Club Carlson Credit Card Perks Gutted

[cv91915]

The Club Carlson Visa from US Bank currently has a great benefit (if you can use it), where the final night of an award redemption is free. So if a room is 20,000 points per night, if you have the credit card you can stay for two nights for 20,000 points, three nights for 40,000 points, etc.

 

It looks like that benefit is being replaced with a single free night for the entire year upon payment of the annual fee. This card is definitely dead to me when the AF comes up, and there's no way I can use all of my points before this kicks in. I'm transferring all of my remaining points to American Airlines at an abysmal ratio (thanks, lilyflower, for the tip!).

 

From the email I just received:

 

As a valued Club Carlson^SM member and Club Carlson Visa^® cardholder, we would like to tell you about an upcoming change to your Visa benefits.

 

Beginning June 1, 2015, you can earn a Free Night, good at any Carlson Rezidor hotel in the U.S. This Free Night will replace the current Bonus Award Night benefit. Bonus Award Night stays may not be booked after June 1, 2015. You'll receive the new Free Night award upon renewal of your card after an annual spend of $10,000. Updated program terms and conditions will apply and be available on June 1, 2015.

Thank you for your continued loyalty.

Edited April 4, 2015 by cv91915

[mrjuggalo9er]

The Club Carlson Visa from US Bank currently has a great benefit (if you can use it), where the final night of an award redemption is free. So if a room is 20,000 points per night, if you have the credit card you can stay for two nights for 20,000 points, three nights for 40,000 points, etc.

 

It looks like that benefit is being replaced with a single free night for the entire year upon payment of the annual fee. This card is definitely dead to me when the AF comes up, and there's no way I can use all of my points before this kicks in. I'm transferring all of my remaining points to American Airlines at an abysmal ratio (thanks, lilyflower, for the tip!).

 

From the email I just received:

 

As a valued Club Carlson^SM member and Club Carlson Visa^® cardholder, we would like to tell you about an upcoming change to your Visa benefits.

Beginning June 1, 2015, you can earn a Free Night, good at any Carlson Rezidor hotel in the U.S. This Free Night will replace the current Bonus Award Night benefit. Bonus Award Night stays may not be booked after June 1, 2015. You'll receive the new Free Night award upon renewal of your card after an annual spend of $10,000. Updated program terms and conditions will apply and be available on June 1, 2015.

 

Thank you for your continued loyalty.

But they thanked you for the loyalty and canceling is how you reply. ..how rude

[cv91915]

Most of their hotels in the US are awful. I tried to do a redemption at the Radisson Blue Aqua in Chicago - which is far from awful - for a long weekend trip I'm making in a few weeks, and they had a seven-night minimum stay.

Edited April 4, 2015 by cv91915

[mendelssohn]

I'm glad they did this before I applied for the card.

 

The final night free with redemptions was the only reason I wanted the card.

 

Time to start looking for other options.

[cv91915]

Re-reading that, the stays don't have to be completed by 6/1... I may still be able to book some stays before then for our summer vacation...

[generallissimo]

Re-reading that, the stays don't have to be completed by 6/1... I may still be able to book some stays before then for our summer vacation...

 

Yeah if you already have it, great... you should book as many as you can for the points you have. For the rest of us, not sure whether it's worth applying for one and taking the hit just to get a few free nights booked in through this month and next.

[lilyflower]

Yeah use the stays as much as you can and transfer the remaining points

[mendelssohn]

Are they still going to give the 40K points for paying the AF every year?

[IndyPoolPlayer]

I have no use for Carlson - the only hotel in their group I ever stay is Country Inn & Suites and that's only if IHG, Marriott, and Hilton is sold out or too far away

[TheScholar]

Are they still going to give the 40K points for paying the AF every year?

Yes, they are.

 

I'm massively disappointed in this change, but I'm not going to drop the card. It's just going to change how I use it. In my opinion, the card is still worth more than it's annual fee.

 

The Radisson Blu Broadway (Manhattan) runs about $300 a night plus tax or 50,000 points. If I spend $12k a year and pay the annual fee, I'd end up with 3 nights there. (To break that down, you spend $10k and get 1 free night from the new bonus. $10k in spending also nets 50k points -- there's night #2. You get 40k for paying the AF, so another $2k in spending gets you the remaining 10k in points you need for night #3). To stay at property with a similar location for 3 nights in any of the other chains would require a lot more than $12k in spending.

 

I know it's not a Starwood or Hyatt, but I'm not someone who always needs luxury. Generally, when I travel, I'm looking to go see the place I'm in. I want a clean room with a reasonably comfortable mattress -- I'm mostly only sleeping there. Sure, there are times when I'll want a luxury resort....but I certainly won't mind putting $12k a year on this card for the times when I don't need luxury...and I'll put most of that spending through a portal where I'm also earning UR points or airline miles and get even more value out of it. I should at the very least turn that $12k in spend into a round trip domestic flight and 3 nights of hotel.

 

So I'm keeping this card. However, I'd like to get the business version as the benefits are identical and the fee is less. I tried applying several times yesterday and each time I submitted the app, the site said there was a technical difficulty and that I had to hit the browser's "back" button to continue. It said this --

 

We are experiencing Technical Difficulties.

The page you requested cannot be displayed. If you would like to return to the previous page, click your browser’s Back button. We apologize for any inconvenience.

 

After doing the app 2 or 3 times, I called the UW dept to see whether any of them had gone through. They couldn't find any app under my info, so I tried a few more times with different computers/browsers and got the same result each time. Has anyone else applied for the business card yesterday or today and had a similar or different result? I haven't tried yet today concerned that perhaps one or more attempt did actually go through, though I doubt it since I got the same exact error message each time and UW didn't see any of the apps when I called after a few attempts. Anyone else tried it?

[cv91915]

Club Carlson presents

 

Full Fecal II: The Sequel

 

What a stunning 1-2 punch.

[TheScholar]

So what is your hotel card of choice, CV? I know you never liked Club Carlson anyway (and they certainly aren't doing themselves any favors at the moment). So which hotel card is your card of choice to actually use -- forget about sign up bonuses, I'm just talking for actual spend.

[cv91915]

SPG. It became our household card again last month after hitting the $40,000 2015 spending threshold on the AA Exec (for the 10,000 AA EQMs).

[cv91915]

What better way to follow up a massive card benefits devaluation than a feeble spending promotion?

 

Earn 1 bonus point per dollar spent (up to 2,000 points) on additional net purchases once you spend $550 in net purchases made with your Club CarlsonSM Premier Rewards Visa Signature® Card.¹ Enroll by June 30 to start earning bonus points faster from June 1 through July 31, 2015 .¹

[CTSoxFan]

Crappy Hotels, Crappy Card, Crappy promo...I am seeing a pattern here.

[TheScholar]

Meh.....I picked up 39,000 points for a 1 night stay that cost me about $110 several weeks back. I was happy to turn that into 2 nights in Budapest, 2 nights in Sofia (Bulgaria), and 2 nights at a crappy Park Inn during Super Bowl weekend 2017 (in Houston) before the BOGO ended today. All in all, that $110 stay got me 7 nights of hotel rooms.

 

The devaluation sucks, but I've gotten a lot of bang for my buck out of Club Carlson and I can/will continue to do so.

[cv91915]

I have finalized a Club Carlson exit strategy.

 

After two points redemptions where I was able to get the final night comped (the only major credit card benefit, which is now gone), I am going to transfer 16,000 of my remaining Club Carlson points to United, resulting in 1,600 United miles.

 

I have just shy of 11,000 United miles now, so in addition to being done with Club Carlson forever, I'll finally be able to get some use out of some orphan airline miles. 12,500 United miles should get me an inconvenient domestic one-way ticket to somewhere unpleasant.

[mendelssohn]

Although this card competed with the Amex SPG for the most valuable hotel card before, IMO it still has value. The 40K annual bonus for the AF is worth it, and US Skank also has a business version that could be churned.

[cv91915]

Although this card competed with the Amex SPG for the most valuable hotel card before, IMO it still has value. The 40K annual bonus for the AF is worth it, and US Skank also has a business version that could be churned.

 

The $75 annual fee and 38,000 of the 40,000 anniversary bonus points will get you one night in a $98 room at the Radisson Quad City Plaza in Davenport, Iowa.

 

[Konrad2012]

 

Although this card competed with the Amex SPG for the most valuable hotel card before, IMO it still has value. The 40K annual bonus for the AF is worth it, and US Skank also has a business version that could be churned.

 

The $75 annual fee and 38,000 of the 40,000 anniversary bonus points will get you one night in a $98 room at the Radisson Quad City Plaza in Davenport, Iowa.

 

$75 for full service is pretty cheap

[cv91915]

The annual fee for this card posted. I am in the process of closing the card and moving the limit over to my FlexPerks card.

 

RIP Club Carlson Visa. Thanks for the free nights in South Dakota and in Amsterdam.

 

https://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=524538&p=5329893