GoGreen

I was not allowed to check into the Martinique NYC on a BOGO from my husband's account. However I had not tried changing the guest name online in the reservation. (And since my husband was outside parking the car he checked us in, I don't know what would have happened had he not been.)

fassy

Again I'm wondering why everybody says the hotels can't see the points paid? That is only partly true...

I had plenty of stays at Radisson Blu hotels in Europe which always printed a point statement if my account detailing how much points will be finally deducted from my account for the stay and my current balance after the stay

And of course they know their category...

I guess it depends if the hotel is fully integrated and using the Carlson backend system and if the manager cares about that.

For the question if you need to be present: call the property and ask for their policy. I had good experiences with that... Compared to Marriott which more often than not will not honor free night certs if the account holder is not present.

Rumeli

Sorry for the late response.
NO. The Club Carlson system does not show the amended date, nor you receive an e-mail.
The new deal is between you and the hotel.
That is, hotel sends you personal e-mail saying that the your reservation was changed to a future date.

RM

Happy

I would also like to add that even if the hotel has canceled your reservation and refunded your points from the hotel's side (they had to call Club Carlson to process the point refund), the reservation would still show on Club Carlson site, but it does not respond on anything you try to do with it. We have such a reservation at Aqua when the award booking was non-refundable due to a alternative music festival for that weekend. Hotel agreed to let us cancel the booking and it refunded the points. However the reservation just stuck on Club Carlson website while the hotel ASSURED me that there was NO reservation in its system. I guess I need to wait till the original stay dates go pass then the "fake" reservation would fall off.

flyer12345

Zurich Radisson Airport went from 50,000 points to 70,000
Before June 1, with club Carlson credit card 2 nights 50,000 points total
after June 1, 2 nights 140,000 points, crazy devaluation

craz

Not really it went from 50k to 70k, the fact that many folks were able to get 2 nights for 50k is separate IMO. And many other top hotels went up to 70k as well. Now had 2-1 been available to each and every person (even w/o the CC) then Id agree it went from 50k to 140k but since that was never the case the devaluation is only from 50 to 70 and what you and I were able to get it for has no bearing on the end results

ExitRowAisle

Has it been determined yet whether one still has to be current US Bank Club Carlson credit card holder for the two-for-one awards to be honored? In other words, if I have a reservation using a 2-for-1 award in November 2016. Do I have to re-up and pay the annual fee to US Bank so that I am still a current credit card holder when I arrive at the hotel in November 2016?

Journey4Happy

My understanding that a reservation is a fixed reservation regardless of what happens to anything after. I had a BOGO reservation at a hotel that was switched to a Sheraton (Rio De Janeiro) and I had no problems.

Journey4Happy

While they were part of different devaluations, the fact is that it went from 50k to 140k for me (and flyer12345, and many others) pretty much overnight. By my limited perspective - that's a huge f'in devaluation!

If they had made a devaluation only for Silver Elites.... then it's a devaluation for Silver Elites - even if it wasn't for everybody else. Therefore, this is a devaluation for CC holders, even if not for everybody else.

Happy

Agree. Hardly anyone would get the credit card if not for the 2-4-1 benefit. Therefore the devaluation is a huge one for CC holders even it is not for everyone else.

We finished a 4 days stay in Park Plaza County Hall with a family studio at 62.5K pre-devaluation - that translated to 125K for 4 nights.

After devaluation it is 87.5K a night and 350k for 4 nights.

By percentage, the standard room has a higher % of devaluation as it went from 50K to 70K versus the upgraded room from 62.5K to 87.5K.

Most bookings would be made with Standard Rooms, hence the devaluation is even worse.

Anyone claims this is not a big devaluation needs to have his head re-examined - not only 50% jump in point level but losing the 2-4-1 makes it a 200% jump on point level.

I believe the cancellation rate is very high hence the apology cert.
Despite the Apology certs we received (the first batch), we would not renew the cards.

Tizzette

I always thought the last night free award was a promotion that wouldn't last.
It was a smart promotion to get people to try a weaker brand and it worked. But it was stupid to cancel that AND jack up the points prices at the same time. The annual Carlson CC bonus points of 40,000 for renewing don't go far enough compared to other programs. The Radisson Blu's I would use have gone from 50,000 to 70,000 points at $300 range hotels. The IHG and Hilton Reserve cards give you an annual free weekend night that can be used at almost all of their hotels, including the expensive ones. You use a free night certificate and pay for an additional night to come out with an affordable average of $150. Club Carlson needs to get back into a competitive position with other brands.

Happy

Agree. They can modify the 2-4-1 to give it a limit, a cap per a calendar year, something like that. It is not unlike IHG modified its Point Break bookings to no more than 2 consecutive single nights at a property. Easily be done but obviously require program changed to monitor such. Club Carlson simply does not want to invest more on that.

The chain's foot print is much more limited than either HHonors or IHG to begin with, and their top tier hotels hardly compare to other chains either.
They practically have little presence in Asia outside India for example. The latest promotion on staying at a Park Inn in America to earn bonus is a bad joke considering how many Park Inns there are in the targeted region!

It was the 2-4-1 that lured new customers but they did not realize how easy people in US can rack up points so the cost became way too big than initially anticipated.

However by jacking up the point level 50% more, the program punishes EVERYONE including those who earn their points strictly thru stays and promotions on stays - their true loyal customers. It is very stupid business decision because now a big portion of the customers gained with the CC are leaving the chain without looking back - all the marketing $ spent went down the drain.

Mountain Trader

I thought the Hilton Reserve card provided two free weekend nights, and I don't recall a prohibition on using them for consecutive nights.

Tizzette

The two nights are the sign up bonus. When you renew annually, you get one night.