Last updated on October 1st, 2014 at 04:14 pm
For years I have avoided the Club Carlson program due to a personal bias against their properties dating back many years. I wrote about this previously, but it essentially comes down to my not really holding Radisson properties in high regard.
While I had signed up for the loyalty program when it was first rebranded years ago, I have avoided staying at their properties or pursuing status in the program. There were other hotel groups that are more appealing to me.
Recently I found myself traveling to Copenhagen in Denmark, needing to stay 4 nights in a hotel during my time there. Holding mid-tier status with Hilton, Hyatt and IHG through credit card affiliations and SPG based on stays, I was looking to stay at one of these hotel chains to receive some freebies on my trip.
Using Award Mapper I could see that there weren’t any options near where my meetings were taking place, but I noticed that Club Carlson had several properties in Copenhagen, including two of their “top of the line” Radisson Blu hotels (I used quotes there to display my skepticism).
I booked a room at the Radisson Blu Royal hotel and immediately signed up for the Club Carlson Premier card offered by US Bank to see if I could get some benefits from the program during my stay (like club room upgrades and discounts). The card was received on August 22 of this year, and the minimum spend requirement for achieving Club Carlson Gold Status was met a few days later. I assumed that this would have been plenty of time for the Gold status to be noted on my account. Except it did not happen that way.
Beware the elite status jet-lag
When I arrived at the hotel, my status had not been upgraded with Club Carlson, which meant no room upgrade or other benefits. Arriving exhausted on a Sunday evening after about 24 hours of travel, I tried to call the Club Carlson program and ask about the status, but their offices were closed. I could not reach them until Monday afternoon when their customer service center opened to begin the US work week.
They said that my status upgrade did show up in my account, but that they would talk to the hotel to see if they could offer some of the perks for Club Carlson Gold members. After about 45 minutes on the phone, the agent told me that the hotel would be giving me a welcome gift. Better than nothing, but not quite the same as a club room that came with free breakfast (their website said club rooms were available, so I believe I should have been upgraded had I checked in as a Gold member).
The welcome gift was a basket with fruit (I would share a picture, but I apparently left my camera in San Francisco before hopping on a plane for the next adventure) and a delicious almond/coconut mix. I ate a combination of these items for breakfast the rest of my stay. Again, better than nothing, but not enough to make up for a below average hotel. I will share more about the hotel in a separate review as soon as I can download the pictures.
Today the status is recognized
That brings me to today. After a below average stay at the Radisson Blu Royal hotel and an unlikely chance that I will be jumping at the opportunity to stay at Club Carlson properties in the future, I received an email stating that I was now being recognized for my Club Carlson Gold Status.
Too little, too late Club Carlson.
How long does it take for Club Carlson Gold Status to post if you have the Club Carlson Premier Rewards Visa card?
Exactly 1 month after your card is issued, assuming that you make at least one purchase using the card. If you are looking to get Club Carlson status before your next trip, make sure that you plan at least a month ahead to maximize your benefits.
My future with Club Carlson?
Somehow after signing up for a card and making one stay, I already have well over 100k Club Carlson points. That should be good for at least 4 free nights at their properties. I guess maybe I will have to give Club Carlson another try the next time I am in one of the cities where their properties are dominant.
I’m at a Radisson tonight (DC area) and next Monday to get the 7,500 American Advantage bonus miles (and about 15,000 Club Carlson points). I got a knock a on the door a while ago and they gave me a complimentary cracker/cheese/fruit tray and a bottle (full size) of Merlot. This is in addition to a few bottles of water in the room, and drink coupons for a drink at the bar and for breakfast. Granted the wine and snack tray is unusual, but I am generally happy with Club Carlson properties, It’s $100 room which is very reasonable in the area.
Regarding your 100,00 points – 85,000 of that could have come from the first purchase on the credits card.
First purchase is 50,000. Another 35,000 + 12,500 after meeting minimum spend at anything non-carlson.
I have heard many positive stories of Club Carlson properties going “over the top” with service, so I’m glad to hear about your positive experience. My experience was not over the top by any means (unless uncleaned drainage grates and bugs crawling around in plain sight was a feature).
And yes, the 100k+ points are from credit card bonuses and spend at properties.
If you had requested they do a status match, they would have matched you to Gold if you showed them a screenshot of your equivalent status, and it takes like less than 48 hours or 2 business days to happen. I haven’t had any activity with them for over a year, and my last status match ended in 2/2014. So I emailed them in March, and they matched me again and now I have it until 2/2016!
That’s nice. I guess I just assumed that their systems would work with the same level of efficiency when it comes to the credit card as well. Must be a monthly sync between their system and the US Bank system for the card. The problem with business trips for me is that I don’t have time to painstakingly plan out things like I might for a leisurely vacation.
Got card for trip to scandinavia last fall. Nice room and breakfast in radisson blu in oslo, but best use was radisson blu strand in stockholm–great location and hotel. We used the last night free feature when booking with points, and received a discount in radisson blu restauarants with Carlson card. Domestic experience ok but nothing special.
That’s the type of experience I was hoping for after seeing high praise for Club Carlson in Scandinavia I’m hoping that with the card and points I can have a more positive experience next time I visit the Nordic, because that seems to be the Club Carlson strong suit.
Also, I think that the last night free feature will be awesome when redeeming all of these points for sure!
The majority of your article focuses on the fact that you didn’t get your Gold status quickly. You close the article with “Somehow after signing up for a card and making one stay, I already have well over 100k Club Carlson points”
It’s not somehow, magically…..you got 100K points. I would think your headline would have been “wow, signed up for the Club Carlson card and after only a few nights at their property, I now have 100K points” That’s because the two biggest benefits of the card, in my opinion, are the 85K bonus points after meeting minimum spend and then 10 points per dollar spent on their hotel. That, my friend, is how you got the 100K points so quickly. Lets not forget that you also get the benefit of last night free when staying at least one night on points!
Posts like this from the travel blogging community always sound so selfish. I understand what you are saying, you signed up for the card and wanted the Gold membership right away. But the alternative of getting 100K points is by far a better story and focuses on the great benefits of the Club Carlson rewards program.
I agree that, in general, the Radisson properties in Europe can be hit or miss. But I really value how quickly I earn points in this program and the point redemption value of having the card. It makes a big difference when redeeming these for rooms for my family when travelling to Europe. This is the most generous hotel points program available right now based on value of redemption and hotel locations. That story is far more useful and practical to readers I think than having to wait 30 days for Gold status.
I wrote about MY experience staying at a premier Club Carlson property. It was a mediocre experience.
Perhaps I will write again at the time that I redeem the points or use the last night free benefit. There is no shortage of articles about the benefits of the Club Carlson credit card, so I chose not to hawk the card benefits in the post (because frankly I am not sure I recommend it based on MY experience).
As far as generosity of the program, I have found other programs to better fit my needs and have been overall more content with my personal experiences with Hyatt, Starwood, Hilton and Four Seasons. On the other end, I have not found IHG to be particularly generous when I stay at their properties.
Loyalty programs on paper are often different than the actual experiences. I was hesitant to do anything with Club Carlson because of my past experiences with the chain. My most recent experience did not improve that perception.
Perhaps I am putting too much onus on the loyalty program and not on the hotel itself. Only time will tell, but that may be a while.
Ok, so that helps clarify. You value the hotel experience and elite perks more than getting free nights.
I tend to value the points redemption benefit value over the elite programs. If Radisson Blu properties were a Motel 6 quality, then I might view this differently also. But for me, getting a decent hotel, with great location in a variety of Euro cities with a great points earning & redemption program trumps getting a bowl of fruit or cheese plate at check-in with an upgraded view.
I’m a Hyatt Diamond also and absolutely love their program. But I also whip out the check book when using a Designated Suite Upgrade on Points+Cash to get the better experience. I don’t have to…but to count those nights towards my Diamond quota I have to do this.
I get what you are saying, we value different things. I would take 10 nights in Europe at Radisson Blue properties vs. 4 nights in Hyatt if I had to choose because the point redemption on Club Carlson is that much better, but their properties are not.
The good thing is that when I do redeem the points earned from the card + stays, I may completely change my tune. I just had a bad experience (this hotel was about as clean as a Motel 6 to be honest. There were bugs everywhere and I even took a video of them).
This was a business trip and the hotel costs were completely reimbursed so a free night was not my priority on this trip. Of course, business trips today feed tomorrow’s “free” travel.
Scott M.
You could have status matched… Just saying.