dsp82

Hi,

First time poster here.
Due to a long term allocation at a Radisson Hotel, and the kind service of the hotel crew, I've managed to rack up around 1.400.000 points.

Any suggestions on to best spend them?
So far I've look at the usual hotel stays, but also at converting the point to AMEX membership points and getting some items from there.

Br,
Mads

christianj

Not sure how you are going to convert to Amex MR points. Is that even an option under the program? Airline points...yes...but I have never seen an Amex MR conversion rate. The best return on your points is likely going to be on free award nights so I personally would focus on that alternative for the points I had.

ORD-TGU

As far as I know, in the UK you can convert AMEX MR to Radisson, but no VV.
There are gift card redemption options, also Airline transfer options, but at a very poor rate. At 0.1cpp, versus hotel redemptions at anywhere from 0.4cpp and up.
I would take a nice European vacation since that is where there are nicer Radissons. (Both city and Beach Destinations)

christianj

You had Chicago listed as your location so I assumed you were US based and there are no transfer options to AMEX MR here. I would never redeem for gift cards or airline transfers since the rates are not good but people do it all the time.

If you are looking for beach in Europe, I would look at the Gran Canaria options as they seem to be highly rated. There's also a new resort on Crete that seems to get very good TA reviews. City wise I would look at London, Paris and Madrid for some of the better options. You could do Paris and then also head down to the south of France and do Cannes and Nice as well. Paris options are not as plentiful as they used to be years ago but the Champs Elysees hotel was nice enough when we stayed there.

ORD-TGU

Yes, I am based in Chicago. Correct, no transfer into AMEX MR. I don't think you can transfer into MR from any program. Chicago does have a nice RAD Blu, with EL. I think it is the best Radisson Blu I have stayed in, for multiple reasons. I stayed in the Radisson Paris Champs Elysees. The hotel is tiny , but you are paying for location, and I think it was bumped down from 70K to 50K. Nice, FR has a nice beach front location.

Overall we all know that Radisson has a limited footprint, even the nicer properties are just ok, some require too many points, and inconsistent Elite treatment. But there is value to be found in mid level properties during peak season.

But going back to the OP's question, with 1.4M points, there is plenty to do and hardly make a dent in the balance. I would visit for a week a major European city, NY, Chicago or even some cities in South America. I would also do a week beach vacation, and have plenty to spare.

xooz

I have spent a fair amount of my points on other people. Friends, relatives, people for whom 3 nights at the Raddison Blu in Chicago would be a great treat (as an example). I always just book things myself for the person so there is no transferring of points and the inherent loss of points from that.

dsp82

You're right. I misread the details, it's only one-way and the conversion rate is really bad, so best option is to spend it on free nights.
I just finished my last stay. Managed to get to Platinum again, which would probably extend to 2020, so I have some time to spend the points.

Thanks for the help and suggestions. Greatly appreciated!

snardy

I had about 600K points last year. We stayed for 4 nights at the Radisson Blu in Cannes, FR in July. It's peak season and those rooms are usually 450-500 Euros per night. Wonderful room facing the yacht harbor, awesome roof deck, large pool and spa facility, plus the sandy beach is literally outside the front door. Walk-able to tons of great shops and restaurants, but it's on the quiet end of the Cannes.

We absolutely loved it. You could combine that with a trip to the Radisson Blu in the mountains of Southern France (Radisson Blu, Arc 1950). That's an easy drive in a rental car. Plus, the south of France is just lovely - so many amazing towns, vineyards, and sites.

KiwiRob

I sold mine. There's plenty of people willing to buy them.

christianj

You might not want to scream that too loud! I am not sure but I would think that it is against the program rules.

KiwiRob

You can gift points to another person, that's within the rules, but there's nothing in the rules that says the other person can't pay you money for them.

LondonElite

You need to read the T&Cs more closely @:-)

https://www.radissonrewards.com/sect...us#obligations

Specifically:

But there is wide-ranging language that they can drain and terminate your account for just about any reason.

Phillip Smiley

Hi Mads,

Intro
By way of introduction - I am relatively new to the forums on here, but have just finished 4 years of travel and managed to get myself to Hilton - Diamond, Marriott - Platinum and even Radisson Rewards - Gold.

Unfortunately my time on the high tier status is running out and therefore I am in a similar position of spending my accumulated points. The difference I think is that when I travel, I now have a choice across the brands (Hilton, Marriott, Radisson, SPG, IHG). This means I can pick and choose, whereas Radisson alone, are a bit sparse in certain regions, that being said Radisson do have some decent hotels in Europe and I have used one in Africa.

Clarifications
Just to clarify, do you currently hold the top level status with Radisson?
Are you located in Europe?

My experience with Radisson, is varied depending on my status. Example - top tier gets you lounge access (for the few hotels which have it) and breakfast, plus an upgrade. Gold rarely gets even breakfast and sometimes they are reluctant to offer upgrades - so spend them when you are top tier is my advise!

Radisson point value
In general Radisson points are easier to accumulate in volume than Hilton/Marriott - as they have frequent double or triple point offers and this kind of devalues them a bit. However, I have found the best use is not on consecutive night stays (unlike Hilton/Marriott, Radisson do not give the 5th night free), but rather on trips across different cities. There is little incentive to use them in one trip for five nights.

Unfortunately the value you receive from the points varies greatly between cities and countries, I can provide you some examples of this which I have faced this year.

Hotel in Munich for one night is 57,000 points or £95
Hotel in Salzburg for one night is 50,000 points or £385

To put this in perspective, using your points in Munich, at a Park Inn gets you £1.66 per 1000 points, whereas using your points in Salzburg gets you £7.70 per 1000 points (which by the way is amazing value and I have yet to come across this return across all the hotel brands I have stayed with (I once got 50'000 Radisson points for a 1 night stay at a £80 hotel!!). 462% difference and using at Munich values your points at £2,333 and Salzburg values your points at £10,780!

Some people will look at the above and think that the return is amazing in Salzburg and so it should be done - however, it could be that there are other fantastic non-Radisson hotels in Salzburg which cost £80 a night - so you could be wasting your points, if you can get an alternative at a much better rate. In my instance, its peak time in summer, the hotels are fully booked, the Radisson is smack bang in the very centre and any equal alternative would be at least £250.

Ideas for spending
Based on the above, I would only use Radisson points on: 1. Luxury hotels (4-5 stars), 2. high season and 3. with status. It may be worthwhile emailing in advance if you have a reason - birthday, anniversary, special occasion - to encourage your upgrades (some are good at this, others are not).

A good way to spend is to look at some major cities/destinations where a good room is normally £200+ and which you get the best "value" from the points. In Europe I have stayed in Helsinki, Berlin, London, Croatia and in Africa - Nairobi.

If you want to relax, you could use them at one of the Radisson hotels along the coast of Croatia, these are very nice hotels and get a fairly decent return. You could do a tour of a few major European cities and stop over for 3 nights in each, maybe London, Berlin and up to Helsinki. Alternatively - we used a fair few in Nairobi between Safaris. In Nairobi you either have luxury or non-Luxury hotels - Luxury hotels have the best security etc, and in the case of the Radisson it is brilliant.

We arrived in Nairobi and stayed here and then between safaris returned. Each of the above are high value hotels and therefore use up a lot of points. Another option which I have considered myself, is doing a trip around India. The number of hotels in the 9000 to 15000 a night range is amazing, however, they are generally Park Inn.

You can check on the Radisson website for all the category 1 & 2 hotels and locations.

Let me know if you need any further tips.