There was a hard announcement to swallow this morning when we learned that the bonus award night benefit with the Club Carlson Premier Rewards Visa Signature® Card was going to disappear after June 1, 2015.
This news quickly created a mass panic among the blog-o-sphere for valid reasons.
Not only did I confirm these changes were in fact true with both U.S. Bank and Club Carlson, I just received an official email announcing the changes as well. Here’s what the email says:
There is a light at the end of the tunnel though; pay close attention to the last paragraph:
And, to thank you for your continued loyalty, you can earn 30,000 bonus Gold Points® on your next Eligible Stay at a Carlson Rezidor hotel worldwide when you pay with your Club CarlsonSM Visa®. Offer ends August 31, 2015. Terms and conditions apply.
As a good-will gesture, Club Carlson is offering Club Carlson members a chance to earn 30,000 bonus Gold Points on their next eligible say between April 1 and August 31, 2015. That is a VERY generous promotion to help lessen the blow.
Here are the T&C:
The 30,000 Bonus Points Offer (the “Offer”) is available only to Club CarlsonSM Visa® cardholders. The Offer is valid for 30,000 bonus Gold Points® on an Eligible Stay between April 1, 2015 and August 31, 2015 (“Promotion Period”). One Offer per Club Carlson Visa account holder. You must provide your Club Carlson number at the time of reservation or at check-in and pay for your stay with your Club CarlsonSM Visa®. Stays or nights paid for by redeeming points or by using Points + Cash are not eligible for the Offer
So even a cheap $60 stay can generate a 30,000-point bonus, and maybe the best strategy after all would be to book this stay ASAP, have the points deposit, and then make a bonus award night booking before June 1.
Does this mean I might be tempted to book yet another Club Carlson mattress run?
Well, (as my dad would say), that’s nothing to shake a stick at!
I’ll back up AJM and say “It’s like a poke in the eye with a sharp stick” except they are going to give you a few bucks to make up for it :)
Haha, still better than them saying “oh well, too bad!” like most programs ::cough:::United::cough::
So, I have two Club Carlson Visa accounts (one business, one personal – each with its own ClubCarlson membership number).
Do I understand correctly that two separate stays – each paid with a different card – would generate the 30,000 mile bonus twice (one for each of the separate Club Carlson accounts)?
Would make sense if this were the case, but it’s hard to tell for sure.
Yes, that’s how I’m interpreting it as well.
You see, he takes something away with one hand, and hands you something with the other. You have to stay little bit Zen (or a little bit Mr. Rogers if you prefer) when stuff comes along. I thought you were using a wee bit much hyperbole (ha ha) this morning when you wrote you were crying over losing the free night benefit.
We all know what was going on. Some jerks thought they had outwitted the system by booking long vacations as a series of two-night stays to turn their Carlson card into a perpetual half-price coupon. That was not gonna last. US Bank is not a charity.
A 30,000 point stackable promo is a pretty darn nice way of saying “let’s still be friends.” Hey, none of my ex-girlfriends ever gave me 30,000 points. (ha ha)
Do you think this would stack with the 5,000 point bonus for booking via the app? Also, would 35k points be worth an $80 booking?
Yup, I don’t see why it wouldn’t stack. I’ll come up with a post tonight with other ways to stack/earn the most points. Also consider gold booking bonus, 10x for using the card etc… and yes I would definitely say 35K points is worth an $80 booking.
And those us who who have not received the email get the sharp stick… assuming this is targeted offer. I’m disappointed with Club Carlson/US Bank but not Delta disappointed. At least I still have my upcoming stays in London and Amsterdam booked on points with bonus award night benefit a couple months ago.
Club Carlson tweeted earlier today saying that all card members are eligible.
I received an e-mail with no mention of the 30k bonus (do have the card). The 30k would have been nice considering I actually do have plans to stay at one or two CC hotels over the next 6 weeks.
Club Carlson tweeted earlier today saying that all card members are eligible.
I can’t believe you are trying to sugar coat this! I & my wife have 500,000 points & were planing a long trip to a bunch of places in France. There is no good news in this, IMHO.
Definitely not sugar coating it. I’m still pathetically upset over the news. I do think this is a way to lessen the blow instead of most loyalty programs’ “too bad, so sad” attitude. I have 250K points at stake too, but this just further backs up what I preach : earn and burn. I hate having large balances because it is foolish to think deals like this will last forever, sadly. I’m in the same boat at as you and everyone else.
It’s easy to follow the earn and burn mantra when you are an individual. Try saving/redeeming miles and points when you are a family of five – two adults three children! Club Carlson’s bonus night benefit elimination has gutted my family’s ability to optimize all the points we have used and accrued via paid stays and CC Visa credit card spend. Thanks for the memories Club Carlson – as soon as we use our last CC points we are done with you. BTW, If we managed our three generation business like Club Carlson we would have been out of business a generation ago.
I already booked a stay for this weekend through the app, for that bonus. Since it says ‘eligible stay’ and make sure you give your cc # at check-in, do you think I will get the bonus? It does not specifically state a new reservation is needed. Thanks