Carlson Hotels goldpoints plus 2x-to-4x points for consecutive night stays until May 28

Goldpoints plus spring promotion for stays at Carlson Hotels brands of Radisson, Regent, Park Plaza, Park Inn, and Country Inn & Suites from April 5 to May 28 earns double points for two consecutive nights, triple points for 3 nights, and quadruple points for 4 night stays. The goldpoints plus promotion mirrors SPG’s promotion ending soon (April 15).

Goldpoints plus 4more promotion registration is required.

Radisson, Radisson Blu, Regent, and Park Plaza Hotels offer 20 base points per $1 in Americas and Asia/Pacific. Country Inn & Suites or Park Inn hotels earn 15 points per $1 in USA & Asia. Europe, Middle East and Africa earn the same 20 or 15 points base rate per Euro.

There are two differences for this promotion from the similarly crafted Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) promotion.

1. Carlson’s goldpoints plus bonus only kicks in with a minimum two night stay. SPG offers double base points for one night stays.
2. Goldpoints plus only offers the 4x bonus points on the first four nights of an extended stay. SPG offers 4x points for every night of an extended stay longer than four nights.

But, here is why I think the goldpoints plus promotion is better than SPG’s.

SPG 4x promotion by the numbers

Assume I spend $1,000 for a five night stay with Starwood Hotels and earn the 4x base points. I am SPG Platinum.

• 5-night hotel stay earns 4x points with SPG promotion.
• $1,000 x 2 base points/$1 = 2,000 base points
• 4x promotion bonus is an additional 6,000 points = 8,000 Starpoints total.
• Gold or Platinum member elite bonus = 2,000 elite points.
• Total = 10,000 Starpoints for a 5-night hotel stay with $1,000 in spend.

I can redeem for one category-4 hotel award night (10,000 points) or one category-7 (7,000 points) and one category-2 weekend night (3,000 points). This is potentially a $250 to $300 rebate at many properties.

Goldpoints plus 4x Promotion by the numbers

Assume I spend $1,000 for a five night stay with a Radisson Hotel ($200/night) and earn the 4x base points for the first four nights. I am Goldpoints Silver (which I received complimentary from this promotion).

• 5-night Radisson stay ($200/night) earns 4x points for the first four nights.
• $1,000 x 20 base points/$1 = 20,000 points
• Earn 4x promotion bonus for four nights. $800 x 60 = 48,000 points.
• Silver elite = 25% bonus on 20,000 base points = 5,000 points.
• Online booking bonus = 1,000 points for elite members; 500 points for other members.
• Total = 74,000 points for a 5-night hotel stay with $1,000 in spend. 

Goldpoints Plus 50% off Radisson Hotels award sale through May 31, 2010.

Redeem for two nights in the top tier award level of category-6 hotels for 30,000 points per night at a Regent Hotel or Radisson Blu through May 31. A category-2 hotel award is just 12,500 points during the award sale. Estimated promotion value with three free nights could be around $500. The 50% off awards has been a periodic goldpoints plus promotion these past two years.

Even after the promotion ends, you would still have sufficient points for one free night at a high level category-6 hotel.

At the more basic level of hotel stays in the U.S.A.

Country Inn & Suites are the predominant Carlson Hotels brand in the U.S.A. with over 400 hotels. These midscale hotels will generally be under $100 per night. Assume you stay four times at Country Inn & Suites on two 2-night stays and two 3-night stays.

• $85 x 2-night = $170 x 15 base points = 2,550 base points
• 2x promotion = 2,550 bonus points
• Silver elite = 637 elite bonus points
• Online booking bonus for elite members = 1,000 bonus points
• $170 for 2-night Country Inn & Suites hotel stay earns 6,737 points
• Total points earned = 6,737 points.

Triple Points for 3-night stays

• $85 x 3-night stay = $255 x 15 base points = 3,825 base points
• 3x promotion = 7,650 bonus points
• Silver elite = 956 bonus points
• Online booking bonus for elite members = 1,000 bonus points
• $255 for 3-night Country Inn & Suites hotel stay earns 13,431 points.
• Total points earned = 13,431 points.

Four stays (10 nights) with $850 hotel spend at Country Inn earns 40,336 points.

This is sufficient for a 25,000 point half-off award night at a category-5 hotel like the Radisson Hotel Boston or two nights at a discounted category-4 hotel like the Radisson Plaza Warwick Hotel Philadelphia for 40,000 points. 

While Hyatt Gold Passport is arguably the best hotel loyalty promotion currently running through June 30 with a free night at any Hyatt Hotel after two stays at any Hyatt Hotels, the Carlson Hotels goldpoints plus spring 2010 promotion is one to keep in mind when your travels take you to the parts of the country where no Hyatt brand hotels are around. Keep this promotion in mind when Country Inn & Suites comes up on the hotel search results. 

Free elite status at goldpoints plus, 1,000 points online booking bonus, and 40 points per dollar for a two-night Radisson hotel stay or up to 80 points per $1 on a four night stay are good offers from Carlson Hotels’ goldpoints plus loyalty program.