Club Carlson Promotions Stack for a Nice Haul
This morning Club Carlson announced yet another bonus promotion for members of their loyalty program. The newest promotion offers triple points for stays plus 1,000 bonus points for bookings made through their app. In other words, it provides some nice earning potential.
Members normally earn 20 points per dollar spent at Club Carlson hotels, so with this promotion that number goes up to an astronomical 60 points per dollar. By combing this new promotion with the 30,000 offer for cardholders, you can get a nice chunk of points for not much money. Make sure to register here.
A Couple Can Earn About 80,000 Points
Since my wife and I are both holders of the co-branded Club Carlson credit card, we are both eligible for the 30,000 point offer. The ideal situation for us then is to book a weekend getaway where we each have one night booked in our names. That way we can earn double the points.
This would also work for an individual who holds both the personal and business version of the Club Carlson credit card. A single person with only one card would be able to achieve only half of the points. Also remember that Club Carlson points can easily be combined between accounts with a simple phone call to maximize redemptions. Here is how the math breaks down:
- Cost of two separate nights: $161.60
- Points earned on Club Carlson credit card (10x inc/taxes): 1,839
- 30,000 Point Bonus for each night: 60,000
- Points earned at normal rate (20 per $): 3,220
- Triple points bonus: (40 extra per $): 6,440
- 35% Elite bonus on earned points: 3,381
- Bonus for booking through app (1,000 p/booking.): 2,000
- Total points earned: 76,880
- Cost per point: $.0024
- Points per dollar: 418
Analysis
For my calculations I chose the cheapest hotel in Southern California which is a Radisson near the Ontario Airport. There are a couple of other hotels in better locations for not much more and of course everyone’s calculations will vary slightly depending on their local options. Unfortunately we don’t have any Club Carlson properties in Las Vegas.
In some cities I have seen Country Inns for as little as $50 per night which would drive the cost per point down significantly. Either way, paying about 1/4 of a cent for Club Carlson points is a good deal and these points should post before June 1, so we can use them to take advantage of the Bonus Award Night before it disappears.
I also realize we could each book a room on the same night, but I figure if we can make a nice weekend trip and earn points, it is better than simply doing a mattress run. Of course traveling with a baby isn’t easy, so we may opt to simply go down for one night and each book a room on the same night.
Conclusion
Club Carlson is trying their best to shift the focus from the loss of the Bonus Award Night by flooding the market with bonuses and points. While I am still mad about the way they chose to announce (or not announce) the credit card benefit change, I will be happy to take these points and blow them on some nice Radisson Blu hotels in Europe!
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Hi Shawn,
I am a regular reader of your blog. Thanks for posting interesting articles, esp reminders about Staples deals.
We have a single Carlson visa card in our family. Does that mean our bonus will drop to 40k for 1 night reservation? Can I do 2 separate reservations of 1 night each and earn 40k points for each night?
Yes the 80k example involved two people having the card. You should be able to do around 40k for one night, which is still incredibly good.
Good analysis and TIps! One Q:
I am a additional card member of another member’s CC visa card. Will ti be possible if the card holder to earn points if he books a room but I stay/pay with the addl card that is under the other person’s name?
The person who owns the Club Carlson credit card will earn the points for the spending on the card.
Informative post Shawn. But it still does not make-up for the loss of the bonus nights. I just burned all my Club Carlson points for a trip to Thailand next March. I think I have 500 points left in my account. My Club Carlson card renewal is in August. I will keep my card for one more year only because I am not certain if I will still eligible for the bonus nights for my Thailand trip if I cancel. After Thailand the card is history.
Rick thanks for sharing your opinion. FYI, your Bonus Free Nights will be honored even if you have cancelled the credit card.
http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2015/04/12/yes-you-can-cancel-your-club-carlson-card-after-booking-bonus-award-nights/
It seems my comment was deleted…
I’m fairly sure that you don’t earn points on room taxes, so your calculation is a bit off…
Also, you’d be better off foregoing the app booking (for a measly 1k pts) and just booking it through TCB (currently 6%). Lowers your cpp that way…
I don’t delete comments. Perhaps it went through to spam? Either way you are right and I have corrected my calculations. By going through Top Cashback you would earn $9.66 in lieu of 2,000 points in this scenario. For me that is a wash I suppose, so the portal is definitely a good option.
How do you know which are the “participating” Hotels?
Any way to find cheaper Radisson/club carlson properties. I am in CA and prices are way too high.
Just play around with the different areas/dates. Even at $100 per night you would still get a ton of points.
where are you getting 30K per night? the concession I got for killing my credit card benefits stated:
And, to thank you for your continued loyalty, you can earn 30,000 bonus Gold Points® on your next Eligible Stay at a Carlson Rezidor hotel worldwide when you pay with your Club CarlsonSM Visa®. Offer ends August 31, 2015. Terms and conditions apply.*
next stay, not each night. Am I missing a promo that is out there?
In the text of the post I make it clear I am talking about 30,000 for me and 30,000 for my wife since we both have the card. A single person who has both the personal and the business versions of the card should be able to get the 30,000 bonus twice as well.
The link to triple point registration is not working.
That is strange. They must have changed the URL. It is fixed now.