Why Club Carlson’s Promo Works

July 14, 2012 - Howie

I think we can all agree that one of the best promotions so far this Summer has been the Club Carlson / Radisson Big Night Giveaway. A follow-up to last years promotion, where with registering for the promotion and staying a single night earns you up to 50,000 bonus points; enough for a night at any Club Carlson property worldwide, is certainly fantastic.

They’re giving away the farm here … right? Well … not so much; let me explain.

Credit card companies give us gigantic sign-up bonuses to try out their product and the bonuses continue month and after month. There are the regular offerings, special promos, and targeted deals. Airline and Hotel loyalty programs do the same thing.

With the promotion that Club Carlson is running, they’re giving their already loyal customers a great way to get an extra night or two (or possibly many more depending on where you redeem), but more importantly they’re exposing their brand to all of us that aren’t active in their program. I didn’t participate in the promotion last year, and due to this promotion it’ll be the first time I stay at any Club Carlson property since 2008 (when a room was booked for me).

My wife, and my mother-in-law also tried out properties too. We averaged well under $100/night for each room, so as far as accumulating bonus points we did quite well for ourselves … but we also tried out the product. Two different Radisson’s and two Country Inns & Suites. As a loyalist to Starwood, with over 125 nights last year and approaching 60 right now, I stay enough nights to maintain status in multiple programs and this promotion has me thinking Club Carlson isn’t a bad option.

When it comes down to it, sure the promotion will cost Club Carlson some money, but for that they’re getting:

Fantastic brand exposure across Radisson, Country Inns & Suites, and Park Inn by Radisson.
Positive PR by offering a promotion that is easy to take advantage of and redeem.
People that are loyal to other brands to try something new. Given that we don’t see huge increases in travel globally, every current traveler loyal to another brand is a potential new customer. They got me to try something and talk about something with my family and friends that they’re now trying.

While I don’t have a Park Inn by Radisson easily accessible for me, I’ll gladly take the ~100,000 points I’ll end up with for my Radisson and Country Inns & Suites stay; the same for Sara … for 200,000 points total. We’ve now got 4 free nights at any Club Carlson property we want and if the rooms cost less we’ll get even more. The status match they provided to Club Carlson Gold will get me even more points, a welcome gift, and room upgrades as available.

Here’s a screenshot of my recent Club Carlson transactions (including the points transfer from my wife and mother-in-law):

In all, my friends and family will end up with about 1,000,000 points. We win and Club Carlson wins as they get exposure to people that had never given their brands much of a thought. At the end, after visiting three properties I’ve got mixed feelings. The Country Inns & Suites exceeded my expectations, one Radisson met, and one significantly missed. I guess I’ll continue to read reviews, but for now I’ve got 5+ nights anywhere in the Club Carlson family for free.

How’d you make out in the promotion?

Steve

My wife and I stayed at a country inn and suites for $120 total after taxes fees and cashback. We were incredibly disappointed with the property. If they have the promo again- it will be some work to get my wife to go, though I understand the potential value of the points (we will be in Europe soon and will use the points for two nights at a radisson blu).

rxgeek

Wife and I cleaned up for the second time on this promo. Staying 4 nights in Paris on points and still have 165,000 points for the future. There is a Park Inn near DFW that you can “check-in” during a long layover using their shuttle.

Acker

I’ll wind up with 700k +/- after slightly subsidizing trips my family/friends were taking anyway. Park Inn Abq and it’s $42 Monday night rates helped. Will use the points in Europe. This promo reminds me of the Priority Club promos a few years ago. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d consider Holiday Inn etc but their generous promos gave me a reason to check them out. I’m still partial to HH and SPG but I stay at Priority Club hotels now too.
http://www.travelingwellforless.com/ Debbie Schroeder

Hi Howie,

I agree, it was great brand exposure and it generated additional income for a specific period that might not have been gained had the promos not been offered.
hjk62

Like you, Club Carlson was not one I thought of much. The Radissons have not impressed me as being more than average, but we really liked the Country Inn and Suites that we stayed in and will have them much higher on the list in our future travels. My wife and I ended up with 288000 points, and I got several other coworkers and family involved in the program who also benefited and liked their stays.
Dml

I picked up 109k points and was satisfied with all three properties I stayed in
Petalumatool

we stayed at Radisson and Country inn at Portland and San Jose. Country in has a nicer product hands down
Jay

“but for now I’ve got 5+ nights anywhere in the Club Carlson family for free”

Ummm didn’t you have to pay for the nights at the raddison’s and park inns? Not really free. Cheap, but not free

Howie

true; not completely free. I paid for 1 night … the rest work took care of as I simply adjusted my stays.

Akparsa

I need an overnight on a long road trip in two weeks. Based completely on my experiences with Radisson and Country Inn from this promotion (zero stays before the promo), I picked a Country Inn. It will be a paid stay as I prefer to save my miles earned from the promo for a high dollar redemption.

My experiences (Radisson Branson and Country Inn St Peters MO) were of courteous and friendly service, clean rooms, and a high level of status recognition for CC Elite travelers.
Ghrghrh

How do you combine all points from someone to your?
Greekquent flyer

I checked in myself and three virtual relatives into a Country Inn at $69++ per night. Couldn’t beat it. I hope the other Park Inn’s are better than the one near IAH which is a sad property to say the least…
MSPTraveler

My wife and I were able to do all four Carlson chain promos. We live in the MSP area, so we have a bunch of Country Inns, a few Radissons, and what may be the only Park Plaza in the US. We also happened to be in Berlin in June, so we got two nights at Park Inns there. Between online booking bonuses, stay points, and the bonus points, we should net a little over 400K points for a little under $700. Not bad at all!
Bohemiana

Frugal Travel Guy–How do you stay at Starwood for 125 nights a year on a frugal budget? We saved up points for 2 years to get 100,000 points and used them for 25 cash & points nights in Asia, where points go really far. If you paid for those nights that’s a ton of money. If you used all points, please share how to rack up that many points in a year.

Howie

Rick doesn’t but rather I do (Howie). 95%+ of all my nights are paid for by my company.

Compukruz

Just finished the entire promotion Thursday. I’m basically disappointed with the chain. Stayed Country Inn & Suites in San Carlos, Ca, Radisson in San Jose, Ca, and the Park Inn in Fresno. By far, the worse was the Park Inn. Wouldn’t select this chain unless the rate was really really low. Radisson and Park Inn need to add breakfast.
How do you get them to match your status at another hotel like Hilton Gold.
Pam1

Can you do price match guarantee if you are paying partially in points? Does anyone know, thanks.
JohnnieD

After staying at the three Carlson brands, my experience was that each Brand was inconsistent. The Radisson we stayed at did not recognize my elite status (gold match) and ended up giving me 25K more points as a result. One Country Inn had fabulous staff/breakfast but was a little lacking in the housekeeping dept. Another Country Inn was spotless but had the worst breakfast I have ever had in a Hotel.
Bottom line, we will use our 300k points @ Radisson Blu in Europe next spring. As far as Club Carlson properties in the US, well lets just say they are below Holiday Inn as far as my lower level brand……
Peopleplatters

I thought it was the BEST deal ever! I’m a points fanatic and ended up booking 9 Raddison rooms for my son and his friends on prom night. The rooms were $100 each and they got my fantastic rooms all over Europe! We stayed at the London cevenent garden hotel which would have been $400 USD per night for 50k points. We stayed at Amsterdam city center for same amount! European hotels were 5 star! This was the best deal ever just to get such nice European hotels!!!
AJM

We’ll end up with 30k points and will happily use them next summer for a trip to Norway (land of the fjords and $50 lunches!).
molize

Well I was successful completing two stays for me and two for my hubby. I must say that Country Inn and Suites blew Radisson away. I had never stayed there and I expected Radisson to be better. Their beds are awful. Everything at both Country and Inn Suiotes were top notch. And I am usually a Hilton Resort girl.
Amy

How were you able to get 1M points?

Howie

not me personally, but in total across my family and friends.

Amy

May I ask how much did you all spend in total? Just trying to get an idea on how effective your approach is.

Howie

My out of pocket cost was under $100. Total cost (including what is/will be reimbursed to me as a business expense) was $441.80.

Jay3381

Great promotion..we stayed at one of each and now have about 200K in points. We also e-mailed Club Carlson with copies of our Marriott Platinum Elite status and Club Carlson upgraded us in their system too. We are headed to Amsterdam next month, got a 108 euro rate at the “Park” across the street from the train station, will collect a 50K bonus and will get a free room upgrade with our new Club Carlson status. Not bad.
Amy

Just curious but why did you blur the locations of the hotels you stayed at? Is it such a big a deal?

Howie

I didn’t think it mattered much to the content and for the days shown I didn’t want to indicate where I was; that was all.

Charlie V Clarke

At the Radisson Blu in Rome, and just finished one night at the Radisson Blu in Nice. The Nice hotel is especially nice! Yea, Club Carlson!
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Why Club Carlson’s Promo Works

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