Club Carlson has devalued its loyalty program in several ways over the past three years, yet I am still finding great points earning and redemption value on my 2017 hotel stays.
Among Club Carlson program devaluations were several on the redemption side with the introduction of a Category 7 hotel reward at 70,000 points per night in 2014. Then, one free reward night for Club Carlson Visa card members on any 2-night or longer reward stay was dropped in May 2015.
And this year the 2-for-1 and 4-for-2 Gold elite member discount rates for Europe, Africa and Middle East hotels were eliminated in January 2017.
Still, Club Carlson promotions, along with IHG Rewards Club promotions, have offered the highest rebate value for hotel spend in the past year.
Aug 1 – Oct 31, 2016 Double or Triple Points
Nov 1 – Dec 31, 2016 Double Points or Double Elite Nights credit
We stayed at Radisson Blu Bratislava, Slovakia on a 4-night 4-for-2 rate ($52 USD/night) at Christmas and earned double points for 9,932 Club Carlson points.
Jan 9 – Mar 31, 2017 Earn 5,000 to 100,000 pointsÂ
- Stay 1 night, earn 5,000 bonus Gold Points
- Stay 2 nights, earn 10,000 bonus Gold Points
- Stay 4 nights, earn 20,000 bonus Gold Points
- Stay 8 nights, earn 50,000 bonus Gold Points
- Stay 20 or more nights, earn 100,000 bonus Gold Points
Club Carlson 70,000 points earned, $470 hotel spent on 8 nights
Club Carlson members had to pre-register for one of the specific targets. I chose 8 nights and completed these tasks using Club Carlson Gold elite 2-for-1 rates at Park Inn Prague (2 nights upgraded to junior suite with balcony patio, earned 2,057 points); Radisson Blu Wroclaw, Poland (2 nights Business Class room, earned 2,054 points) and Park Plaza Vondelpark Amsterdam (corner balcony room, earned 66,384 points including 50,000 bonus points for 8 nights. I paid $470 for these 8 hotel nights in January and February 2017 and earned 70,000 total Club Carlson points.
Last Club Carlson Promotion
Club Carlson triple points + Sun/Mon 5K bonus April 3-June 30, 2017
Last month June 2017 we stayed at the Radisson Blu Gdansk on a $114 room rate for a Polish holiday Thursday night. Rates skyrocketed for Friday night in Gdansk, Poland for the national holiday weekend. I paid Thursday night and booked a Friday reward night for 38,000 points. The hotel sold out a few weeks before our stay for that Friday night I booked with points in April. I was upgraded to a full one bedroom suite for the stay and earned 7,608 points.
Redemption at Category 1 and 2 and 4 hotels.
In April 2017, I stayed at the category 1 Park Inn Kaunas, Lithuania in a Business Class junior suite room for 13,500 points and two nights at the Radisson Blu Klaipeda, Lithuania for 30,000 points. That used up 43,500 of the 70,000 points earned in February. I redeemed 38,000 points in Gdansk in June.
Radisson Blu Gdansk $114 room night and Radisson Blu Krakow for $113 on a Sunday night earned 22,466 Club Carlson points.
81,500 points redeemed for 4 reward nights in Lithuania and Poland is about equal to the 80,000 points I earned from 12 nights of paid stays from December to February.
About $900 in total hotel spend provided 18 hotel nights at Club Carlson properties on my last four trips to Europe since December 2016 with a net gain of 30,000+ Club Carlson points.
Club Carlson July 2017
This month I plan to stay 6 paid nights on 4 hotel stays at Club Carlson hotels in Europe, spending about $620. These four stays will earn two free Fridays.
Club Carlson free Friday Night every two stays or 10K points July 1–Sep 30
Regardless of where I redeem two free nights, whether in London, Dublin or Stockholm in a $300+ per night room, Riga, Latvia or Porto, Portugal in an $80 room, the bottom line value given to me with Club Carlson in 2017 will be something like 26 hotel nights at a total cost around $1,500 or less than $50 per hotel night.
Places I’ve seen lately with Club Carlson
Radisson Blu Bratislava, Slovakia 4 nights Dec 2016
Park Inn Prague, Czechia 2 nights Jan 2017
Radisson Blu Wroclaw, Poland 2 nights Jan 2017
The photo theme is room views, but I never took a room window photo from Radisson Blu Wroclaw.
Park Plaza Vondelpark Amsterdam, Netherlands 4 nights Feb 2017
Park Inn Kaunas, Lithuania 1 night April 2017
Radisson Blu Klaipeda, Lithuania 2 nights April 2017
Radisson Blu Gdansk 2 nights June 2017
Radisson Blu Krakow 1 night June 2017
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