20
May
Club Carlson announced last week that a major hotel reward category reassignment will occur May 31, 2012. The full list of 264 hotels changing reward category and organized by geographic location with state and country has been published.
137 hotels going up in reward category. Read More…
Club Carlson normally sells points for $7 per 1,000 (limit 40,000 points in calendar year) and the Daily Getaways price is as low as $3.50 per 1,000 points with a 50,000 points purchase for $174.60 when paying with American Express.
There are two Club Carlson points offers on sale Thursday, May 10 at 1:00pm Eastern. There is no noon presale for these offers.
Members can buy 2 sets of points from each offer for a total 300,000 points for $1,042.20. There are dozens of Radisson Blu hotels around the world where six hotel nights for $1,042 or less than $175 per night will be a substantial savings on the published rates. Read More…
Carlson Rezidor Hotels in Asia Pacific offer a special 3 nights for the price of two nights for stays through July 31, 2012. Hotel bookings using this offer must be made by April 30, 2012. This sale is for 35 hotels in Radisson, Park Plaza and Country Inns & Suites.
This offer requires a 3-night or longer stay, but only one free night per stay. The rate used for this offer is the flexible Best Available Rate (BAR).
Rate checks I made showed day of arrival or day before arrival cancellation policies.
Last year Carlson had a 3-for-2 rate that appeared to always deduct the rate of the third night, even when the third night was the highest rate. This was an advantage for stays where the last night was high like on a Sunday or Monday for business locations or a Friday for weekend destinations.
The Radisson Resort Gold Coast, Australia rate check showed a Wednesday to Saturday three night rate as giving the second night free when the highest daily rate was for the third night, a Friday weekend night. This is actually less of a discount than taking 33% off a 3 night stay.
In my initial check of hotel rates I actually found a Country Inns & Suites with a booking error offering $0.00 rates and a day of arrival cancellation policy. The 0.00 INR rate will less likely be honored than if it were a 1000.00INR rate (US$20.00), but if your travel plans take you to Ahmedabad over the next few months, then you might want to give it a go. I doubt the hotel will honor the rate though.
And remember Club Carlson offers 1,000 points for online booking.
Carlson Rezidor 3-for-2 rate in Asia Pacific.
Club Carlson has a couple of great car rental discounts and points bonuses through April 30, 2012. You earn 9,000 points from Avis for 3-day rentals and 5,500 points from Budget for 2-day rentals or 9,000 points for 3-day rentals. In addition these offers include car rental discount rates of 20-25%. Club Carlson offers its category 1 hotels for 9,000 points per night.
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.
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.
Club Carlson offers 2-for-1 and 4-for-2 paid night weekend special rates at hotels in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) for members with Gold elite status (35 nights or 20 stays in a calendar year).
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:
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
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.
7,000 SPG points can buy:
or
These redemption options are likely around $300 rebate value for $1,000 in Starwood Hotel spend.
70,000 Club Carlson points can buy:
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.
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:
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.
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 special 50% points discount on hotel award nights in Europe, Middle East and Africa for weekend hotel stays October 1 to December 15, 2011. This discount is only for Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Go to ClubCarlson.com and click tab in upper right “Book with Points”.
Enter promotional code 50REDEEM.
Here is an example for Park Plaza Wallstreet Berlin at 19,000 points for this category 4 hotel normally 38,000 points.
Park Plaza Wallstreet, Berlin only 19,000 points Nov 11-13, 2011.
Three nights at a Club Carlson category 6 hotel for 75,000 points compared to 150,000 points is an incredible deal from Club Carlson.
Radisson Blu Amsterdam at 25,000 points per night November 18-21, 2011.
Club Carlson EMEA discount award weekend nights Terms & Conditions.
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.
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)
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
