If Club Carlson was an actor, it would have been featured in “That Guy … Who Was in That Thing“.
Travelers posting on Milepoint think the program has a lot going for it – and maybe just a few drawbacks that keep it from making the big time.
I like the Club Carlson program. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by this program (primarily because I didn’t previously have much experience with it), and I find it to be a sleeper amongst the hotel loyalty schemes. …
But I have two nagging irritations with the program, one major, and one minor.
The major issue I have is that the hotel’s footprint is seemingly large, yet so inconveniently non-existent in places that I tend to go. For example, no properties in HKG?
The minor issue I have is that on award night stays, I won’t earn points on ancillary spend, such as dining charged to the room, even though I would normally earn points on such spend if it were a paid night. Other major hotel chains reward and incentivize this ancillary spend behavior, but not Club Carlson. ~jetsetr
I really enjoy the Club Carlson program, and think some of their benefits are terrific. Two pet peeves: a huge overseas presence without having a currency conversion-free credit card is one. The other is the uneven nature of the properties. ~Jenny & Curt
Drawbacks aside, the posters in this thread generally like the customer service provided by the program, the quality of lower tier hotels in the U.S. and upper-tier in Europe, the soft landings with regard to status, and the program’s affiliated credit card – if you live in the U.S. adl73x succinctly sums up the type of traveler who would most benefit from the Club Carlson program:
To get the best out of Club Carlson, live in the US to get the credit card, and stay exclusively in Europe 🙂 The European Radisson Blu and Edwardian, and Quorvus properties are generally much nicer than Hilton or Marriott in the same area, and way ahead of IHG and Accor.
While that sounds fairly limiting, I suspect the earning and redemption pattern described closely matches how a lot of less frequent travelers and manufactured spenders tend to travel. So if you are reading this and you aren’t necessarily an every-week or even every-month business traveler, and you are collecting miles and points for a European vacation – you just might want to give this thread a read and begin seriously considering the Club Carlson program.
Read the thread in its entirety: Club Carlson…a generally great program, except…
We stayed at Radisson Blu Champs and found the value a good deal but not a great hotel. Felt like a Holiday Inn in the US
Stayed at Park Plaza on the River in london. Thought it was icky. I don’t know what people are thinking when they post on tripadvisor that it’s good. Best thing – the view. That’s about it.
Best use for me, low cost family trips. County Inn and Suites stands up well to Hampton Inn/Fairfield Inn/Holiday Inn Express hotels in the limited-service/free breakfast category. Earning 5 pts per $1 spent on the CC, it’s hard to find a cheaper stay if you compare cost to MS the CC pts vs. paying a cash rate (or MS on another hotel card).
Lots of bloggers and posters focus on the aspirational properties, which is their right. However, I think there are a lot of people in the same boat as me, looking for cheap 1-night stays along major interstates more often then high end properties in other countries.