Originally Posted by
Tango Alpha
So just one status match in a lifetime.
That's nothing but fair and reasonable.
Never mind, AFAIR I never used my Carlson Gold for anything.
I had a hardtime finding a purpose for CC as well. Though benefiting from and using the status aren't the same thing, I do find it only to make sense if you regularly travel to locations where they are the obvious or top 3 choice.
The earnings on CC are very good if you stay in their hotels, reaching Gold is only 20 stays vs 35 nights which is a very good ratio if you want to play the check-in/out game everyday to quickly ramp up the status. Unfortunately it is not a brand you can rely on globally for quality hotels, while it is improving they have a long way to go. If you reside or travel frequently in the Nordics and/or London they are a good choice where the ratio between earnings vs the cost of reward stays and availability is actually very good. I've never not been able to get same or next-day reward bookings, unless the hotel was sold out in the first place.
It is a tough hotel program to have as a first choice if travel outside their dense markets but makes a lot of sense if you do. The odds of being able to leverage the program in practically all Nordic markets are way better than the other major international chains. If not just from a convenience perspective.