I just stayed at Park Inn in Calabasas on Friday-Saturday, did not check out, just told the front desk on check-in that I would be leaving early.

Points posted today!

Missed it by that much...
 

Ah heck. I've got a stay coming up Sunday night that I could make at a Radisson (I'm registered for the 50K), but the promo ends on sunday! Sent an e-mail to Club Carlson to see if the stay would qualify, but I'm not too hopeful.

Hmm... Maybe if I check in, checked out before midnight, and slept in my car the rest of the night... how bad do I want those 50K points?

Andyandy

+1

I've never understood the threads, bragging about how much I made off of a company. You're right that what kills deals more than any blogger! :rolleyes:

Ummmm, then why did you quote it in full so that even if the original is deleted there is still a copy here?

There is nothing particularly wrong with what is posted from a kill-the-deal perspective. The poster did exactly what Club Carlson wants---get people to visit their hotels. Do you think it has escaped CC's attention that you get a free standard hotel night at any Radisson property worldwide for staying a paid (or partially paid in the case of points and cash) rate at one of their hotels?

Where is Park Inn in Calabasas located?

Though it may be premature to know, did you receive the promo points for an airline voucher stay? Thank you. :)

Though I don't know about whether checking out early will earn, I just want to suggest that a Priceline lowball, a Motel 6 or a Choice Hotel with a code could beat the car and you could still come in @ reasonable $$. Actually, not knowing your style, still feeding the habit (and, "Hi! I'm Firewind!") doing it at a Choice Hotel would be 1/2 of earning 8,000 ChoicePrivileges points in their summer promo. A - compressed - variation of hotel hopping. But the crux is whether checking out before midnight would earn.

Its right in the Commons area, if you are familiar with it. Right between Sagebrush Cantina and the mall there. If you're not familiar, its off the 101 at Valley Circle (in LA).

MN Park Plaza
 

Thanks for posting. I am staying at the MN Park Plaza next week along with several family members who will be in town for a family wedding. The Tripadvisor reviews were not very good, so i'm glad to hear "adequate". We're just there for one night, so adequate will do :)

Anita

If that post gets deleted, I can edit mine.

Where exactly am I exposing some secret loophole? Everything I did was within accordance of CC's policies and the T&C of the promo.

Yes, it was a "humble brag". 6 nights at a 5-star hotel and (virtually) a roundtrip ticket to/from London for less than $400.00 is a fantastic deal. As it was done legitimately, I've got nothing to hide. Not sure why I'd need to keep it on the DL. If anything, I exposed more people to the CC brand than those that earned their points on mattress runs and/or phantom stays. They got a free room and CC got theirs + advertising. Where's the problem?

If people can't see that huge, bold, giant internet posts bragging step-by-step and blow-by-blow in agonizing detail about how well they did on some promo do not help us, well, there's not much I can say to clarify. Some people get a bit of glory and parade around like a big shot, while the rest of the world takes the risk of losing out in the future.

Google "Tragedy of the Commons."

And please note, I am not decrying anyone pushing these things to the absolute limit. Certainly not I. I just want people to keep quiet; it's not much to ask.

If this deal comes back, you will have been proven right, that it apparently makes no difference. If not, it's going to be hard for me to demonstrate that I was proven right.

In addition, I have just one more word: Airfarewatchdog.

I, my wife and sister all signed up for the this 44k to 50k promo and have stayed and so far received most of our points.

I want to transfer points from 2 of the account to the 3rd account. My wife has Gold status on CC account. My sister & I don't but I am the one who will do the traveling/club carlson hotel stay in future in my name. Should My wife & sister's points should be transferred to my account or we should transfer our points to her account?
I like my wife's gold status but if future CC hotel stay is not in her name, then?

For the transfer, I have to just call and give the CC account name & number of my wife and sister's and that's it for instant transfer?
thanks

Me posting about following the T&C to acquire a lot of points and how I am spending them will have zero effect on whether or not the promo will come back. Just like publicizing info for the phantom hotel last time had zero effect on the promo coming back this time. Otherwise, this entire board needs to be shut down for killing every airline/credit card/hotel points/error rate that's out there. Not to mention, the dozens of blogs that relay the same info. I did nothing wrong, did not encourage others to do anything wrong and did everything within the spirit, and parameters, of the program. The promo itself is almost over and the slots to register have already been filled.

Your suggestion is noted, considered and rejected. Get off the high horse.

Last minute brg
 

Anyone looking for a last minute brg try bookit.com. Just got mine approved.

My Radisson stay posted pretty quickly, like two days but my CIS stay took over ten days. I was starting to panic that I actually hadn't signed up as I couldn't find the confirmation email CC sends upon registration.

Has anyone tried staying in two different hotels on the same night? The cheapest Country Inn and Radisson in my area both have significantly lower rates on Friday. I can easily check into both, but I'm a little worried about whether the points and bonuses will properly post.

With all due respect, looking at our respective signup dates for FT I have likely been at this a LOT longer than you have and have the gray hair to prove it. Please consider for a moment that perhaps I know some things you don't, and have seen this merry-go-round many dozens of times.

You are totally incorrect that the discussion of phantom stays had no effect on the repeat of this promo. Hotel operators were specifically told this time to look at IDs of all patrons checking in and checking out. You don't think that's in response to the discussion of phantoms last time?

As for the bloggers, well, I've given up hope that many of them will be responsible on this stuff. They get their posts and their pageviews and their income. Lots of times they are not our friends. Was assuming folks on here might understand.

Probably 50-100 or more FTers could have posted just such a rundown as you did, some much more impressive, by the way. Have you wondered why they didn't?

Years ago, there was an understanding that certain things had to be kept quiet. It was like being in the CIA. No longer, sadly, which I why valuable tricks some of us have figured out get discussed privately and will never see the light of day. People get blackballed and may never know why they don't find out certain things.

And the kicker is that you are not gaining anything with your details anyway.

Well this conversation really got going! :)

I think there's some confusion and misconceptions going on.

spankytoes claims that everything has been done fairly and in accordance with the T&Cs. And, if the relatives mentioned each checked in and out, then he/she is right. No problems there, and Club Carlson should be happy!

My concern is that Club Carlson probably does not expect 5 people to siphon all their points into 1 account (and what nice relatives spankytoes has to allow this!). It takes AWAY loyalty because logically the people whose points are being transferred are probably no longer planning to stay at the properties. If they see numerous people doing it, for example by publicly mentioning it here, then they might say "hmmm, we need to put a stop to this or limit it somehow". And this is something I'd rather not see.

Another "old timer" here. We had 6 stays between my wife & I. (CIS, Park INN, Radisson). They checked ID's at both check in and check out. Unlike some of the previous posters, we did full overnight stays and got introduced to the Carlson family of hotels. We usually stay at Starwoods, Hiltons, Hyatt, Marriott & do Priceline Bidding for hotels. We have not stayed at any Carlson family of hotels with one exception: We did a VDB (gave up our seats) on United a few years ago @ORD and UA put us up at the OHare Radisson.

I agree with keeping the "out of ordinary stuff" to ourselves ((like setting up multiple accounts (more than 2) and transferring into one central account and other non traditional stuff like not having full overnight stays)).

In the older days, the great deals lasted alot longer. Now they get shut down and/or changed for the worse during the existing promo or for the next time.

Bottom line: It is best to keep "out of ordinary" stuff very discrete. Use PM's instead of bragging about it. Too many great deals do not last very long. :td:

Folks, i have not received a response regarding a brg, i booked monday night and my room is for tomorrow... Is that normal?

Agree. Absolutely nothing good comes out of bragging. Nothing. If you're trying to figure out whether something you're about to post is helping the ft community or bragging, trust me, it's probably bragging.

I thought as per BRG rules, you need to make the booking at least 48 hours before 12am of the check-in date, in order to be eligible for BRG.

In any case, it might not hurt to call and see if they can do something about it.

In my 2 experiences using the BRG, I was not contacted by anyone from Club Carlson within the 48 hour period that I was promised after submitting the claim.

I had to call in and speak with a corporate rep to get the BRG going. I hope you took a screenshot of the cheaper rate, or it will be hard to dispute.

I hope this isn't a representation of how slow CC is to respond to BRG claims. :td:

Do you have a good number to contact them on this?

800-333-3333, although I think I was redirected a few times. Make sure that you speak with someone at corporate, and NOT someone at the hotel chain's front desk.

I used +1 (888) 288-8889 and then got transferred to someone in corporate (one hop).

See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/18902444-post134.html for my advice.

Got it! $66 before tax!

Regarding the BRG, I see a lot of people are getting lower rates than those listed at CC's sites. I've compared CC's rates and they are always the same or lower than those at major sites like Expedia, etc. Anyone knows a site where you are more likely to get a lower rate?

I, my wife and sister all signed up for the this 44k to 50k promo and have stayed and so far received most of our points.

I want to transfer points from 2 of the account to the 3rd account. My wife has Gold status on CC account. My sister & I don't but I am the one who will do the traveling/club carlson hotel stay in future in my name. Should My wife & sister's points should be transferred to my account or we should transfer our points to her account?
I like my wife's gold status but if future CC hotel stay is not in her name, then?

For the transfer, I have to just call and give the CC account name & number of my wife and sister's and that's it for instant transfer?
thanks

Try:

www.hotels.com
www.getaroom.com

Both sites have always been cheaper with every one of my searches.

Kayak has been of great help to me on this. You can execute a search using the hotel name, and Kayak will pull up rates from multiple sites and show it you on a single page.

Hello emptiness
 

You have a PM

Now that the promotion is coming to an end... Anybody try transferring points yet? Care to share your experience?

Very Easy to Transfer
 

Since I do all the travel arrangements I had my husband call and transfer his points into my account. Just call 1-888-288-8889. Tell them you wish to transfer your points to another account and provide both account numbers. No fee, no hassles and effective immediately. I don't know if the points expire or not. I assume they are treated just as if I earned them. They show up on your statement as gifted points.

Looks like I'll just squeeze in on two stays near ORD tonight and tomorrow. No chance for the Park Inn, though -- I'll be in California soon but nowhere near Fresno, and since I'll be out west, a jaunt to Sault Ste. Marie is not possible, either.

Would a one night with 14th check-in qualify for a stay "(...) and July 15th"?

Thinking about doing a mattress run to get a country inn stay before the promo ends. Of course rate just went up from when I checked the other night.

Which option would you choose:

all cash option - room total for 1 night: $93.89

or

cash + points - 5k points plus $75.11

What do you think? Even worth it for a mattress run? I'm already sitting on 250k CC points btw. :D

From the Country Inns & Suites email:

"Simply complete a qualifying one night stay at any Country Inns & Suites By CarlsonSM hotel now through July 15, 2012 and earn enough bonus Gold Points for a FREE night at any Country Inns & Suites location worldwide."

Same for the Radisson email.

So I guess as long as the check-out is done on the 15th, then it should qualify? Would hate to run into some fine print loop hole :-)