Update: If you pay for the points with the Club Carlson card, you will earn an additional 2,800 points. (10 points per dollar.) This means that you will received 72,800 points for $280 for a cost of $.00385 per point.
Club Carlson is having a flash sale through June 19, 2014 at 11:59am EST. During this sale, members receive a 75% bonus on purchased points up to 40,000. (Buying 40,000 points gives you 70,000 after the bonus.) Let’s take a look at how good a deal this is.
Club Carlson Credit Cards
Before even discussing the benefit and value of Club Carlson points, it is important to learn about their co-branded credit cards. (Non-affiliate link.) One of the benefits of the credit cards is a free bonus night on stays of two or more nights.
When booking at Club Carlson properties, I tend only to book in multiples of two. As I mentioned the other day, both my wife and I have a Club Carlson card, meaning that we are each eligible for the free bonus night. Getting this bonus night essentially cuts the points cost of redemptions in half.
Recent Redemption
My son and I were recently in Chicago for a few days. Our first stop on the trip was Six Flags Great America. There is a Country Inn right across the street from the park which worked out great. We arrived at night and were able to stay there and head to the park the following morning. We then stayed the night after being at the park and then headed into the city the next morning.
This particular room was going for $119.88 per night including tax. Our two night stay would have cost $239.76. This property happens to be a Category 2, meaning that it only requires 15,000 points per night or in my case, 15,000 points for two nights. Doing the calculation, I redeemed my points at a value of $.015. That is a great price.
For this promotion, points are being sold for $.004, so if I were to buy the points and use them on a Category 2 property like the one near Six Flags, my cost for two nights would be $60 total or $30 per night.
Cost For Two Nights Per Category
Now lets look at the per two nights for every category assuming you have a Club Carlson credit card.
- Category 1 – 9,000 points. Cost for two nights with purchased points: $36
- Category 2- 15,000 points. Cost for two nights with purchased points: $60
- Category 3- 28,000 points. Cost for two nights with purchased points: $112
- Category 4- 38,000 points. Cost for two nights with purchased points: $152
- Category 5- 44,000 points. Cost for two nights with purchased points: $176
- Category 6- 50,000 points. Cost for two nights with purchased points: $200
- Category 7- 70,000 points. Cost for two nights with purchased points: $280
As you can see that is an amazing value. Some of the higher category hotels go for $400-$500 per night depending on the season. Even on the low end, as in my example, you are doing quite well. In other words, if you need Club Carlson points, then this is a great way to get them.
This & That
Club Carlson does limit each account to a total of 40,000 purchased points per calendar year. While the properties in the U.S. aren’t prestigious, Club Carlson has a number of fantastic hotels in Europe. We seemingly ran into one after the other during our backpacking trip last year.
Manufactured Spend
Many people in the points and miles community use the Club Carlson card for manufactured spend since it generously gives 5 points per dollar spent on regular purchases. Buying a $500 Visa gift card with a $4.95 fee results in 2,525 points at a cost of about $.002 per point. As you can see this is a better price, but you must still liquidate the gift cards either through Bluebird or some other way.
Conclusion
Buying points doesn’t get much better than this if you have the co-branded credit card. I am seriously considering buying the points, since I know I will get great use out of them. Sure I can earn the points a little cheaper by other means, but that would take resources away from other cards that I am using. You can find the flash sale and purchase the points here.
What do you think? Are you going to purchase points during this “Flash Sale”?
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