Goldpoints Plus
 

Any news about Goldpoints Plus? Apparently it is being launched on January 16. The email announcing the new program says there will be elite status.

The new website will be www.goldpointsplus.com - it will launch on or around January 16.
There will be 3 levels - base, silver elite, and gold elite. Elite status will be based on points earned at hotels only (and for room rate only, not full fulio) - not points earned through the broader Gold Points program. There are point bonus for online bookings, though, so elite status will be pretty darned easy to achieve.
For the majority of 2005, the program will apply only for hotel stays in the Americas plus a few hotels in Europe and the UK.

I am not speaking officially for the company or the program - just sharing a few pieces of info... ;)

There is an article at NotiFlyer about the new changes:

http://www.webflyer.com/programs/notiflyer/#art_208

Carlson Hotels Launches New, Cross-Brand Loyalty Program
(Posted: Jan 12, 2005)

Say what you want about Minnesota winters, but don’t think that North Star Staters are idle while the snow flies.
Minneapolis-based Carlson Hotels Worldwide (think Radisson, Park Plaza and Country Inns) has just announced the launch of a revised loyalty program, goldpoints plus.
Of course, all of Carlson’s hotels have had loyalty programs for some time: Radisson had Gold Rewards, Country Inns had Gold Points Rewards, and Park Plaza had Park Rewards.
The new program draws all the previous schemes under one umbrella. Members of goldpoints plus can now earn points at Radisson Hotels & Resorts, Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Country Inns & Suites By Carlson and Park Inn locations worldwide. This includes all the Carlson-affiliated hotels in the Americas, and partner properties operated by Rezidor SAS Hospitality in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
That bears repeating – the new program is slated to cover all SAS properties. For years, a common complaint from members has been that Radisson’s program lacked continuity in international markets. Members had difficulty with both earning and redemption at European properties. That problem, it would appear, has been solved.
Another major change is the way in which members earn points. Previously, Gold Rewards members earned a flat 1,000 points per stay at a Radisson hotel. Now, members earn 10 points per dollar spent at stays at all Carlson properties – a much more familiar standard for frequent guest programs.
Carlson was also formerly criticized for the lack of an elite program. Not until March of 2003 was an elite program implemented. The new program improves upon that, offering levels of membership: Base, Silver Elite and Gold Elite. Silver Elite is reached at 5,000 points; Gold at 10,000. Upon reaching the elite tier levels, guests will earn 50 percent and 75 percent bonuses respectively on the points earned on hotel stays. Elite members will also have additional reward privileges, such as the option to convert points to a major credit card rewards program.
And of course, goldpoints plus is a part of the Gold Points network, which, loosely translated, means that members can earn and burn points with over 1,500 participating merchants.
LINK: http://www.goldpointsplus.com

As a Goldpoints meber, do I need to register gain for Goldpoints Plus? I took a look at the new Goldpoints Plus site (http://www.goldpointsplus.com/) however it does not mention what to do if one is a previous Goldpoints member.

Under My Account, it says this:

Your account information (including your current Gold Points® balance) will be available soon on goldpointsplus.com.

For now, please visit goldpoints.com to find out how many points are currently in your account. Or, call the goldpoints plusSM Customer Service Center to get your point balance.

Not a definitive answer, but it looks like you may just keep your old goldpoints account.

I received a new Gold Points Plus Gold Elite card in the mail. It has a new account number, but the documentation with it shows my old Gold Points balance.

I am staying at a Raddison in California next week and will present the both cards at check in. Maybe they will give me a upgraded room.

No upgrade and the desk staff did not know the difference or any changes to the program. Upon my inquiry for upgrade the snooty clerk told me a suite was available for $400 / night!! :rolleyes: The hotel was clearly ex Sheraton & still under renovation. Newport Beach Radisson.

If you checked in after the new program started (1/16/05), the clerk definitely should have been aware of the program changes. If you are Gold Elite, you should also get a 75% point bonus. The program does not necessarily call for room upgrades for elite members, the clerk should not have been snotty about it. You might want to contact the Elite Gold Points Plus number at 800-613-3333.

No mention of TGI Friday's on the new program's letter or on their website. So do you use the old card at Fridays and the new one at hotels? And if you transfer points out, which account number do I use? Also which account do you use for the quarterly 500 point email bonus, the old one as it is not mentioned on the new site.
Seems the 1000 points to--> 125 Amex MR points --> 125 Hawaiian miles --> 250 Hilton points would be the way to go for me.....

JudyJFLA
Confused in Florida

Goldpoints plus
 

The Goldpoints plus program is still a part of the Gold Points Reward Network. I believe this program was started more for just the Carlson Hotels. This page explains the earning opportunities within the program: http://www.goldpoints.com/common/Dis...&group=aboutus

With the new program, it seems like earning and redeeming the points will be easier.

Don't know about earning, but with redemption, they've done what every program seems to do: increase redemption costs for (some) hotels and classes, and made it harder to switch to airline programs.

Got my card this week and was reading the rules online. Card has a new number on the front but my old number on the back (I assume it's my old number, haven't checked digit-by-digit).

Hotels are now 25K/30K/60K instead of 20K/30K/60K. Checking a place I know (Toronto), Admiral on QQ is still 30K, Suites on Dixon Road is 30K from 20K (class change), the others are 25K from 20K (no class change, just higher cost).

You can no longer transfer points on demand to an airline plan unless you're Elite. Instead you have to set up the automatic transfer and they'll check weekly and transfer in lots of 1000 (->125, so that hasn't increased from 8:1 since the fiasco of a couple of years go). Still limited to 1MM per year to airline programs so I wonder what would happen if I set up the auto transfer, would they stop at 1MM and leave the rest alone? Screws up the idea of moving enough for a BA upgrade or an AA ticket in North America. :(

Oh well, in this business none of the plans ever really gets better, only worse.

=aw

I agree,
The transfers really screw up the best use of the points; using them to pop a minimum amount into a program to keep the miles alive for 3 more years. I assume that one could keep changing the auto transfer program to different airlines, but that would take more planning.
How I miss those huge promos of several years ago. I remember that you were a big player in those :) The only one now worth messing with is the Hilton City of hope promo, but no points will post until Nov 2005.

JudyJFLA
Missing all those gift certificate promos!

The Gold Points Plus number is the same as your old account number - since all Gold Points account numbers start with the same 6 digits, they dropped them from the front of the card and just put them on the back of the card - something about believing guests can more easily remember their 10 digit account number rather than a 16 digit number...

Redemption amounts did increase, but it may be easier to receive redemptions now because there are point bonuses for elite members. You can also receive 1,000 points for booking via the Gold Points Plus website or the Radisson/Country/Park websites.

Thanks buffy888 I sent feedback to Radisson regarding my poor experience and they made things right with a nice voucher for a free stay! ^

Can we consider you the official FT Radisson Lurker?

TGIFridays
 

Got the new card and visited the golpointsplus site. I see how you can still REDEEM for TGIFridays. But will you still earn points by eating there?