milesjjcc

Is there any advantage of applying US bank credit card in branch? I have checking & savings account with them. I have total 22 inquiries on Experian & last inquiry was on 6th July. Should stay away or pull the trigger?

Happy

The spend bonus on this card has always very crummy that we dont bother much with it.

This time we happened to have some stays that would use this card so we said WTH we would register the measly offer (details below). However we never know that it would take THIS LONG to get the bonus to post!

Wow, for an additional 1 pt starting from the $301 $ put on this card, and only up to 2000 bonus pts, you would wait almost SIX months to see that measly bonus.

Below is the US Bank reply

<<Thank you for contacting U.S. Bank® via our Website about your Club CarlsonSM Premier Rewards Visa Signature® account ending in xxxx.

Our records indicate that the offer you are referring to is earn an additional point (cap of 2,000) on net spending exceeding $300.00 between 8/1/2016 and 9/30/2016. The bonus points will be awarded to qualifying accounts ten to twelve weeks after the promotion ends on 9/30/2016.>>

gpapadop

At this point I look at this bank's spending bonuses just for the laughs and to shake my head to exercise my neck muscles! Who comes up with these, wow!

DrRodneyMcKay

Wow, I've been hearing some terrible things about this card on this thread! I've been tempted to get it, as the sign-up bonus is pretty hefty (85k!) and doesn't seem to change - this thread is from years ago and it looks like the sign up bonus is the same as it was, it doesn't change the way it does with a lot of other cards to an increased sign up bonus at a particular time of year?

ORD-TGU

Terrible? The truth is that USBANK and ClubCarlson are a little on the side of incompetent, but eventually they fix things. The card is solid. A lot of people closed this card after they eliminated last night free. The chain's footprint is limited, and few "aspirational" properties in the US. But if you travel to Europe, it is good. Also, 5X on all categories is good. My SO and I still have the personal and business card and I find that the best use of points is in europe during peak times.

StartinSanDiego

I am a long term cardholder and have 3 of these cards in the household, and plan to keep them all. For outright spend, figure the cost of points as divided by 5, since it's 5 points per dollar spent. This makes some hotel rooms (the elusive 9000 point hotels) available for less than $2000 in spending. The top notch hotels are pricey, but there are plenty of mid tier hotels, especially in Europe. The 40K point renewal bonus is still a good perk.

The big beef that the long term cardholders have with the program is that it went from (unsustainably) amazing to meh, by removing the wondrous 2nd night free perk on a low redemption chart, in a short space of time. This has caused expectations of competence in points posting, renewal bonuses, spend bonuses, customer service, etc... and that has been somewhat spotty.

We still use this program more than the others, perhaps out of habit from the good ole days, but it's still my go-to hotel program. Perhaps because the rooms are mostly affordable on points, in locations we find convenient, etc. We are not fans of pricey "aspirational" hotels as a matter of course, and generally prefer to spend our time outside of the hotel room. We stay frequently at a Park Plaza hotel in Munich which, after much looking, is still the best choice for us as far as location (next to the train station), convenience and price. The free motorcycle parking and breakfast are great perks that we use.

DrRodneyMcKay

I suppose technically this card is more rewarding than most other hotel cards in how many points it gives you per dollar (5, most other hotel cards give you 1 or 2 for everyday spend). As a grad student, though, I'm never going to come close to meeting the required spend for a free night, so the benefits of my having this card are the gold status (which comes with upgrades and points bonuses) and the annual 40,000 points (which is a great deal for $75 and a great price for a room for a night). If I have to wait for months for those points to post, though, and maybe even fight with them about it that kind of adds to the 'terrible' side of the equation and makes planning travel difficult. Plus, considering CC has a larger imprint in Europe (compare their hotels in, say, London to NYC) i'm surprised the credit card has 3% foreign transaction fees- not being able to pay with a CC card for my stay at a CC hotel in most of the world is kind of ridiculous to me.

p.s. "motorcycle parking" - that fascinates me; have never seen it in the U.S. but it seems so perfect for Europe.

StartinSanDiego

When you figure out the "cost" of a hotel room in points, be sure that you divide by the earnings ratio. 20,000 in spending will get you 20,000 Starpoints (1x1) but 100,000 Club Carlson points (1x5). The Le Meridian Angor SPG hotel is about 3000 SPG points per night... the CC equivalent of 15000 points.

It's enough to make your brain go wonky, trying to remember which is which and how much it cost you/is worth, etc. But you will get the 40,000 CC points, and the time it takes to post them is not a huge issue unless you are counting on them to hit your account so that you can book a hotel. If the card is a keeper, those points will hit eventually and go into the kitty. CC also has free transfers to other accounts, so you can consolidate yours and other family members.

I agree with the 3% fee... another antiquated, irksome idea for an International hotel card that US Bank falls short upon. Why bring the darn thing?

Motorcycles are a wonderful way to see the back country of Europe. I'm not quite the enthusiast that Mr. SD is, but we store a bike in Munich and it's been great. Even in Vienna, at the Club Carlson in the heart of downtown, we found a little slot, right at the front door, to stick the bike for free. The doormen are so helpful in this regard.

DrRodneyMcKay

It really is, which I think is why we often use how how many fractions of a sent a point costs instead. It's clearer, though doing the math to figure <i>that</i> out makes my brain go wonky too. Either way, though, I spend no more than 15k per year so I'd obviously rather maximize that spend with other cards than put it all on the CC card. Its big benefit for me would be essentially a free night (or close to a free night) for $75 once a year, though I'm going to have to figure out how to time my application such that my anniversary points show up around the time when I'm planning my summer travel.

And yes - I think CC also has the opportunity to make an advance purchase of a room online, which you can probably pay for without foreign transaction fees, but otherwise it boggles the mind considering CC has a much better imprint outside the actual U.S.

Happy

The free night is based on $10K spend in a CALENDAR YEAR. It is by NO means an anniversary night. Hope you understand that. There is NO TIMING on this. Actually the timing should be, the $10K needs to be met BEFORE the December statement date to be on the safe side. Then the free night would take a minimum of 2 months, if not 3 months, to show up.

Again, it is NOT an anniversary night like other hotel cards - as you may be thinking it as a Hyatt, Marriott or IHG. It does NOT work the same way!

Assume you also know that the Club Carlson free night after spending $10K, is only good for US properties which really DONT mean much as most their US presence is the Motel type and the very low quality Radisson brand, not to be confused with Radisson Blu brand which has only one property in US - the Aqua in Chicago. The other hotel people deem good value to redeem this cert is the Martinique at NYC if that hotel remains in the family, that is.

You may want to check the Club Carlson "Search by Map" function to see if the US properties would fit your travel need before you decide should you want this card.

DrRodneyMcKay

I was referring to the free 40k points per year, not the free night after 10K spend. You get the 40k points after paying the annual fee, not after spending 10K - those 40k points are almost as good as a free night to me, since that's most of their hotel categories (and I can always buy some points if it's not enough and still have a stay for under $100).

alben

There is a Radisson Blu at the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN (MSP), and another Radisson Blu downtown Minneapolis, about 15 miles apart from each other.

ORD-TGU

Please let me know source of your information, where you found out that $10K spend is per calendar year. I have been receiving free night by membership year, important to spend by statement close date before annual fee gets billed. Not the actual fee date.

My nights have been showing up by email and on account 30 days after the fee is paid on statement close date. Anniversary miles post 60 days after statement close date.

Radisson Blu has more than Chicago Property.

When you pay annual fee and spend $10K you get both 40K points and a free night. I find flexibility in 40k points since you can easily redeem for more than 1 free night. That is not limited to US. Anniversary night is limited to US properties.

Comparing this card to others has been endlessly done. I don't compare, I just have it in addition to my other hotel cards.

Happy

Got the info from the rep on a phone call about calendar spend.

No, I did not get both on same time. The free night came out of the blue last year because I did not spend the $10K if based on Anniversary year. Rep told me it was based on Calendar Year.

The 40K was held up by 3 months after paying annual fee because I did not spend anything after paying annual fee. Called after 2nd statement and still no 40K. Supervisor said I did not need to put any spend and the 40K would post after 2 statement cycles. It did not. Still no 40K on 3rd statement after paying the AF. I finally put $1 AMZN gift card on it. It finally triggered the 40K but US bank also reversed the $1 charge, presumably too small for it to generate a statement!

I dont remember in this thread or in the Club Carlson forum about people DID NOT get their 40K even 3 or 4 months after paying the AF because they have not put charge on the cards. At least one poster complained about this on principle basis (forgot about to CFPB or just US Bank) and eventually got the 40K + 10K apology on that. Another poster also complained, and got 7500 apology points. I should have done the same because what US Bank did was clearly violation of the T&Cs in posting the annual 40K bonus after paying the AF. They try to get away from it but they would cough up apology points when people stand up and file complaints.

Happy

It takes 2 billing cycles AFTER you pay the AF for you to see the 40K. Other hotel cards post the annual free night certs on or a week to 10 days after the anniversary date, often before you pay the AF, sometimes before the AF is even billed (Chase bills on 1st business day of each month, therefore if you apply in first week of the month, your AF would not be billed several weeks after your anniversary date for example.)

Also US Bank / Club Carlson would NOT post the 40K pts even after you paid the AF, unless you have charge on the card in the subsequent billing cycles. There are DPs on how the 40K did not post 3 to 4 months after paying the AF (Mine did not post until the 4th statement). Those who complained to the authority got apology points between 7500 to 10K, on top of the very delayed 40K pts.

Many Club Carlson properties are 50K to 70K now. You really need to look at the map of their properties to decide if your travel plan would be able to use the Club Carlson hotels based on their locations and the point levels.