guest earning miles from hotel stays in a frequent flyer program where there might be few opportunities to earn miles other than flying.

• Hilton HHonors = 57 airline partners
• IHG Priority Club = 43 airline partners
• Marriott Rewards = 36 airline partners
• Hyatt Gold Passport = 35 airline partners
• Starwood Preferred Guest = 34 airline partners

There are 8 airlines that only partner with one of these ten programs.

[click on image to see full-size in new window]

I will follow up this post with comments and details on airline miles differences in earning rates between different programs.

This seemed like a useful table to create as I work on my series of hotel points-to-miles exchange rates across loyalty programs for a selection of major airlines.

Loyalty Traveler – Airline Tables for Hotel Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates

United Mileage Plus hotel points-to-miles rates favor Marriott, Club Carlson, Wyndham(Feb 8, 2012)

Delta SkyMiles hotel points-to-miles rates in 9 hotel programs(Feb 7, 2012)

AAdvantage Miles for Hotel Elites with Credit Cards: SPG, Club Carlson, Wyndham and HHonors lead the pack(Feb 6, 2012)

American Airlines Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates Compared for 9 Hotel Programs (Feb 5, 2012)

Delta Skymiles members have an advantage over members of the other major U.S. airlines in that eight of nine major hotel loyalty programs allow points-to-miles transfers at each program’s best exchange rate.

Hilton HHonors members have a lower points-to-miles transfer rate at only 1,000 Skymiles for 10,000 points compared to American Airlines AAdvantage at 10,000 points = 1,500 miles. You are likely better off keeping the HHonors points for hotel stays rather than use points-to-miles exchanges for Delta Skymiles.

Most hotel stays earn only hotel points or only frequent flyer miles with the exception of Hilton HHonors ‘Double Dipping’ policy that allows members to earn both miles and points on the same hotel stay.

In general, earning points with hotel loyalty programs and transferring points-to-miles results in more miles compared to earning miles directly from a hotel stay.  Many hotel brands allow a member to earn 250 or 500 miles per hotel stay. Hilton HHonors is the exception to this general rule due to its low points-to-miles exchange rates. HHonors Points & Miles earners earn miles at a higher rate and HHonors runs regular bonus miles promotions to improve the rate of earning miles from hotel stays.

The methodology used to compare points-to-miles exchange rates in different hotel loyalty programs:

I have created three tables to compare points earned at set levels of hotel spend for three types of hotel loyalty members:

• hotel loyalty member has no elite status or hotel program co-branded credit card.
• hotel loyalty member has top-tier elite status, but no hotel program co-branded credit card.
• hotel loyalty member has top-tier elite status and the highest earning hotel program co-branded credit card.

TABLE 1 – Hotel program comparison of points-to-miles exchange rates for Delta Airlines using base points earning rate.

TABLE 2 – Hotel Top Tier Elite earner hotel program points-to-miles comparison for Delta Airlines.

TABLE 3 – Hotel Top Tier Elite Earner and Co-branded Credit Card member hotel program points-to-miles comparison for Delta Airlines.

Commentary:

Tables are set up in columns to show how many points are earned at set levels of spend for $1,000; $2,000; $3,000; $5,000; $7,000; $10,000 and $13,000 in hotel stays counting only points earned from hotel spend base points, top-tier elite bonus points and highest earning credit card bonus points for each program.

The hotel spend amount is not the important number in these tables. The dollar amounts are simply a way to align different hotel programs to make a comparison of points-to-miles rates.

When I show $10,000 earns 50,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points, that is the maximum spend needed to earn 50,000 points. Actual spend to earn 50,000 Hyatt points will likely be far less than $10,000. I have shown in a recent post how a Hyatt Gold Passport member can earn over 50,000 points from real travel for under $1,250.

The hotel spend needed to earn points depends on the types of hotel promotions available, welcome amenity points, and other points earning offers and partner activity.

Observations on Table 1:

• Wyndham Rewards, Club Carlson and Marriott Rewards have the best points-to-miles exchange rates.
• Wyndham Rewards has the highest earning fixed rate for hotel points-to-miles exchange. $800 in hotel spend at Wyndham Rewards earns 3,200 Delta SkyMiles.
• At $1,000 in hotel spend the different programs are remarkably similar in points-to-miles exchange rates. Differentiation between programs comes at higher levels of spend. Most programs have a fixed points-to-miles exchange rate regardless of the number of points being transferred to miles.
• Variable points-to-miles exchange rates with Marriott Rewards and Club Carlson give a higher rate of miles at higher levels of points transfer. Starwood Preferred Guest (20,000 points) and Hyatt Gold Passport (50,000 points) both give 25% more miles at the specific transfer level shown here.
• Starwood Preferred Guest does not have a points-to-miles advantage to other programs based on its points-to-miles exchange rate giving a 25% bonus when transferring a block of 20,000 Starpoints. Wyndham, Marriott and Club Carlson have better points-to-miles exchange rates than SPG. The competitive advantage to SPG for miles earners is the 50% bonus for mid-tier Gold elite (10 stays or 25 nights in a calendar year) is the highest elite bonus for the lowest level of hotel stays. SPG American Express credit card spend at Starwood Hotels earns 100% base points. Even more impressive is the high rate of earning points for everyday spend at $1 = 1 point = 1 mile in many frequent flyer programs. This rate exceeds all other hotel loyalty credit cards for miles earning rate, although Wyndham Rewards Visa is close to SPG with $1 = 2 points = 0.8 miles. Wyndham Rewards has fewer airline partners than SPG, but Visa is accepted in places where American Express will leave you stranded.

What about Residence Inn and Staybridge Suites and hotel brands that earn fewer base points per dollar?

Marriott Rewards is probably the program most impacted by lower points earn rates at Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites where stays earn only 5 base points/$1 compared to 10 base points/$1 used in table. The miles shown in these tables will be reduced by the proportion of hotel spend at lower earning hotel brands. About 25% of all Marriott hotels are Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites.

Marriott Rewards – Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites earn 5 points/$1.

IHG Priority Club – Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites earn 5 points/$1.

Choice Privileges – Rodeway Inn, EconoLodge, Mainstay Suites, Staybridge Suites earn 5 points/$1. Other brands earn 10 points/$1.

Wyndham Rewards – Hawthorn Suites earn 5 points/$1.

The tables do not consider promotion bonus points. The idea is to keep these tables simple and evergreen (until the next program change). Hotel loyalty promotions are constantly changing.

Table 2: Commentary: Elite Status

Club Carlson, Marriott Rewards and now Starwood Preferred Guest have a 75-night top-tier elite. The points earned are high rates, but the loyalty required to reach that level of membership is a small portion of hotel travelers.

Club Carlson Concierge at 75% bonus points sets that program apart for miles earners. The advantage Club Carlson has over Marriott Rewards is a standard points earn rate across all its hotel brands. The miles shown for Marriott Rewards will drop with hotel stays at Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites earning a lower rate of base points.

Wyndham Rewards does not have elite tiers or elite bonus points and drops in ranking when elite bonus points are a factor. Most hotel programs offer 50% bonus points for top tier elite members. These elite bonus points increase the earning rate of hotel points and make other programs more attractive than Wyndham Rewards for points-to-miles exchanges as an elite member with loads of points. Still, it is nice to know that the budget traveler can pull in miles at rates comparable to the best elite programs even while sleeping at Days Inn.

Hyatt Gold Passport drops noticeably in rank compared to SPG when top-tier elite status is factored. Hyatt and Best Western only offer 30% bonus points for top tier elite hotel spend. SPG offers 50% bonus points for Gold and Platinum and 100% for Platinum-75 members as of March 1, 2012.

The elite tables do not factor welcome amenity points for top-tier elites typically earned on hotel stays.

Why are there no tables for low-tier and mid-tier hotel elite levels?

I have not created tables for mid-tier and low-tier elites due to the difficulty of comparing these elite levels across different programs. Are SPG Gold and Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum comparable elite levels?

These tables only show top-tier elite to allow a comparison of programs for the most frequent guests and highest earning members in each program.

I will likely add tables comparing credit card members and the associated elite status since most credit cards give some elite level of membership as a cardmember.

Table 3: The Credit Card Factor

One tip to share is my observation that rates for earning credit card bonus points are generally equivalent to the rate of earning bonus points as a top tier elite member.

Hyatt Gold Passport Visa, Hilton HHonors American Express Surpass, SPG American Express and Best Western MasterCard earn bonus points at an even higher rate per dollar than hotel stays as a top-tier hotel loyalty program member earning bonus points. In terms of earning points, members in these programs are better off having a cobranded credit card than being a top-tier elite member.

That is the sad state of the hotel industry that bank loyalty is more rewarding in hotel point bonuses than hotel stay loyalty. Of course most programs offer hotel stay benefits for their top-tier guests that are the primary value-added component for hotel loyalty members besides points.

Perhaps I’ll have to start promoting hotel loyalty program credit cards and pick up some referral cash. Or not.

Why Hilton HHonors is difficult to compare with other programs

The tables show the number of points earned based on hotel spend and then the miles earned from a points-to-miles transfer. Hilton HHonors is the exception since members can earn both points & miles for hotel stays.

Most hotel loyalty programs will earn more miles overall when the member earns points for a hotel stay and then makes a points-to-miles exchange into the frequent flyer program. Hilton HHonors has a low points-to-miles exchange rate compared to other hotel programs and the HHonors member will likely earn more miles choosing HHonors Points & Fixed Miles for hotel stays when the hotel spend is under $500 per stay.

I provide an estimate of miles earned for HHonors Points & Fixed Miles earner. This is a rough estimate based on an average hotel stay costing $200 and earning 500 miles.

Hilton HHonors Points & Variable miles is a more precise comparison of miles earning to other hotel programs, however, the member staying at Hilton brands other than Home2 Suites, Homewood Suites and Hampton Inn will earn more miles choosing Fixed Miles for any hotel stay under $500.

The miles shown for HHonors Points & Fixed Miles is likely at the high end of a typical traveler’s earning pattern since it excludes any stays at Hampton Inns. Also a person with an average stay rate over $200 will have a lower miles earning rate.

The precise miles earned for a Hilton HHonors member is likely between the Variable Miles earning rate at the low end and the Fixed Miles rate near the high end in these tables.

Related Posts:

American Airlines American Airlines Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates Compared for 9 Hotel Programs (Feb 5, 2012)

American Airlines AAdvantage Miles for Hotel Elites with Credit Cards: SPG, Club Carlson, Wyndham and HHonors lead the pack (Feb 6, 2012)

The next post in this series will look at United Airlines Mileage Plus miles earning rates across these nine hotel loyalty programs.

My Loyalty traveler series on hotel points-to-miles exchange rates for frequent flyer miles continues with a look at 9 major hotel loyalty programs and points-to-miles exchange rates. These tables look at the miles earned at set levels of hotel spend. Top-tier elite hotel status and the best earning hotel cobranded credit card for hotel stay payment are additional factors in the miles calculations.

Table 1: Comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

This table shows the actual exchange rate based on hotel spend for hotel stays. Credit cards and elite status are not considered.

Table 2: Top-tier elite membership factor when comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

This table shows how top-tier elite membership earning rate alters the total number of points earned at each level of hotel spend.

Table 3: Co-Branded Hotel Credit Card with hotel loyalty top-tier elite membership when comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

This table shows the influence of top tier elite and credit card spend.

Basic Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates Compared to Rate Points Earned from Hotel Spend without consideration of:

• Elite Status
• Cobranded Credit Card

Table 1: Comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

This table was discussed in my Loyalty traveler post yesterday.

The main point I’d like readers to see is Wyndham Rewards is a great program for earning small levels of points for points-to-miles exchange. Wyndham Rewards has a high rate of exchange at 10 points = 4 miles. The minimum transfer is 8,000 Wyndham Rewards points = 3,200 miles. This is $800 in hotel spend at Wyndham Hotels.

Most programs take $1,000 in hotel spend to earn the minimum number of base points for a points-to-miles transfer.

Club Carlson is the minimum hotel spend leader for its ability of a base member (no elite status) to earn 2,000 points for the minimum points-to-miles transfer at 2,000 points = 250 miles after just $100 in hotel spend.

SPG Platinum members have no minimum exchange rate and even 1 Starpoint can be exchanged into 1 mile in several programs. This is useful for some promotion offers where partner activity earns a bonus and 1 Starpoint can be transferred into a frequent flyer program for that partner activity.

Table 2: Top-tier elite membership factor when comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

Table 2: Discussion

The numbers here do not factor additional points for online booking bonus (Club Carlson) or Welcome Amenity points earned per hotel stay in many of the programs.

Club Carlson is one of the top three highest standard points-to-miles exchange rates among the 9 leading hotel loyalty programs. Club Carlson has the second highest top tier elite bonus at 75% base points earning rate.

SPG Platinum-75 (sounds radioactive) earns 100% elite bonus points as of March 1, 2012 and moves up in ranking for this AAdvantage miles comparison.

SPG asterisk * in the $13,000 column for SPG Platinum/Gold elite is due to using $13,334 since this small $334 incremental hotel spend raises the points earned from 39,000 to 40,000 points and increases miles earned by 5,000 miles.

Hilton HHonors has so many earning variables that predicting how many AAdvantage miles you will earn after $5,000 in hotel spend is mind-boggling. But guaranteed Hilton is better than Marriott Rewards for earning AAdvantage miles. Marriott Rewards and American Airlines cut their ties in 2010 so you can’t earn any Advantage miles through Marriott hotel stays.

Choice Privileges and IHG Priority Club sit in the middle of the pack, but pale in comparison to the Club Carlson miles earner.

Hyatt Gold Passport and Best Western Rewards top-tier elites both suffer from the lowest elite bonus points percentage at just 30% when most programs are 50% and Club Carlson at 75% and SPG at 100% leap-frog ahead in points-earning ability.

Table 3: Co-Branded Hotel Credit Card with hotel loyalty top-tier elite membership when comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

Here is a comparison of major hotel loyalty programs for the fastest earning AAdvantage Miles from hotel stays for the high elite frequent guest using a hotel co-branded credit card to pay for hotel stays.

Non-hotel spend on the cobranded hotel credit card is not considered in this analysis. It is far easier to compare earning for non-hotel spend in isolation from hotel stays.

SPG jumps to the top for American Airlines AAdvantage miles when the credit card is added to the mix. Earning 2 points/$1 for Starwood Hotels spend is a 100% base points bonus and no other hotel program offers that high a proportion of base points as a credit card bonus for hotel spend.

Hilton HHonors American Express Surpass is close at 90% base points. Hyatt Visa is 60% base points. The other chains are 50% bonus for credit card spend at hotels.

Club Carlson is the only program without a co-branded credit card. Supposedly a credit card deal is in the works for 2012 and that will push Club Carlson higher in the ranking. Club Carlson still fares well against SPG considering the Club Carlson program does not even have a cobranded credit card to help its position in this race.

Concluding comments:

These tables tell me that American Airlines AAdvantage members seeking miles from hotel stays are in one of the best frequent flyer programs for maximizing miles earning.  Hilton HHonors looks impressive in this matchup, but lower points-to-miles transfer rates will lower its ranking for most other airlines. Marriott Rewards will take a top rank place for several other airline frequent flyer programs with its high points-to-miles exchange rates.

American Airlines AAdvantage miles can be earned at a high rate from hotel stays regardless of your market segment with Wyndham Rewards, Club Carlson and Starwood Preferred Guest all offering high points-to-miles rates.

This series will continue with a look at Delta Airlines SkyMiles. This is a program where the rankings will change as Marriott Rewards shows its competitive edge and Hilton HHonors reveals its poor points-to-miles exchange rate for most frequent flier programs.

P.S. There is a load of data here. Hopefully no math errors. Please leave a comment if something doesn’t look correct.

Feel free to ask questions and carry on a discussion in the comments.

EMEA – 2 for 1 generally requires arrival Thursday, Friday or Saturday night.

http://www.clubcarlson.com/2for1

EMEA – 4 for 2 generally requires arrival Wednesday or Thursday night.

http://www.clubcarlson.com/4for2

Basic Rules for these discount rates:

• Must book 2 days in advance.
• Guest must present Club Carlson Gold Tier card at check-in.
• Maximum 2 rooms per ID and Gold member must be one of the guests.
• Rates earn Gold Points.
• Flexible hotel cancellation policies, up to day of arrival with no penalty.

Status Match to Club Carlson Gold Tier

Club Carlson has been offering easy elite status matches for the past year to Silver and Gold elite membership tiers. The Club Carlson program does not match to the top tier Concierge level.

Hotel loyalty elite levels reportedly matched to Club Carlson Gold per this FlyerTalk thread:

• Hilton HHonors Diamond or Gold
• Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond
• Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum
• Priority Club Platinum
• Marriott Rewards Platinum or Gold
• some members report being declined a status match from Accor Platinum and HHonors Gold, while others were matched.

Request a status match goldpointsplus@carlson.com or use the Club Carlson contact page to speak with an agent to learn what is required. Simply state your current hotel loyalty status and how to arrange a status match to Club Carlson Gold elite. Usually an email or fax showing elite status in the other hotel loyalty program is sufficient.

2-for-1 Gold Elite Weekend Rates Examples

Radisson Blu Hotel at Disneyland Paris at 66EUR per night.

Friday March 16 – Sunday March 18 rate is 66EUR per night or US$88.46. This 2-for-1 Gold elite weekend rate saves over US$60 per night over the otherwise lowest rate. Cancellation with no penalty up to 6pm local time March 16.

Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Media City, United Arab Emirates

4-for-2 rate discount for March 15-19, 2012 brings the rate down to $99 per night (plus 20% tax) from $190.44 per night. This is a $400 savings or $480 after tax for a four-night stay in Dubai.

Radisson Blu Hotel Nice, France

2-for-1 weekend rate Saturday April 21 – Monday April 23 brings the rate down 50EUR per night on the nonrefundable advance purchase offer.

The Club Carlson booking page allows flexible dates search for these discounts when your selected dates are not available.

Radisson Blu Berlin

4-for-2 discount at Radisson Blu Berlin reduces the rate nearly $80 per night for a $320 savings on a 4-night stay.

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.

Rates at the airport were as low as $75.60 for AAA Sleep Number bed, but for $99 we could have a one bedroom suite and for $114 a one bedroom suite with jacuzzi tub.

So I went all in and booked the full suite with jacuzzi tub. We planned on meeting friends for the comedy show and space to let the teachers get loose seemed like a grand plan for an apres-theater party.

Radisson San Jose Airport SJC

Radisson San Jose Airport (SJC)

The hotel has free shuttle for the airport and is located along a stretch of road between Highway 101 and the airport with several other midscale hotel brands.

The lobby is nicely furnished, but small. The restaurant and bar are comfortable spaces. The bar has a great deal with 4-7pm Happy Hour every night of the week with 50% off drinks and appetizers. $2.50 for draft Stella Artois is my kind of bar.

Radisson San Jose Airport (SJC) lobby.

Radisson San Jose Airport (SJC) lobby with RSVP44 restaurant in background.

There are large wall photo urban images around the hotel like on the lobby ceiling and the walls in the elevator hallways.

Radisson San Jose Airport - urban art on ceiling of lobby.

We checked into the hotel and received our keys to Room 306 of the five story hotel. There are two elevators and when we entered the elevator I took a mental note to photograph the inside. That elevator never returned again during my stay. The interior looked like someone had a fit of rage and kicked the shit out of the panels. So I didn’t get a photo since I only rode in the elevator the one time.

We had a long walk down the hallways and came to double doors for room 306.

Radisson San Jose Airport - Room 306 One Bedroom Jacuzzi Suite.

Excitement to see what is behind the door is an anticipation I still get at every hotel I visit for the first time.

I still can’t get over the TV cabinet as my first image of this room.  Apparently the interior decorator for the suite shops Goodwill. My wife talks about shabby chic as a design style, but this is a bit extreme. This piece of furniture sorely needs a little polish.

Radisson San Jose Airport - SJC TV cabinet

Even more odd is the fact the TV is positioned six inches off the floor and was not even easily viewed from the couch in the room. I had to pull the TV away from the wall to see the screen from the couch.

Radisson San Jose Airport - Suite 306 needed to be moved to be viewed from couch.

Radisson San Jose Airport - SJC Suite 306.

The sitting room was spacious no doubt. There was quite a bit of empty space in the room. A microwave, empty refrigerator, sink, coffee maker and table with three chairs were nice features. The couch looked like it also came from Goodwill hunting. The couch was more comfortable than it looked.

Radisson San Jose Airport SJC - Suite 306 couch and tables.

The table beside the couch had a similar looking wider mate on the opposite wall with a rolling desk chair.

Radisson San Jose Airport SJC - Suite 306 desk.

I spent a few hours working at the desk Sunday morning. My computer mouse kept snagging on the loose pieces of wood tile on the desk surface. The wireless internet was so slow that I would click a page and go get some coffee or go to the bathroom or do some stretches while waiting for the webpage to load.

Radisson San Jose Airport desk lamp with 100% Guest Satisfaction Guarantee card.

Radisson offers a 100% Guest Satisfaction Gaurantee. I would have probably gone back to the desk and asked to see another room if we had not needed to rush off to a theater show. In principle though, requesting a better room should have been unnecessary. I booked the most expensive, highest category room they offered at the hotel. That a Radisson Hotel would have a suite in this kind of condition is astounding to me. This kind of room needs to be publicly exposed.

The Bedroom

There was less to complain about with the bedroom of Suite 306. The furnishings looked better.

Radisson San Jose Airport - Suite 306 bed.

Radisson San Jose Airport - Suite 306 bedroom chair.

Radisson San Jose Airport - Suite 306 bedroom tv.

Radisson San Jose Airport - Suite 306 Closet.

Radisson San Jose Airport – Suite 306 Jacuzzi Bathroom

I paid an extra $15 for the jacuzzi tub suite at $114 when there was the option of a suite without the jacuzzi tub for $99.

Radisson San Jose Airport SJC - Suite 306 jacuzzi tub.

We never used the tub.

The water was too cold for my shower to get me warmed up in the morning. Kelley complained the shower head was so low that it required her to bend over to rinse her hair. There was nothing too special about the shower head.

Radisson San Jose Airport Suite 306 shower head.

The double sinks are a nice feature.

Radisson San Jose Airport SJC - double sinks.

The noise I kept hearing in the bathroom sounded like the typical noise heard when people take showers in hotels. Turned out the loud water noise was the toilet running. There were several times during our stay I had to go and jiggle the toilet handle to stop the running water noise.

All in all I think this was the first time I have ever stayed in a hotel suite that I was too emabarassed to bring up guests. We met our friends before the theater show in the bar by the hotel lobby.

Radisson San Jose Airport - couch seating in bar.

The bar has great happy hour prices. The seating in the bar is another area where I found discomfort. Look in the picture below and you see there are two kinds of chairs at these tables. We sat at a table with the chairs with vertical rods in the seat back. I had to grab the horizontal style chair since I found the taller chair to be quite uncomfortable to sit on.

Radisson San Jose Airport bar.

RSVP44 Restaurant at Radisson San Jose Airport

The restaurant was the nicest looking space at the hotel. Kelley slept in at the hotel and we missed the breakfast time ending at 11am. Breakfast was not included in our rate.

RSVP44 Restaurant at Radisson San Jose Airport.

Fitness Facilities

Radisson San Jose Airport has an outdoor pool and fitness center. December 18 was one of the coldest mornings of the year in San Jose and nobody was using the pool. It is a small pool.

Radisson San Jose Airport pool.

Radisson San Jose Airport pool.

The fitness center is past the business offices and has a connecting door to the pool area. Lots of mirrors give the appearance the room is larger. I think the space is rather small for a 300 room hotel.

Radisson San Jose Airport fitness center.

Radisson San Jose Airport fitness room.

Although I failed to get a photo of the beat up elevator, I did snap this photo of the hallway ceiling just outside the fitness room. There are hazard signs in the hallway to the fitness room and wastebaskets collecting water dripping from the ceiling. Must be an inside problem since we haven’t seen rain for some time around here.

Radisson San Jose Airport - Ceiling leak outside the fitness center.

Radisson San Jose Airport Review Conclusion

Carlson Hotels has a five-year improvement plan launched in 2010 called Ambition 2015. A key component of this plan is to improve the image of the Radisson Hotel brand in the U.S. Last month I was at three Radisson Hotels and these were all hotels I have no hesitation in recommending to readers of Loyalty Traveler if you find yourself in Santa Maria, Chicago or Buena Park by Disneyland.

TripAdvisor.com ranks Radisson San Jose Airport as #35 of 72 hotels in San Jose with 66 reviews. The latest four reviews from the past month are all bad for this hotel. I’ll add my thumbs down for this hotel to the list. The TripAdvisor reviews mention several of the problems I had like running toilet and a Sleep Number bed that the control is extremely loud and only works decently for one side of the bed. My main complaint was the crap furniture in what the hotel calls a jacuzzi one bedroom suite.

I’ll likely go back to this hotel in the future for the happy hour special, but I’ll be checking into a different hotel when I want a decent room for the night around San Jose Airport.

Radisson Santa Maria Airport atrium lobby and cafe.

This was my qualifying stay for the RadissonBigNightGiveaway.com promotion offering 50,000 bonus points for one stay at a Radisson Hotel in U.S., Canada or Caribbean by December 30, 2011.

Radisson Santa Maria grand piano and wall fountain with lobby seating.

50,000 points posted to my Club Carlson account last week.

Radisson Santa Maria breakfast cafe in lobby.

Radisson Santa Maria Airport breakfast eggs.

Radisson Santa Maria Airport breakfast pancakes.

50,000 points are sufficient for one night at any Carlson Hotel globally. We still need to have another stay for my wife to earn her 50,000 points. My parents completed a stay over Thanksgiving week also at the Radisson Suites Buena Park near Disneyland. We both enjoyed our hotel stays.

Radisson Santa Maria Airport is truly at the airport. I didn’t hear any plane noise from our room, but the fitness center windows look directly out to small aircraft beside the hotel. The fitness room is kind of small, yet there is a sauna room.

Radisson Santa Maria Airport view.

Our hotel room was on the top 4th floor and had an outside balcony with chairs overlooking the pool area.

Radisson Santa Maria Airport pool view at night.

Radisson Santa Maria Airport pool area.

The room at Santa Maria was basic and comfortable. There was a chaise lounge and desk chair and two deck chairs on the outdoor balcony. The Best Available Rate (BAR) for Radisson Santa Maria Airport was $119 and I booked a AAA 10% discount rate for $107.10. There was a lower rate at $102, but for an extra $5 I received a top floor room with a Sleep Number bed and balcony. That was a good upgrade choice for this hotel.

Radisson Sleep Number bed.

Radisson Sleep Number bed control.

When I hit the bed I was ready for sleep. Kelley complained the bed was too hard and the Sleep Number remote was on my side of the bed. I didn’t bother to study the control options. I just reached over and pressed buttons until Kelley said the bed felt good and then I passed out.

The hotel room seemed to be comparable to a Four Points by Sheraton or Hilton Garden Inn style room. There was a desk with coffee maker for work space.

Radisson Santa Maria Airport desk area.

Radisson Santa Maria Airport chaise lounge.

Kelley and I arrived too late and left too early to try out the fine dining restaurant and bar at Vintner’s Grill. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by the accommodations and facilities at Radisson Santa Maria Airport. I highly recommend this hotel for travelers needing a hotel midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles a couple of miles off Highway 101.

Radisson signs in USA are typically underlined with green streak.

[Update Dec 8 10:11am Pacific - Note to all my readers  - I am colorblind. The photo above stated the Radisson sign has a yellow streak. The fine people at Carlson Hotels pointed out to me the color is actually green. I really am colorblind. I see color, just not the same way as most people see it. So help me out please with my disability when I mislabel colors. Thanks.]

In my post yesterday on transferring hotel points between members is the statement that Club Carlson currently has the most liberal points transfer rules of any hotel loyalty program. Basically points can be transferred between any two members.

I could spell out the possibilities for you. But I won’t. I don’t want the Club Carlson transfer rules to change.

Loyalty Traveler researched the major hotel programs for points purchase rules. There are eight hotel loyalty programs allowing the purchase of hotel points and I will compare and contrast the features of six different programs with some tables. (Choice Privileges sells up to 20,000 points per year. Best Western Rewards allows members to buy points at $10 per 1,000 points. I left these two programs out of this analysis).

Hotel Programs selling hotel points

• Best Western Rewards
• Club Carlson
• Choice Privileges
• Hilton HHonors
• Hyatt Gold Passport
• InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Priority Club Rewards
• Marriott Rewards
• Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG)

Accor A|Club and Wyndham Rewards do not sell hotel loyalty points to members through their websites.

There are limitations to buying points explained in this post and there are some disadvantages like reward stays do not count for promotions in most cases and reward stays do not qualify for elite status credit with most programs. Hilton, Choice and Starwood do count reward stays for calendar year elite qualifying stays and nights.

Background

Last week Club Carlson announced it launched the option for members to buy Club Carlson hotel points. Looking over the cost of hotel points in Club Carlson revealed a good purchase rate for consumers in my opinion. As I created a table for Club Carlson hotel reward categories I thought about the relationship between the cost of points and hotel categories across different programs.

There are several factors that come into play when evaluating the value of buying hotel points.

Hotel rates are dynamic. A hotel that may have room rates at $150 one night might charge $400 the next night. Rates fluctuate and change depending on day of week, holidays, conferences and many other factors. Hotel programs factor the cost of points and price points high enough that it is typically not cost efficient or even allowed by program rules to buy points for repeatedly redeeming hotel rewards stays using purchased points.

Hotel Reward Rates are mostly a fixed standard reward cost. Major hotel loyalty programs group hotels into categories for redemption purposes.

• Hyatt has six categories, from 5,000 points to 22,000 points per night.
• Hilton has seven categories and higher end Waldorf Astoria hotels from 7,500 to 80,000 points per night.
• SPG has seven categories and higher reward rate hotels in category 7 from 2,000 to 70,000+per night.
• Marriott has eight categories in Marriott brands and five tiers in Ritz-Carlton from 7,500 to 70,000 points per night.
• Club Carlson has six categories of rewards from 9,000 to 50,000 points per night.
• IHG Priority Club groups award level by hotel brand with some brands having tiered levels from 10,000 to 40,000 points per night.

Hilton HHonors Premium Room Rewards are a major move into dynamic reward price for hotel rewards. The cost for these new HHonors rewards are tied to the published room rate for the stay. Unfortunately the exchange rate for points-to-cash-savings is not that good for many HHonors Premium Rewards. Redemption value tends to be $3 to $6 per 1,000 points. The 30% rebate on Premium rewards booked by January 31, 2012 is a major promotion offer for better redemption rate for Premium Room rewards for Points & Money and Premium Room reward hotel stays.

Discount Hotel Rewards – Fewer Points

Most hotel loyalty programs offer some discount reward rates for selected hotels.

• Club Carlson Points + Cash
• Hilton HHonors Point Stretcher Rewards (Dec. 5 – I do not see any PS dates listed after Dec 2011)
• HHonors Points & Money and
• HHonors Premium Room Rewards for more points.
• HHonors VIP Rewards (15% to 25% discount)
• IHG Priority Club Rewards PointBreaks
• IHG Priority Club Last Minute Reward Nights (Loyalty Traveler Dec 1 post)
• IHG Priority Club Points & Cash
• Marriott Rewards 5th night free
• Marriott Rewards PointSavers (reward cost is one category less and 5th night free applies to PointSavers too)
• Marriott Hotel+Air Travel Package
• SPG Cash & Points
• SPG 5th Night Free
• SPG Nights and Flights
• SPG 50% off rack rate (1,000 points = $35)

The fact that hotel published room rates are dynamic pricing and reward redemption rates are fixed pricing means there are nights with opportunities to get better value by redeeming hotel points than paying the published rate. Hotel room rates change rate nightly, yet the cost for a free night using points remains the same. You may be able to book the hotel for less money buying points and redeeming an award night at a hotel when hotel rates are high.

Cost to Buy Points for Reward Nights Tables

The tables below show the cost of buying points for a hotel night at the different category levels in each hotel loyalty program selling points (except Choice Privileges).

Loyalty Traveler’s Summary of Hotel Loyalty Program Rules to Buy, Receive and Transfer Points

Buy Points

Each program shows the Calendar Year Maximum Purchase Limit and Cost to Buy Points

Club Carlson = 40,000 points ($7 per 1,000 points).

Hilton HHonors = 40,000 points ($10 per 1,000 points) NOTE: member may buy unlimited points for immediate reward stay redemption at time of booking.

Hyatt Gold Passport = 40,000 points ($24 per 1,000 points).

IHG Priority Club Rewards = 50,000 points ($11.50 per 1,000 points).

Marriott Rewards = 50,000 points is maximum one member may earn with purchased and gifted points. ($12.50 per 1,000 points).

Starwood Preferred Guest = 20,000 points is maximum one member may earn with purchased and gifted points. ($35 per 1,000 points. Current sale is 20% discount through Dec 31, 2011 $28 per 1,000 points).

Receive Points (gifted)

Club Carlson = 40,000 points (buy and receive combined in one account for calendar year limit)

Hilton HHonors = member may receive unlimited points transferred from any other member at rate of $25 per 10,000 points.

Hyatt Gold Passport = 40,000 points, member may receive maximum 40,000 points as gift and buy 40,000 points for self.)

IHG Priority Club Rewards = 50,000 points, member may receive maximum 50,000 points as gift and buy 50,000 points for self.)

Marriott Rewards = 50,000 points (Buy and receive combined in one account for calendar year limit)

Starwood Preferred Guest = 20,000 points (Buy and receive combined in one account for calendar year limit)

Hyatt and IHG Priority Club are only two hotel programs allowing a member to buy maximum annual limit of points for own account and also receive maximum annual limit as a gift from another member.

Transfer Points

Club Carlson =  unlimited and free through Member Services.

Hilton HHonors = any member is allowed to transfer points to another member for a fee, $25 per 10,000 points, except any single member is allowed free transfers for additional points gifted and transferred after 200,000 points ($500 in fees) in a calendar year. Point transfers must be in 10,000 point blocks.

Hyatt Gold Passport = may transfer between any two members the minimum points needed for a reward
redemption. Two members must sign transfer request.

IHG Priority Club Rewards = 50,000 points in a calendar year at $5.00 per 1,000 points.

Marriott Rewards = may transfer between two spouses/domestic partners the minimum points needed for a reward redemption, rounded to nearest 1,000 points.

Starwood Preferred Guest = free transfer between members with same residential address for at least 30 days. SVO Vacation members may transfer points between accounts regardless of address.

There is more variability in rules for the “point transfer between members” aspect of hotel programs. Club Carlson has liberal policy of free transfers between any two members. SPG has a less restrictive policy than most programs if you share the same address. Hyatt is a fair policy allowing any two members to transfer the minimum points needed for a reward stay. Marriott Rewards terms state transfers are limited to spouses/domestic partners and only the minimum level for a reward redemption. Priority Club has the most restrictive policy with a relatively high fee and an annual transfer limit any member may give or receive.

Hilton HHonors appears to have a restrictive policy in charging a $25 fee for transferring 10,000 points. The advantage to HHonors is the rule allowing a member to receive unlimited points and for a member to gift/transfer unlimited points. Basically a person with 1,000,000 HHonors points can transfer them all to someone else for $500. That would be a lucky recipient.

A more commonly useful strategy is crowdsourcing a network of friends to score a nice HHonors getaway. Set up a gift registry with HHonors for something like a college graduation present or wedding honeymoon and gifts of 10,000 HHonors points can be transferred for $25. Get a response from 20 to 50 HHonors members and that HHonors account can be filled with 200,000 to 500,000 points for $500 to $1,250 distributed among a large group of people. Your friends and family don’t have to think too hard about a gift and a week of free hotel rooms is a nice gift to receive.

This kind of opportunity is only matched by Club Carlson and they currently allow you to do it for free.

Part Two of this study into buying and transferring hotel points will look at real examples of how to apply these points purchase and transfer rules to hotel stay rewards.

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.

Act Now!

I don’t want to overhype Club Carlson.

But why not?

My brain is reeling from the iterations of ways to play several offers from Club Carlson.

Even though I have been around Club Carlson and Carlson Hotels managers this past month, there was no leak of two back-to-back program offers and enhancements unveiled this past weekend.

1. Club Carlson members can buy up to 40,000 points in a calendar year at $7.00/1,000 points. You can also gift someone up to 40,000 points in a calendar year. The maximum limit is 40,000 points per account through purchased points, so you can’t buy 40,000 points and also receive 40,000 points in your account. The term “calendar year” means you can buy 40,000 points in December 2011 and another 40,000 points in January 2012 for your own member account.

2. Earn 9,000 points for every Club Carlson hotel award stay redeemed from December 1, 2011 through January 31, 2012. Points & Cash stays are not eligible for this points rebate offer. You must register for the award stay rebate promotion. This can be earned five times for up to 45,000 points rebate.

3. Earn 50,000 points for a single Radisson stay in the U.S., Canada or Caribbean by December 30, 2011 by registering for RadissonBigNightGiveaway.

Basically you can pay for one hotel night at a Radisson and earn 50,000 points. Rates were as low as $49.50 for December weekends with yesterday’s cyberMonday special offer at Radisson Sacramento, California.

You can buy 40,000 points in December 2011 for $280. You can redeem points for one night stays and get 9,000 points back for each award stay up to five times. With 50,000 gold points from the Radisson offer and the ability to buy 40,000 points in December and 40,000 points in January, you can accrue the points to book five single night award stays and get a maximum rebate of 45,000 points for five award stays in December 2011 and January 2012.

Buying Club Carlson points when the cost is less than the room rate is a Club Carlson member opportunity. Here is a table showing the cost to buy points for different Club Carlson hotel award categories.

You can buy 40,000 points for yourself for $280 and buy 40,000 points for another person, say your spouse or adult child for $280. The other person can book a hotel award stay in your name. Essentially you can play around with 80,000 purchased points a calendar year in addition to other points you may earn from hotel stays. You and a spouse/partner can buy 160,000 points over the next two months and plan for big savings on hotels stays.

Spending $1,020 $1,120 for 160,000 points might not seem sensible until you realize that you can get up to 90,000 more points for free through award stay rebates if you travel with a plan.

Why you should consider buying 40,000 points in December 2011.

Club Carlson announced a promotion last weekend that each award stay worldwide from December 1 through January 31, 2012 earns 9,000 points. This is a 9,000 points rebate on every hotel award stay.

From the table above you see a category 1 hotel only requires 9,000 Club Carlson points per night. Essentially you can redeem points for a free category 1 hotel night and get those points back after a few weeks. The only drawback is there are relatively few category-1 hotels after the hotel category shifts earlier this year. Currently there are 48 out of some 1,100 Carlson Hotels in Club Carlson category-1.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

The two-night two person (or family) getaway strategy

There are numerous possibilities to consider. One hotel award night at a Category-2 hotel will cost 15,000 points. If you go with someone else you can book separate awards and each get a 9,000 point rebate on a 15,000 points expenditure.

Net result: Two night hotel stay for $210 in purchased points (Each person spends $105 per room night to buy 15,000 points x $7/1,000 points).

You spend $105 for 15,000 points, redeem for a free Category-2 hotel award night and get 9,000 points back. Your hotel night ultimately cost $42 for the 6,000 spent points.

You and second guest both receive 9,000 points back since you both booked an award night and you can stay in the same hotel for two nights.

This is a strategy for Club Carlson members with no points currently. You can always wait for the 50,000 point Radisson bonus and then do this strategy without buying points, but we don’t know when the 50,000 points will post. Buying points allows you to take advantage of the rebate offer right away.

Living it up in Lubbock

If you want to live it up at the Country Inn & Suites in Waco or the Radisson Lubbock Texas this deal can work out into some cheap hotel stays. Here is just one example to illustrate how good a deal these offers can be if you live or travel somewhere with a good Club Carlson hotel deal.

Buy 9,000 Club Carlson points for $63.

Redeem 9,000 points at Radisson Lubbock for an award night on Friday, December 16 for a free $199 night.

Buy 9,000 points for $63 and earn 9,000 points rebate on Radisson Lubbock $199 room.

Of course the Radisson Lubbock may not be your destination. This offer works well in many places.

Apparently Club Carlson is on a strategy to inundate the US and a large part of the rest of the world too with back to back, and in many ways combinable promotions and opportunities. And this is a good strategy for Club Carlson in my opinion as someone who likes to earn free hotel nights while traveling. Hyatt Gold Passport turned itself into a major player prior to the launch of its credit card. One thing I did learn from a presentation during my Chicago press trip to the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel is Club Carlson will launch a co-branded credit card in 2012.