Club Carlson Special Report

Just after I got through complaining in this month's Points and Miles post that I was disappointed by recent offers from the hotels, airlines, and credit card companies, along comes the best offer in quite a while. So good, it's worth a special post so you can take advantage of its time-sensitive registration.

Club Carlson is the loyalty program of Carlson Rezidor Hotels. Its brands include Radisson and Radisson Blu, upscale and luxury hotels in North America and Europe; Country Inn and Suites, mid-scale hotels in North America; as well as Park Plaza and Park Inn.

Carlson has been aggressively expanding and upgrading its properties the last few years and its points promotions have often been the most generous, as it seeks to become as well known as the major players such as Hilton, Starwood, and Marriott.

To take advantage of these offers, you first have to be a member of Club Carlson. It's simple to join, and if you use this link (courtesy of The Points Guy), you might even get a 4500 point sign-up bonus.

The following information comes courtesy of The Loyalty Traveler, who received advance information directly from Club Carlson:

• For the first 100 000 Club Carlson members who register for the offer, a stay at any Radisson or Radisson Blu between May 15 and July 15 will earn 50K bonus points.
  
• For the first 35 000 Club Carlson members who register for the offer, a stay at any Country Inn and Suites between May 15 and July 15 will earn 44K bonus points.
  
• For the first 20 000 Club Carlson members who register for the offer, a stay at any Park Inn between May 22 and July 22 will earn 44K bonus points.
  
• If you are not among the limited number of registrants, you will still receive 15K bonus points for registering and staying.
  
• Members can register and earn all three bonuses.
  
• Registration opens at 1:01 a.m. E.D.T. on May 15 for the Radisson and Country Inn offers, and on May 22 for the Park Inn offer.
  
• The registration pages with full terms and conditions are here: http://www.radissonbignightgiveaway.com/, http://www.sogocountry.com/, http://www.parkinnoneplusone.com/.
  

I plan to register for the Country Inn promotion first and then the Radisson. There are only two Park Inn locations in Canada, in Montréal and Vancouver, so achieving this bonus is not realistic for me. Since my wife is also a Club Carlson member, we will both register.

We will look for properties with rates less than $100 per night (I've already found a Radisson and Country Inn for under $80). This is called "mattress running". We're simply looking for the cheapest way to stay a night in order to get the points (if you actually need a hotel stay somewhere, all the better).

Staying one night at each brand will earn us a combined 200K points. That's assuming rates of $100 with taxes included, because Club Carlson awards 20 points per dollar and 1000 points for booking online.

So we've spent $400 to get 200K points; what will that get us?

For 9K points per night, 22 nights at the Radisson Hotel Orlando - International Drive in Orlando, FL. That works out to $18 per night.

Or the Country Inn and Suites in Scottsdale, AZ for 15K points. 13 nights at $30 per night. Breakfast included.

Some of the best value is found at the highest redemption level of 50K points. You can live like Bev Oda, staying at luxury hotels in New York, Paris, and London for $100 a night, and no taxes.

Offers like this don't come along all that often, so I'll be taking full advantage to build up my bank of Club Carlson points to use for stays in warm-weather locations next winter.

Follow me on Twitter: @AeneasLane

More Winter 2011 Points and Miles Offers

With Family Day long weekend and the March Break fast approaching, I thought I'd highlight some hotel and points offers that have come my way the last few weeks.

You can earn 250 American AAdvantage miles just for joining Best Western Rewards. The offer is valid until April 11, 2011.

Priority Club's (Holiday Inn, etc.) first promotion of 2011 lets you earn 3,000 bonus points for every three nights you stay, up to 30,000 bonus points for 30 nights. It's good for hotel stays from February 1 to April 30, 2011. You have to register via this link: Priority Club 2011-Q1 Bonus Points Promotion registration link.

Priority Club is also offering an easy 500 points for completing three simple surveys. Click this link to find the Flyertalk post with links to the surveys and anwers. Points post right away.

Until April 13, 2011 Choice Privileges (the loyalty program of Comfort Inn, EconoLodge, Clarion, Quality, and several others) is awarding triple points after your second stay. If you're planning a road trip south and back in the next few months, this is potentially a very valuable offer as these are generally budget properties common at Interstate exits. You can join and register for the offer via this link.

Carlson Hotels' Radisson chain is offering 10,000 bonus Goldpoints through February 28, 2011 for booking the "Experience the World of Radisson" promotion. Here's the link.

Air Canada's Winter Extravelganza lets Aeroplan members earn double miles and other bonuses if they register and fly selected routes between now and April 30, 2011. Details are available here.

Marriott Hotels Weekend Bonus offers a $100 Bonus Bucks coupon good toward a future two-night weekend getaway as well as up to $100 off airfare. Just spend a Friday or Saturday night at participating JW Marriott or Marriott Hotels & Resorts. Book by February 11, 2011, and stay from February 10 through March 27, 2011. Details are here.

I haven't written about Wyndham Rewards before. It's the loyalty program of such well-known chains as Ramada, Super 8, Howard Johnson, Travelodge, and Days Inn. Until April 30, 2011, members earn double points with their second stay, triple points with their third, and quadruple points with their fourth. Like the Choice Hotels offer, this one also has great potential for Florida-bound snowbirds, as these hotels are also common along the Interstates. You can join the program and register for the promotion here.

And for the truly adventurous, Hyatt is offering 2,000 bonus Gold Passport points for a stay at the Grand Hyatt Cairo. The offer is good until April 15, 2011. Details are available via this link.

Safe travels.

Winter 2011 Points and Miles Offers

If you've been thinking about a weekend winter getaway, most of the hotel chains have recently announced their first quarter promotions.

Hilton HHonors is offering double the usual 10 points per $1 spent on a two-night stay, triple on a three-night, and quadruple for a four-night. The offer is good for stays up until March 31. Registration is required via this link.

Hilton HHonors is unique among hotel loyalty programs in that it features "double-dipping". With HHonors, you always earn both HHonors points as well as miles in the airline program of your choice. And Delta SkyMiles is simultaneously offering 1,000 SkyMiles for a one-night stay, 1,500 for a two-night, and 2,000 for a three-night. Separate registration is required for this offer via this link.

So for a two night stay at a Hilton property (Hilton, DoubleTree, Embassy Suites) costing $125 per night, you would earn 5,000 HHonors points and 1,500 Delta SkyMiles. Fewer points are offered for stays at Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites.

Membership in both the HHonors and SkyMiles programs are required, of course, but enrollment is fast and simple. You can join HHonors from either of the links above while registering for the offers. Here's a link to join SkyMiles.

Starwood Hotels (Sheraton, Westin, etc.) have an offer for Starwood Preferred Guest members. Until April 15, all stays earn double SPG points. That means 4 points per $1 spent. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights earn an additional 500 bonus points per night.

A two weekend-night stay at $125 per night earns 1,000 base points plus 1,000 bonus points. Free nights at Starwood hotels begin at 2,000 points, though most are in the 4,000-10,000 points per night range. Join Starwood Preferred Guest via this link.

Country Inns and Suites by Carlson does not have a lot of properties in Canada but is more widespread in the U.S. and offers free breakfast and wireless internet. It caters mainly to business travelers and tends to have locations in suburban business parks near the Interstate. Its loyalty program is called goldpoints plus. Until February 17, it's offering 10,000 bonus points for a one-night stay during the "Country Means Business" promotion. Register (and enrol in goldpoints plus) via this link. Read the terms and conditions carefully.

Radisson Hotels are also part of the Carlson chain. Stays at Radisson earn 20 points per $1, at Country Inns and Suites, 15. Booking online earns 1,000 bonus points. Free stays start at 15,000 points. You can book stays with a combination of points and cash.

Marriott is one of the world's largest chains, but is underrepresented in Canada. And I find its properties to be generally more expensive than the competition. But between February 1 and April 30 Marriott is rolling out its Megabonus promotion. Stay twice and earn a free night. Register (and enrol, if you're not a member) via this link.

No word yet from Hyatt and IHG (Holiday Inn), but if they announce anything good, I'll let you know.