takeoffwithmiles

Have not seen this posted any where.

Effective June 01, 2015 Club Carlson has announced category changes to 329 properties. 212 going up and 117 going down.

Here is the Club Carlson page with the list of properties

http://www.clubcarlson.com/offers/7768765

I have also listed this information in my blog (all the information is available in the Club Carlson Page listed above)

http://takeoffwithmiles.com/another-...stly-going-up/

shocky

Thanks for the heads-up. Booked Vienna just in time.

dw

Thanks for the heads up.

Unbelievable- all four US Blu properties are going up to Cat 7 at 70,000 points a night. I was already on the fence with the elimination of the Bonus Awards Nights, but this is the last straw for me.

gblakeb

From 11 Category 7 hotels to now 78. That's quite the increase.

Zhaunk

HAHAHAHAHA... sheesh! Well, we have 2 for 1 bookings (credit cards) at the following booked through June 2016 and they are all going up:
Rad Stockholm Waterfront 2 nights - going to 70k
Rad Royal Copenhagen 2 nights - going to 70k, we are in business class so that would be 105k (from 75)
Rad Edinburgh 4 nights - going to 70k
Rad 1919 Reykjavik 4 nights - going to 70k (from 44k). We are in business class here as well, so that means 105k.

Points it cost to book those rooms now 357,000, points it will cost June 1, 1,150,000.

dw

The real sting is that the properties going to Cat 7 are probably either currently Cat 5, meaning a 60% increase in points, or Cat 6, which is a 40% increase in points. In either case, that's huge.

LivelyFL

Ridiculous.

MD/DC Flyer

I'm glad I've manged to get some 2 nights for the price of 1 to my next year Europe trip (with all hotels going up in price mostly to Cat. 7).

It was a nice ride while it lasted, but it is now finally over. Good luck and good bye Carlson.

xooz

Well.. it was a good run. I could live with the 2 for 1 elimination, since I could stay at most London hotels with points accrued from $10K cc spend. Now, it's $14K spend. For that amount of spend, I'll probably go back to Hilton (a little more spend but I am Diamond) or the occasional Hyatt or Starwood. Glad I cashed out on 4/30.

beachfan

That's a real threat to my June 2016 plans too. I was hoping to at least have to come up with another 75k points if one of my two for ones had to shift (due to not having award flights yet). Now it will be another 105k just for a date change in a two night stay.

I was going to continue to get my 9k per month from Avis rental until year end just in case, but it takes a years worth to make up that date change.

iahphx

These changes are both awful and odd. Because of the steep decline in the Euro, other hotel loyalty programs (like Starwood) are reducing the number of points needed for their European hotels. But Club Carlson seems to be specifically targeting Europe for point increases.

So unless you're collecting points for a random stay at a Country Inns in the USA, this pretty much guts the program -- and any incentive to put spend on the US Bank credit card. Is the card even worth the annual fee for the points anymore? It's 40,000 points for $75. I do stay in a couple of Country Inns a year, and they certainly are more expensive than that. That said, there are also always other options.

I guess I'll try to get some sort of retention bonus, but their credit card has now gone from being great to being nearly useless in just a couple of months.

dw

Come June 1, the value proposition of Club Carlson as a program is going to change from a company with mostly mediocre properties and a limited footprint, but with a great loyalty program (elite recognition aside)... to a company with mostly mediocre properties, a limited footprint, and a mediocre loyalty program.

The calculus may be different for those who find themselves in EMEA a lot, but I suspect that for many of us in North America, our relationships with Club Carlson and the USBank Visa will be coming to an end.

iluvdoco

40K points for $75 is still a decent value though. At this point, maybe better to go with the Citi Prestige card that gives a 4th night free at any hotel?

NRTBound2015

I recently booked 2 for 1s in Chicago, Berlin, and Vienna, so I'm feeling pretty good about my choices.

Just got the credit card this year, and I guess it's worth spending the extra 7.5k and paying the annual fee in order to get the free night, but I can't imagine that I will keep the card after that.

lowfareair

Over 30% of the hotels decreasing are in India. Good for those traveling to India, but for those who are not it means most hotels they would go to are going up.

How in the hell does Freetown, Sierra Leone have a Cat 7 hotel in the midst of the ebola epidemic? Demand from doctors heading to the area?

The only 2 good changes for me (i.e. hotels in areas I'd want to stay in for a vacation) is an art'otel in Berlin and a CI in Panama going to a Cat 2. Contrast that to dozens upon dozens of negatives.