With so many changes to airline loyalty programs, I’ve already given up mileage runs. It’s also been a long time since I did a true mattress run, since hotel promos have been less and less enticing recently.
One chain that fails to disappoint when it comes to promos and earning points is Club Carlson. In general, I find that Club Carlson points are among the easiest to earn, especially as a Club Carlson Premier Rewards Visa Signature® Card holder (and being a card holder allows for some great redemptions too).
At just a glance, here’s what a Club Carlson member who is also a Club Carlson Visa account holder earns with hotel spend at Club Carlson properties:
- 20 base points per dollar at all brands worldwide
- 35% points bonus for being a gold elite member (a card benefit)
- and an extra 10 points per dollar for all Club Carlson property spend when you use the card.
To add to the excitement, earlier in the year, they announced a great promo called “Extend Your Stay“, which allows you to earn an additional 30,000 bonus points for 3-night stays at all Club Carlson hotels worldwide between January 12 and March 29 (you can also get 15,000 bonus points for 2-night stays).
While everyone was raving about the promotion immediately after its launch, I still hesitantly sat out because I couldn’t think of an immediate instance where I would be needing a 3-night stay.
Then yesterday, an email in my inbox came along for another targeted promo – triple points on stays up until March 31! So instead of earning 20 points per dollar, I’d have the opportunity to earn 60… and it’s stackable with everything else I just went over.
With that offer on the table, I decided to play around with nearby hotels. The first thought that came to my mind was the Radisson hotel that is a half a mile away from my OB/the hospital I that will be delivering baby #2 at.
Call me crazy, but that hospital is a solid hour and change commute from where I’m living now. I am already having vivid visions of me racing with the clock when the time comes, so the last few weeks of my pregnancy will most-likely be spent in the area either at my parents house or said hotel.
Here’s what the cost/points breakdown looks like using the cheapest rates I found during the promotional period:
- $300.84Â x 60 points/$1 = 18,050
- Extend Your Stay promo 3-night stay bonus (for stays before March 29) = 30,000 points
- 35% Bonus Points for being a Club Carlson Gold Elite = 6,317Â points
- Club Carlson Visa card 10 points/$1 bonus points = Â 3,008 points
Total points I’ll earn = 57,375
So for $300, I’ll have peace of mind and points. Considering that two nights at the Radisson Aruba costs 50,000 points, I consider this a mattress run a pretty good deal.
Are you taking advantage of these promos? If so, how does it fit into your travel plans? Anyone else doing a mattress run?
Not a big deal, but there are no points on tax,
I think Club Carlson is going the way of other programs in taking frequent stayers for granted and offering deals to others that haven’t been staying. I, along with a few people I know that stay there a lot, did not get the offer.
I left IHG for when they went that way with the Big Wins, etc. My loyalty to Club Carlson is now lessening.
I actually received this promo and have two 4day stays planned for this month. Should bank upwards of 100k points. Score!
How about doing it through Club Carlson for Business? You basically get double the points (20 points per dollar instead of 10).
http://www.clubcarlson.com/section/terms.home/termsandconditions.sidemenus#cc4b
That’s a great deal! Even if you don’t use it, your husband, baby #1, and close family who will be visiting you during your pregnancy can certainly use the hotel to shower, change, or simply just sleep & take a nap.
Congrats on baby #2.
I am also going to take advantage of this. I booked my room with the 25%discount they offered which brought the cost to $65/night. I also registered for the promo early, which will add another 10K points on top of the 30K – approximately 4K points for the stay, and 2K points for the credit card, so I think I will end up with 46K points more or less for a cost of a little over $200. I am happy with that because I will definitely use this for two free nights in Europe this summer!
And forgot about the Gold member bonus as well…. so a few more points on top of those!