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I used to stay multiple times a year at a Country Inn & Suites near SNA airport which charged 45000 Radisson points for an award stay, even though paid rates were rarely that far over $100 (so I always paid and earned, and never redeemed).

Then in the past year that Country Inn & Suites converted to a Mainstay Suites in the Choice program, and now it charges 12000 or 16000 Choice points depending on the season. So because of that, i was afraid that the conversion might be closer to 1:3! I thus think 1:2 is very fair given how many more points were needed for equivalent properties in the two programs, and I can't think of a better example that a recently-converted property.

Meanwhile, when the two programs actually merge, they'll have to figure out things other than point conversions, so it's not clear whether the 100-day booking window will stick. But they haven't announced anything else about how things will work after the merger, except that the automatic conversion (if you do nothing except link the two programs) will be the same as the current manual optional conversion.

centrifuge41

I haven't stayed at any Econolodge/Rodeway, but my guess is they're probably less nice than the typical Country Inn. Many 8000 point Choice properties are Econolodge/Rodeway (or e.g. poorly rated Quality Inn). I've stayed at a good number of 15k Country Inns. With this conversion ratio, that's equivalent to a tiny 7500 Choice points. Hopefully these properties' prices don't increase too much when the program is fully integrated.

I do also hope that Choice extends the 100 day award booking window.

Happy

Have anyone tried to transfer their points to Choice?

I had a Choice account many many years ago and I presume it should be long dead. So I would need to create a new account first. On the Choice thread several reported they have encountered error messages even though both accounts been existent for several years.

Andy2

Yes, my 850,000 Radisson went to 425,000 Choice in two gulps. My Choice account had long gone to 0. I submitted my email address and got a new Password. The account was so old that I couldn't tell if they created a new account, or not.

Trust me, it will be a Happy day in your life when this happens. I can't tell you how many times I slammed the phone down on a Radisson representative who would tell me how to use a U.S. Bank free night even though what they told me didn't work. And I have zero temper. Finally we all learned the trick of making the award reservation and not logging in until the very end.

Radisson had become a P.O.S. program. It once had two excellent NYC properties with free upgrades to excellent rooms. But first the upgrades stopped. Then the two good hotels left the program.

I thought my remaining Radisson points were trash, then this Choice miracle happened.

Happy

Thanks for the DP. I last used my Choice account was more than 15 years ago or even longer. Though the email address should remain the same. I will try if it recognizes the email address.

I understand your feeling on the Radisson program. They gutted it long time ago. So many things broken on their site but they never bother to fix it, ever since it is sold to the Chinese owner.

GUWonder

I'm reminded of the phrase of "be careful what you wish for .....".

I'm in the field of those who hope Choice does not extend the 100 day award booking window for its general customer pool. If they expand the general award booking window to match that applicable for regular (cash/card) paid rate plans, it will likely lead to a decrease in the value that I get out of redeeming my points from the US Choice program.

I'm also in the field of expecting to be disappointed by "innovations" in the space when programs are merged.

TTT103

Help me understand your logic, as I'm not following it.

GUWonder

With the 100 day window applicable for point redemption hotel bookings, the program and hotels are less likely to see point redemptions eat as much of their standard room availability and into their revenue from standard room sales as they would with a 1 year (or other long) booking window applicable for redemptions. When the hotels and the program see an increased cost (inclusive of in the opportunity cost sense) from making rooms available for points redemption — and that’s what an expanded window will lead to in this case — the hotels and the program owner/operator will be more motivated to devalue the program points than they already are to do so. And that’s just part of why I am wary of wishes for a greater than 100 day booking window for point redemptions coming from this program as the integration advances.

TTT103

I understand your logic, but as a consumer, I couldn't tell you the last time I stayed at a Choice property, as I washed my hands of earning Choice Reward points due to the 100-day limitation on award travel. Accordingly, because of that single limitation, Choice hasn't received paid stays from me. I used to frequently stay at Choice hotels for business and leisure, as they had some locations not served by other franchises, but haven't done so in years.

JapanFlyerT

Would there be any logic in transferring from Choice to Radisson? Seems like most FTers are only discussing Radisson to Choice.
I wouldn't mind having access to some of Radisson's resort properties in the future.

GUWonder

If Radisson properties are loaded for a destination of interest for dates of interest at an acceptable point price while Choice points don’t work for such destination and/or dates, then there could be use for at least some of those with Choice point balances wanting to do that or wanting to get ahead of a potential devaluation of the points.

rrgg

I think there's been no announcement on when transfers between Radisson and Radisson Americas will end. Is that correct? With their track record I expect it to happen with zero notice.

FYI, maybe it's totally unrelated but Radisson non-Americas says their app will be down 2/19-2/20 due to maintenance.

SBT

Yes, in certain occassions.For one, Radisson makes it very easy to book a room for another individual. Just the other day, I booked a room at a Tier One property for only 10,000 Radisson points. Cost only 5,000 Choice points transfered to Radisson. Good deal.

anc305

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bluerunningsocks

Hopefully the transition to Choice goes smoothly. I feel the need to salute CC / Radisson program for the years of service it has provided. I built up a massive stash of CC points around 2009/2010 during the heyday of the $1 coin MS.

While most folks on FT were focused on higher profile programs, I usually opted for the budget-but-not-trashy stays, at times virtually living in Country Inn hotels (remember 3rd night free redemptions? Did those back to back to back). Then using 5k cash+points to stretch points when running low on points. Somehow I always earned back more points than expected for those stays. Plus the CC Biz card gave a free night per year + 60k points. I did a 20k redemption a couple of weeks ago, likely the last redemption before moving to Choice. Many Country Inns have gone downhill over the years.

Any other good points programs out there for this tier of hotel?