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Exchange Club Carlson points for PayPal cash

Club Carlson allows members to exchange points for PayPal deposits. The exchange rate is not great, but considering the Club Carlson bonus points promotions of the past year, the exchange rate is not bad.

Last night I completed a $60 Park Inn stay that should earn 46,200 points with the 44,000 bonus points Park Inn One + One promotion, 1,000 points online booking bonus, and 1,200 base points on a $60 room rate. I never applied for a status match with Club Carlson to get the 2,000 points online booking bonus and 50% bonus base points.

45,000 Club Carlson points can be exchanged for $65 in PayPal cash. On a $60 hotel stay that is basically a free night.

Club Carlson PayPal Deposits

 

Our Club Carlson stays: 8 hotel nights in 8 months for $800 and 400,000 points earned.

My wife and I have earned nearly 400,000 points in the past year with Club Carlson on about $800 in hotel spend. We needed every one of those hotel nights while traveling.

  • 4 hotel nights at Radisson = 200,000 bonus points.
  • 2 hotel nights at Country Inn = 88,000 bonus points.
  • 2 hotel nights at Park Inn = 88,000 bonus points.

We could cash in all our points right now for $600 in PayPal deposits.

$800 for Carlson Hotels – $600 in cash back = $200 our of pocket for eight hotel nights. Even Priceline or Hotwire won’t let you buy 8 hotel nights for $200.

Exchanging Club Carlson points for PayPal deposits is an option. Although not an option I will likely use.

Those Points + Cash rates can bring the value of Club Carlson points to about $7 to $9 per 1,000 points in hotel rate savings at some properties.

Our Club Carlson 400,000 points will likely provide over $2,000 in hotel rooms over the next year of hotel stays. PayPal cash for Club Carlson points is an option that is not likely in our travel plans, but a nice option to know just in case we need quick cash.

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Ric Garrido, writer and content owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. You can follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.

 

4 Comments

  • Dave July 16, 2012

    Gift cards are slightly cheaper. I viewed it as a backstop in deciding to do some mattress runs. I spent about $250 for 148K in points.

    At the 29K per $50 redemption (Best Buy, Home Depot, etc) I break even. Same for Target $15/9K.

    http://www.clubcarlson.com/fgp/redeem/retailcards/home.do

    I had no specific plans for the points, so I went back and forth for a while. Ultimately I decided if I redeem 50K for one night in a high dollar location then the rest becomes upside, so I decided it was worth a roll.

    If I didn’t, then mile transfer, paypal or gift cards are all options – which I suppose could be taken away.

  • ORD-TGU July 16, 2012

    Points can be seen as insurance, so I keep a stash, for that emergency, for that last minute trip or that event that I want to attend where it is high demand, outrageous cost.
    Just did that recently, got a $14 per 1,000 redemption value.

  • Oliver July 16, 2012

    I spent Saturday night at the Fresno Park Inn as well. Wish I had known you were there, too. Looking forward to your review. Mine, in four words, would be: “in need of maintenance”

  • Ric Garrido July 17, 2012

    The hotel looked basically the same as when I stayed there twice in 2011 when it was Four Points Fresno.

    With no real expectations I had a good night’s rest and the room was quiet. Last year I was next party people both times.

    Main complaint is I could not access a building with an ice machine. No ice in my building and my key would not open any of the doors where the ice was located.

    Second complaint and maybe even the primary complaint was three packets of decaf coffee and no regular stuff. No coffee in the lobby either.

    I left before the restaurant opened in the morning.

    Last year when it was a Starwood Four Points hotel there was a bucket in the hallway catching the water dripping from the ceiling. I didn’t see any buckets this stay at the Park Inn.

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