Radisson Hotels Business Class Upgrade for $5

Radisson Hotels Business Class has a room rate discount offered for participating hotels in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean through October 31, 2010. The Business Class upgrade rate is normally $30 over Best Available Rate (BAR) for same room type. For a limited time Business Class rate is available for just $5.

Business Class rate includes:

• Upgraded room

• Breakfast and drink vouchers for one (breakfast voucher US$20 or CAD $23 in Canada)

• Early check-in

• Week day newspaper delivered to your room

• 1,000 bonus Gold Points® per night

Loyalty Traveler Real Deal?

This can be a good deal to try out Business Class and see if you find the added benefits worth the extra cost.  The $5 special offer makes this rate competitive to AAA rates at some properties.

There is no doubt that $5 for a room upgrade and $30 in daily breakfast, drink and 1,000 bonus points value is a good deal, however, the normal $30 premium for Business Class is not a significant rate discount for the benefits value aside from the room upgrade. You may just want to book a higher category room using a better rate plan like AAA if the room upgrade is more important than the breakfast and drink benefit.

Radisson Hotels Business Class rate  offers 1,000 bonus points per night, and the drink voucher is also a daily benefit of Business Class rate. This is certainly a better value than per stay if you have a multinight booking.

I estimate the value of gold points at $4 to $5 per 1,000 points. Breakfast has a $20 value. The drink is likely a $5 to $8 value.

The catch though is the Business Class rate is typically a much higher rate than the lowest available rate.   Best Available Rate is an unrestricted rate with liberal cancellation policy up to day of arrival. Business Class and AAA rates have the same day of arrival cancellation policy for hotels I checked.    

Prepaid, nonrefundable, no changes rates were significantly lower for San Francisco and Los Angeles Radisson Hotels on dates I checked.

Radisson Hotel Los Angeles Midtown at USC (Tue Oct 5 – Thu Oct 7)

• $194  Business Class Special Promo
• $141.75 Advance Purchase (21-day advance) ($52 less)
• $170.10 Guest Room (AAA rate) ($24 less)
• $179.10 Deluxe Room (AAA rate) ($15 less)
• $188.10 Junior Suite (AAA rate)  ($6 less for guaranteed room upgrade)
• $209 Junior Suite (BAR-Best Available Rate) ($15 more, but no breakfast/drink/1,000 bonus points)
• Regular Business Class rate $219 ($25 more)

The Business Class upgrade is $52 more per night than the lowest prepaid rate. The AAA rate for a Deluxe room is $25 less per night and has the same cancellation policy (4pm day of arrival) as the Business Class promo rate. I assume the Business Class upgrade is to the Deluxe category room which is a $9 value compared to AAA rates. You can actually just book a Junior Suite for $188 if room size is your most important factor. Are daily breakfast and one drink worth an extra $16 per night? Certainly they are if you use these benefits. Early check-in may also be a factor to sway your rate decision.

New members to Carlson Hotels goldpoints plus loyalty program can earn 1,000 points sign-up bonus.