Gold Points Plus loyalty program for Carlson Hotels made major consumer-friendly points reductions to high-end hotel rewards this week. The cost for a free night reward in the top three categories of their six hotel reward tiers has dropped. Over 300 hotels at the top of the Carlson hotel chain require fewer points for free night rewards.
The highest Gold Points Plus category-6 rewards were 90,000 points for a free night and are now only 60,000 points. In addition to lowering points at the high end categories, the program has eliminated FlexNights which were a 50% premium for peak demand rewards.
To repeat: Top tier hotels have dropped from as high as 135,000 points for one free night to 60,000 points for a free night. This is certainly a move in the right direction for loyalty travelers. All you Hilton HHonors people looking for loyalty love may want to check out what Carlson Hotels and Gold Points Plus offer.
If you are a frequent traveler in the US and Europe and Carlson Hotels are not on your radar, Gold Points Plus warrants another look for hotel loyalty value.
Carlson Hotels and Gold Points Plus Primer
Carlson Hotels consist of the Radisson hotel brands, Park Plaza, Park Inn, Country Inn & Suites, and Regent Hotels & Resorts. Carlson Hotels has over 1,000 hotels, slightly more than Starwood Hotels. There are over 400 hotels internationally outside of USA and Canada, comparable to Hilton, Marriott, and Starwood. Carlson Hotels’ coverage exceeds most major hotel chains for several countries in Europe. India also has a number of properties.
Earning Points with Gold Points Plus:
- Earn 20 points per US$1/Euro at Regent, Radisson, and Park Plaza brands.
- Earn 15 points per US$1/Euro at Country Inns & Suites or Park Inn
The earning differential is definitely biased towards the US$1.
Members earn 500 points for every hotel stay booked online.
Â
Redeeming Points and hotel geographic distribution
1,060 Carlson brand hotels = 612 US; 39 Canada; 409 international
Reward nights for multi-night stays are reduced by 10% for every night after the first night.
Click on the category level below to link to hotel list for each category.
Category 1 = 15,000 points (114 hotels US; 2 Canada; 25 international)Â
Category 2 = 25,000 points (365 hotels US; 16 Canada; 33 international)
Category 3 = 30,000 points (114 US; 10 Canada; 80 international)
Category 4* = 40,000 points (16 US; 9 Canada; 89 international)
Category 5* = 50,000 points (1 US; 2 Canada; 125 international)
Category 6* = 60,000 points (2 US; 57 international)
*Prior to February 1, 2010 reward levels were:
- Category-4 = 45,000 points
- Category-5 = 60,000 points
- Category 6 = 90,000 pointsÂ
Carlson Hotels and goldpoints plus has certainly become a value player in the hotel loyalty game after these changes.
Links:
Carlson Hotels – http://www.carlsonhotels.com/
Gold Points Plus – https://www.goldpointsplus.com/home.do
Redeem Points – https://www.goldpointsplus.com/fgp/redeem/home.do
Earn Points – https://www.goldpointsplus.com/fgp/earn/home.do
1 Comment
Comments are closed.