Early last month I heard Radisson hotels had a free night promotion after staying one night. When I checked the website there were no Radisson hotels near where I was traveling. Also I thought, do I really need another hotel program just to earn one free night? Then in the mail comes two Club Carlson hotel loyalty cards, one for me and one for my husband. We had each earned 5,000 Club Carlson points by liking one of their hotels on Facebook. At that time I was not sure how I would use those points, but for free I thought they may be useful sometime in the future. Club Carlson is now the name of the hotel loyalty program that includes the Radisson. That got me thinking again about the free night promotion. This promotion gives 50,000 Club Carlson points after the first stay by December 30, 2011. The only problem was that it was only available for the first 50,000 people to sign up and it was now more than one month since the promotion started. Here is the link to the Big Night Give Away. Promotion
On December 13, I registered for this promotion and my husband did the same on December 15. The confirmation stated we would each earn 50,000 points after one stay. Then I sent an email to goldpointsplus@carlson.com and requested a status match to my Starwood Platinum status. After two days I did not receive a response, so I called Club Carlson and the agent requested that I resend my email to her. While we were on the phone she upgraded me to gold status. Here is the link to their membership benefits. Club Carlson. The email I received from the representative appears to include a few additional benefits not stated on their web site.
GOLD STATUS
50% Point Bonus
Late Check-out (based on availability)
Early Check-in (based on availability)
Best Available Room in the category booked
72- hour availability guarantee
Special points plus cash offers
Priority full-service Member Services telephone number -In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, you’ll also enjoy the following Elite membership benefits:
10% off weekend rates
Double occupancy for a single rate
Weekend Extend (2 for 1 and 4 for 2 Nights)
Next I started to look into Club Carlson about using points for free or discounted stays. There appeared to be several hotels with good value for using points in Europe and the Caribbean. We have a local Radisson hotel in Trevose, Pa and with a rate of $80 including tax it seemed to be time for a mattress run. What is a mattress run? A mattress run is a stay at a hotel with the sole purpose of getting hotel points or taking advantage of a promotion. With a mattress run the goal is to book a inexpensive hotel night and in return you earn something much more valuable.
Both my husband and I each checked into the Radisson on Friday night. I now have more than 61,000 Club Carlson points because of my gold status and he now has more than 59,000 points. This is enough points for two free nights at their highest level hotel requiring 50,000 points each night. These points are also good at Country Inns and Suites, Park Inn and Park Plaza hotels. Here is the link to the Club Carlson award chart showing the number of points needed for a free night at their six hotel categories. Free Nights Also with 58,000 points we could each get $100 in gift cards at many different retailers.
Glad we both got in on this promotion and I am looking forward to using our points for free nights next year. There still maybe time for you to register, stay and earn these points before the end of the year.