SimpleManToo

I have been reading a little about Club Carlson this weekend and I want to ask the board what everyone thinks about Club Carlton when compared to HHonors, Marriott, SPG and IHC.

Seems to me excluding affinity credit cards, Club Carlson is pretty reasonable in the amount of points they award (20 per dollar spent) for Gold members and the amount of points they require for a free stay (9,000 to 50K). I like the fact gold members get a 50% bonus on points plus you get an extra 2000 points for booking online. One could easily get up to 5000 points a night using $100 as a base room price.

To me this seems like a good hotel frequent stay program when compared to the others but the part I dont see is how the Club Carlson current promotions are. They certainly fit the bill for my needs having hotels where all I travel.

What does everyone else think about how the Club Carlson program compares to Hilton, Marriott, IHC and SPG given all their recent changes?

Firewind

I am very impressed with Club Carlson in the past two years, coinciding with a declared campaign to fill their hotels via many loss leader offers. What do they call it -- something like "1.5 million guests by 2015?" Very generous promotions. Good value for the points&cash rates. Easy and easier status match to Gold, followed by a soft landing second year to Silver. The credit cards seem to have the best retention offers in the industry (a point I have issues with - that such programs end up competing with old fashion loyalty, but I digress).

But all of this may be for the time being. Already, the points showers for stays that occurred at the beginning of the campaign seem to be passing -- coinciding with the credit cards' issuance. So, if one is comfortable swinging from the loyalty-based emphasis to the credit card emphasis, one wouldn't have any issues at all.

Well, except that many are waiting for the stimulus (occupancy, cash) provided by the loyalty program to cause the GMs to spiff up their hotels. While they have a few very nice high-end luxury properties, many, if not most, are still stuck back in the Radisson SAS era -- e.g., middle-brow. Not low-brow, like Choice Hotels. Fully functional and workman-like. But few that are Hyatt Regency, Intercontinental, Marriott or Westin competition, let alone Four Seasons or Ritz. Also in this vein, many Club Carlson newbies are looking for more consistency in on-site recognition of Gold - and even Concierge - members.

And one other factor to be conscious of: Their focus, after all, really is still outside the US, if that matters to one's book of travel. And if you're wondering about the relative size of the Carlson Rezidor family, it approximates Hyatt's.

Worry: The somewhat disguised point devaluation via their seasonal variation in redemption rates that has been creeping in lately.

This do it? There will be many other opinions, especially from long-time loyalists.

WoodyWindy

I'm generally pleased. I'm not a points person, generally. I earn status via nights, and easily hit Concierge last year. So far, (staying mostly at Radisson Blu properties) my status recognition and room upgrade experience has been good. They're a Scandinavian company, and you definitely see that influence in their décor.

Beyond that, if your travels take you where they have properties, you could do worse.

DallasEsq

I have only stayed in their US properties, which are not particularly impressive. However, I am very happy with the rewards program itself. It is very easy to accrue a ton of points with their base earning and promotions. For credit card holders, being able to BOGO high end redemptions with points might be the best value in any reward program.

newbieflyer1

their radisson Blu properties are good,i just stayed in radisson blu ambassador in Paris and it was good.Currently staying in Park Inn Brussels Midi ,they upgraded us to business room due to gold status via CC ,its free breakfast worth of 30 euros.

vbroucek

Stayed in two USA based properties last year (NY and LA) and will avoid them in USA, but can't say anything bad about European properties... The only "not so happy" experience I had in Europe, was Radisson Blu Beke in Budapest - they have been penny pinching on everything... But quiet chat to GM made wonders :-)

Having gold with Hilton, Marriott and Carlson, I think free nights are coming easiest with Carlson. I am so far having 100% success with complimentary upgrades in Carlson properties (few times even two categories up) and some impressive early check-ins (as early as 7 am in the morning after arriving to Paris direct from Australia).

100countrygoal

Club Carlson has the best ratio between the dollars you spend and the hotel stays the points you earn convert to. There may be some gems here and there in other programs, but on average, Club Carlson's rewards program has the best value in my opinion.

I've had decent recognition of my Gold status. . . most of my stays have been in Asia or Europe. The credit card is an excellent deal, and I like that it earns a bonus of points (initial and annual bonus) instead of free nights. Getting one free night (if you have the credit card) after you spend at least one night on points is an incredible deal. Just recently, they've changed policies so that all Club Carlson members get free internet access globally; that's a great plus. They've had really great free night & tons of free point promos the past couple of years. Nothing too great has been announced for this year yet, however.

Minor Negatives:
- There are not many aspirational, very high end properties. Hilton points used to be great for this, but not so much after their recent changes.
- The credit card has a high FX transaction fee (3%). Consequently, I don't even use my Club Carlson card for most of my stays. I wish there was a premium card that was available with no FX fees, even if the annual fee was higher.

All in all, if you find that the properties at where you usually stay to your liking, Club Carlson benefits are second to none. . .

SimpleManToo

Perhaps this is the program that disgruntled Hilton, SPG, Marriott and IHG guest should jump too. Sure Club Carlson is not perfect but the comments posted here make me think they have some nice properties outside the USA where I would most likely use them. I do recognize they do not have many Aspirational properties nor do they have properties everywhere (like Hong Kong) but I like the Earnings Ratio and the point requirement for most locations plus the ability to buy up to 40K worth of points a year at a ok price ($7 per 1000 or $280 for 40K)

I will not be able to get the credit card as I have a corporate card. I do like some of the promotions they have run (like the one that ended in March) are pretty amazing. The only issue is I have to start at Zero but that is exactly where I am now currently at with Hilton after burning all my points and Hilton stays at the kind of properties I like are Awful Expensive Now! Guess i could buy some points but I prefer earning them.

Club Carlson looks solid to me. Think I will give them a whirl and see if I can earn a weeks worth of free nights for a overseas vacation. Lets all watch this program to see how things go. Think I will participate to.

Ikaz

You should be able to easily get a status match from one of your current hotel programs to CC Gold.

This also allows you to access the 2for1 and 4for2 weekend rates (and extra points per booking). There is a topic about these rates here

SimpleManToo

Ok I am Gold now with Zero Points because I signed up under a promotion but I was actually hoping for Concierge because I am Platinum at Hilton & IHG and Gold at Marriott.

Either way the spend vs the reward looks very favorable to me for planning a overseas trip.

100countrygoal

I'd suggest you get the credit card even if you don't plan on using it for your hotel stays (per your comment about the corporate card). The card can almost double the value of your points. . . and so it's well worth the annual fee in my opinion.

sdsearch

If by "almost double the value of your points" you mean the second redemption night (of a stay) free part, that's also available with the no-annual-fee version:

http://www.clubcarlsonvisa.com/credit/visaCard.do

What the no-annual-fee version lacks is as many bonus points as the annual fee versions (there are two different annual fee versions), and also doesn't confer (low level) status that at least one of the annual fee versions does. But if what you value most is the second redemption night (of a stay) free part, you don't need to pay an annual fee for that.