The Club Carlson Summer Promo – How To Cash In

Do I even need to say it? I love Club Carlson.

I might be their biggest fan. Why? Because they try harder. They do more. They make it easy to love them. Over the past year, I have easily stockpiled enough Club Carlson points so that my family will be able to stay for almost two weeks at a selection of their top-tier properties in Europe such as the Radisson Blu Ambassador in Paris (where rooms normally ring in between $400-$500/night). This is something we could never afford if we paid in cash (so it is very exciting that we are able to experience this for free instead)!

Club Carlson recently announced their summer promo, “Two Nights 10,000 Points.” As the title suggests, the gist of the promo is that if you stay at a Club Carlson property for two consecutive nights, in exchange they deposit 10,000 points into your account. Of course, there are ways to make this promo even more lucrative. In this post, I am going to explain how to do that, and show you how to earn the maximum amount of points.

A Few Reasons Why This Promo Is (Definitely!) Worth A Look

1. Club Carlson makes it really easy to rack up lots of points, plus they make it fairly easy to redeem those points for free stays. As you can see from the chart below, award nights start at just 9,000 points for a Category 1 Hotel. While the more glamorous options on the chart fall into the higher categories, you can definitely find some worthy options on the lower end of the chart as well. You can also find very solid redemption value in the lower categories at many properties outside of the United States.
2. Club Carlson’s loyalty program is great for “beginners.” If you are just getting started collecting Points and Miles, this promo/program will allow you to quickly earn enough points to start enjoying free stays almost immediately – especially if you get their co-branded Visa signature card (more on that later).
3. If your future travel plans include a destination that features an attractive Club Carlson property, taking advantage of this promotion can help you to bank points for a future redemption. That is definitely my plan with this one. As I mentioned, my family is planning a trip to Europe next summer, and earning these additional points now will allow us to enjoy an extra night or two at a premium hotel in Paris or London.

How To Earn The Most Points From This Promotion

1. If you are going to book travel at a Club Carlson property (Radisson, Park Plaza, or Country Inn & Suites), start at TopCashBack (my link – thank you for using it!). This will earn you 9% cash back on your booking.
2. Do you have any business travel coming up? If so, now might be a good time to give one of Club Carlson’s properties a try.
3. If you really want to maximize this promo, you can consider getting the co-branded Club Carlson Visa signature card. I’ve written about this card before; you can read my review here. Basically, the card can double the amount of points you earn. I’ll use Josh’s upcoming business trip as an example. We just booked him a 2-night stay in a room that costs $100/night. Because he’s got the Club Carlson Visa, here are the points and cash he will earn from this quick trip (see more info about how to calculate bonus points here):

• 10,000 from the promo
• 2,000 from booking online (bonus earned reflects Gold status)
• 4,000 points bonus for being a Club Carlson member (20 points/dollar for the amount you spend on a room)
• 2,000 points bonus for having Gold status
• 2,000 points for using the Club Carlson Visa card (10x points/dollar)
• $18 rebate from TopCashBack.

This is a grand total of 20,000 points and $18 for a 2-night stay that he was going to do anyway. For us, that is a valuable promo.

Always Consider Your Goal

This is a fantastic promo if you’ve got some summer travel planned and your stays line up nicely with a Club Carlson property. In other words, if this promo fits with your plans, it’s a great one. However, I would not recommend booking Club Carlson stays just to take advantage of this offer.

As usual, it is always a good idea to have a redemption in mind. Personally, I am saving my Club Carlson points for a big redemption next summer. I have already booked a big chunk of those stays, and this promo will allow me to add a couple of additional days onto those. I would not advise stockpiling points in any program if you might not ever use them – so if you aren’t yet familiar with the Club Carlson family of properties, you might want to spend some time on their site to see if there are hotels and destinations that appeal to you.

Happy Travels!