Goodbye Carlson Rezidor’s Club Carlson, Hello Radisson Rewards from Radisson Hotel Groupâ„¢.
Today, newly rebranded Radisson Hotel Group™ introduces a refreshed and updated loyalty program called Radisson Rewards™, replacing Club Carlson SM.
This change was made in part so that members can easily align and associate their rewards with the hotels where they earn their points.
In addition to the overall name change, Radisson Rewards will include new tier names for easy understanding of the tier structure and new thresholds for a faster and more accessible path to elite status:
One program enhancement that stood out to me is that obtaining elite status is easier and more accessible for members now that there’s a lower stay/night requirement in place to qualify each year.
Below is a comparison of the former threshold vs. the new threshold of stays and nights needed to reach each elite tier:
New thresholds will be applied in 2018 based on 2017 activity, so many guests may be surprised to find themselves at a higher tier than expected.
Elite Member Benefits
If you already have an existing Club Carlson account, all current account numbers and point balances remain the same during the transition into Radisson Rewards.
The new and updated member benefits chart can be found here.
Club and Platinum maintain their earning structure, while Gold and Silver come down slightly; however, these changes allow members to achieve higher tiers faster, earning more points per dollar spent.
Just as it was previously, free breakfast is only available to top-tier Platinum members, while complimentary bottled water is available to all guests.
With free nights starting at just 9,000 points per night, Radisson Rewards is one of the more generous hotel loyalty programs.
A Club member who earns 20 points per dollar will only have to spend $450 during their stay to earn 9,000 points.
At 35 points per dollar, Platinum members can earn 9,000 points by just spending $257 during their stay.Â
New Radisson Rewards App
The good news is the new Radisson Rewards mobile app will maintain all of the functionality of the existing app to ensure a consistent member experience across platforms. I’ve previously blogged about the “Extras” section in the Club Carlson app as an easy way to prevent points from expiring, so I’m very happy about that.
Radisson Rewards Credit Cards
With the rebrand, of course comes new credit cards. Here’s what I know:
- Cards will continue to be issued by US Bank
- U.S. Radisson Rewards Visa cardholders can now earn up to 3 free award nights upon renewal, on top of the points they already earn for spend.
- Current members will not receive a new card until their current Visa card expires. The card will continue to be valid and earn points within the program.
- New members applying for the card after March 5, 2018, will receive a Radisson Rewards branded card.
- New members who applied before March 5, 2018 but did not receive their card prior to March 5 will receive a Radisson Rewards branded card.
No Changes to Award Chart
With any new program announcement, the first thing that comes to mind for me is a devaluation, so that’s one of the first questions I asked the Head of Global Loyalty and Engagement, Efrem Berman:
Great news – there is no change to our award chart!
Status Matching
I also inquired about the potential for status matches from other programs and was told that the current approach for status matching will remain the same.
As of now the only approach I know is if you have elite status with Accor Hotels, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG Marriott or Starwood, take a screenshot of your online account statement that shows your status and send an email to goldpointsplus@carlson.com and include your Club Carlson account number.
I would guess that email will be changing in the near future.
Bottom Line
Overall, I think these changes are a step in the right direction to potentially secure more top-tier elites, especially since it seems harder to obtain elite status in many other programs. Radisson Hotel Group™ has a very large footprint with more than 1,400 hotels in operation and under development around the world.
What are your impressions of the refresh of Radisson Rewards?
[…] As of now, the Radisson Hotel Group is made up of 1400 hotels across 8 distinctive hotel brands in 114 countries. Aside from the name change, Radisson Hotel Group is undergoing a complete revamp that coincides with the launch of the brand new and refreshed Radisson Rewards loyalty program that rolled out last month. […]