Brendan

Club Carlson seems to want to be Santa Claus, what with the 50K points for a 1-night stay promos & the extra free nights for Visa cardholders, etc. Just like money, when too many currency units are printed, inflation results! How can Carlson give so darn many free rooms esp. in hotels >$300 buxanite, without going broke?? I'm glad I'm planning a trip to Europe in Aug.-Sep. 2013 where I can still spend my points at the current value!

blackmamba

Well if you know inflation is coming then you should spend those points like crazy right NOW.

Also, don't feel sorry for CC at all. Hotel rooms have one of the highest profit margins in the travel business so they could care less if they give you a free room so as long as you keep coming back to their brand and telling people about it.

Think about all the publicity Club Carlson is getting from these promotions. Before any of this, no seasoned traveller was even thinking about staying at a Club Carlson hotel. Now, almost every traveller knows about the brand. It's all worth it in the end.

onthego15

Just think of it as part of their advertising/marketing budget.

jpdx

Devaluations are a constant threat in the world of loyalty programs, and obviously the more generous the program, the more likely it is to be gutted. Programs go through phases of generosity and decline; think, for instance, of Hyatt, which over the years has been exceedingly generous but has been going downhill over the last two years. IMO, CC is in a very generous phase, and I would expect the good times to go on a few more years. But invariably, at some point, they will wonder what their flush marketing budget has bought them, and they will see the enormous buildup of points from the promotions and credit card. That said, CC is the only hotel program -afaik- to have massively lowered their redemption requirements -- a few years ago, the top hotels would command 90k per night (81k for multiple nights). There is no doubt that a devaluation will occur at some point -- probably not in the next few years, and likely gradual -- at first, generous promos will dry up, properties will move up, etc -- but IMO it's foolish to assume of any program that points will retain their value over a long period of time. With CC, enjoy the ride while it lasts!

christianj

Great post jpdx! +1

DCAcubsfan

I would have never given CC a chance before these promos. Now with the CC Visa, I'd say the program has gotten even better with the last night free benefit. Keep the promos coming!

hobo13

You must be living in the FT bubble! At best, I would say that most FTers know about Club Carlson. Beyond FT? Good luck. I can pretty much promise you that my office has never heard of Carlson -- they are lucky to get beyond the Marriott hotels that our travel agency pushes!

FlyingHigh20

This is a rather stupid topic/thread. If you are concerned, why announce it to the world? Just spend your points now and be done with it.

Regardless, I dont think the OP's concerns are justified. Carlson is still a VERY weak brand, and not enough people to my knowledge have been jumping on these promos or accumulating Club Carlson points. There's too many Radissons' out there in the US that have low occupancy rates that thrive on these promotions with points to help drum up business. Three years from now, there maybe a possibility of some point devaulation - but Carlson would be stupid and reckless to ruin their CC points value just yet, as this would topple any gain that they've made in the past year or so to try to gain new members. Beyond that, the bonuses of late have been US based, as is the credit card. The majority (i.e. 99.5%) of the credit card users will be using these points in the US - and with the exception of only one NYC and Chicago property, most of the properties are in off-beaten areas or hardly glamarous properties in some decent sized cities which often go for $50 on priceline (i.e. Los Angeles, Orlando, and San Francisco).

Until Radisson standardizes their properties, raises their overall quality, and positions more properties in more desirable locations (Miami, Las Vegas, NYC, Fort Lauderdale, Key West, etc..), they need to keep handing out points and keeping their value decent. If not, there's no use in me trying to earn them.

shinbal

I'm literally laughing out loud right now. I was thinking tonight, "Why haven't I been on Flyertalk in so long?" Now I remember.

At the risk of being branded stupid as well, this is an absolutely important consideration for those who are loyal to CC primarily, without a backup. I am lifetime Platinum with SPG, and should earn lifetime Diamond with Hyatt this year or next. With Hyatt, I watched them do 2X stay credit bonuses every quarter. After staying 60 nights a year, I watched on FT and saw posts about people who booked $49 mattress runs and got Diamond status for $600. And for a while, unless I knew someone at a property, competition for upgrades was ridiculous. I remember one GM telling me that Diamonds had become like mosqitoes - plentiful and annoying - because too many people had been gifted status. Awards were tough too. And eventually, redemption costs rose.

I used to be an "earn and burn" type. But despite devaluations, I've been holding on to my points/miles lately. As with any currency, there's going to be some devaluation. But I'd sure rather have 500K points 6 or 7 years from now - even if in total they got me one less night than they would today. I don't know how long I'm going to be earning regularly, and I've decided to keep a bank of points/miles to use down the road. And yes, there will definitely be some devaluation.

Eventually, CC will cut back their promos, like everyone else has done.

syzygy

I too have a hard time understanding how the math works out. Earned nearly 55,000 points on a one night stay promo for $65 and used them to redeem for four nights in South America that would have cost $480 and that was without taking advantage of the free night promo for cc holders. Not complaining though.

Brendan

Shinbal, I have already made ressies to spend most of my points. In the spirit of FT, I want to warn & discuss that this Santa Claus for adults, like previous ones, may (must?) end someday, just as Hyatt FFNs did!
I understand Radisson's need for promos, which often work better than spending cash on advertising. But Syzygy got $545 worth of stays for $65, which strikes me as unsustainable!

syzygy

Well to be fair, the earning stay was a pure mattress run (checked in but didn't use the room), so $415 worth of value. But still the point remains.

Brendan

I told U so! But it's less bad than I expected.

hobo13

Do you also take credit for predicting that the sun would come up this morning????

While the direction of your prediction was correct (and obvious), the predicted magnitude was way off. For the way CC had printed points lately, I would not have been surprised to see a Hilton style gutting. So glad you were mostly wrong, but pat yourself on the back if that's your thing.

Brendan

Hobo13, I would not have "pat[ted] [my]self on the back" if FlyingHigh20 had not dissed my OP as "stupid." I started the thread in the spirit of FT to encourage everyone to grab award rooms while the grabbin' was/is best.