missydarlin

According to the Customer Service reps that I spoke to this morning, it sounds like Club Carlson is tightening up their "gifting" policy.

Basically my brother called them this morning to transfer his points to me and was told that they had just changed the policy and wouldn't let him do it ...and it had something to do with his Red status.

So I called this morning and asked if I could transfer to him.. since I had Gold Status. The agent I spoke to hadn't heard of the new policy, but checked with her supervisor and found out that there was in fact a policy change, but not effective til June 1, so he should call back as soon as possible if he wanted to transfer the points.

At that point I pretty much got off the phone and called my brother back and didn't ask for more details ... but according to what my brother was told:

Transferring of points will only work between members of the same household (same address on file).

You have to wait 30 days from any change of profile address to facilitate such transfer.

Possibly some sort of limitation in the number of transfers per year?

Some or all of these rules may not apply if the points are coming out of an elite account.

I haven't had time to call back and find out all of the details, but I'm hoping that this tightening of transfer restrictions is a precursor to them launching another Big Night Giveaway promo.

spankytoes

Surprised that they haven't done this already. The last 2 years I recruited family and coworkers to stay in a Radisson on my dime in exchange for transferring the points to my account. I think I ended up with a plane ticket, 5 nights in Berlin and 4 nights in London for less than $500 a.i. It shouldn't be that easy.

However, this was a major perk of the CC brand. Their elite offerings are pathetic. Big deterrent for continuing to frequent there if true.

missydarlin

It's my understanding that your family member/coworker could still book a stay for you out of their account...so not a total loss.

spankytoes

Wouldn't work for the BNG because of the earning cap per property brand. (IE 1 night at Radisson, RB, PP, CIS, PI per account) No other promos are worth the cost/effort to mattress run.

SanDiego1K

That's big news. Thanks, Missy.

missydarlin

What wouldn't work?

While its certainly easier and more efficient to transfer all the spoils into one account to use them, its not necessary to do so.

Pretty much every member of my family participated in the BNG. And my parents just got back from a trip to Europe where they stayed on reservations booked out of the accounts of my brother, sister, and myself. We didn't even bother to transfer points into my mom's account, we just booked them out of the accounts they were earned in.

It will be harder to use orphan miles ... as in my situation this morning, where one of the accounts was just short of the 50K needed to book the night. Rather than buy up, we just transferred enough points to make it happen.

spankytoes

You pretty much answered the question already. Orphan points are a net loss.

Assume that I have 3 other family members do a mattress run with me and my wife at an average of $75 per night.

Radisson: 6,000 for online booking and 4,500 for normal earning
CIS: ""
PI: ""

That's 31,500 points spread between 3 different accounts. That's 3-6 C&P rates, a redemption at a Cat. 1-3 hotel or the opportunity to upgrade to a premium award. Each account has 10,500 points which really limits your redemption options.

missydarlin

But you said it wouldn't work for BNG ... where it would be in the vicinity of 150K per account ... not 10.5K ... or did I misunderstand your post?

spankytoes

Lets start over...

I enlist 3 people on a mattress run for 3 brands on the BNG promo. Each room costs me $100.00 per person per night. For 9 rooms/3 nights, I am spending $900.00. For this I get the following:

Radisson: 150,000 bonus, 6,000 online booking, 6,000 normal earnings
CIS: 132,000 bonus, 6,000 OB, 6,000 NE
PI: 132,000 bonus, 6,000 OB, 6,000 NE

Total: 450,000 points across 3 accounts (150,000 per account)

This is absolutely ideal as it gives me 9 nights at a 50K redemption rate cleanly.

Now, let's say that the average room ups to $150.00 per night...

Radisson, 150,000 bonus, 6,000 OB, 9,000 normal earnings
CIS: 132,000 bonus, 6,000 OB, 9,000 NE
PI: 132,000 bonus, 6,000 OB, 9,000 NE

Total: 459,000 points across 3 accounts (153,000 per account)

This is what I have a problem with. I clear the 150,000 hurdle for 9 nights but I have 3,000 orphan points in 3 accounts. In the past, I could add these to my account along side my wife and I's increased online booking bonus and normal earnings as Gold members to squeeze out another 50K night. (Or, at the very least, rack up some C&P opportunities) Because of the change, the orphan points now become useless despite the fact that I paid an extra $450.00 in room rates. ($50 per room per night; $100 vs. $150) $450.00 could purchase 64,000 points that WOULD go into my account. (Technically, 32K for my account and 32K for the Mrs to be transferred over to me) Or, better yet, pay for the room itself and probably come out ahead while earning points the normal way.

This is why I say that I'd have to evaluate my future stays with CC. I'm a strictly promos guy and it doesn't make financial sense to fund mattress runs sans the BNG...especially with an inability to transfer. The math has to make sense now that the net result has changed in status quo.

Hopefully, that clears it up.

Vuelos

That's probably part of the point... to get gamers out and reward actually "valuable" members...

Macken7

My wife just moved her points (Gold) to my account (Siver) via phone. The points appeared in my account right away. I was planning on doing this anyway and the notice of pending changes got me moving.

skaya

No changes for elites. Only for reds.

missydarlin

Yes... thank you.

I guess I just feel that even the extra $50 + 1,000 orphan points per night average cost is a screaming deal.

But this is considering that all of my points have been redeemed at properties that were going for over 300€ per night.

treppenlaeufer

From the T&Cs, eff. 1st June 2013:

"7. TRANSFERABILITY OF GOLD POINTS
Elite members may transfer Points from their account to another Program member account upon request. All other members (non-Elite) may transfer Points to another Program member residing in the same household provided that both individuals have been a Program member for at least one year and the addresses for either account involved in the transfer have not been up updated within thirty (30) days prior to the transfer request. All members can request a transfer by contacting Member Services. Club Carlson reserves the right to require proof of eligibility or residency and, in its sole discretion, deny a Point transfer request."

jerryhung

This CC change is exactly to do this - deter people who abuse the systems
I'm CC Gold (via AMEX Platinum card) so this change wouldn't affect me anyway

I learned and loved the CC program via the 50K promo, the 44K promo, and S1G1
and not crazy enough to hire others to do it for me or abuse the promos

Honestly, I still have ~300K points across 2 accounts that are hard to use for North America since most CC hotels aren't good in NA (besides Radisson Blue Chicago and Radisson Martinique NYC)....some don't show much Points rewards nights either

but totally agree, CC Points would be very valuable for Europe Radissons