US Bank currently offers 4 different credit cards for which you can apply. As I talked about before, the “Last Night Free” benefit is a feature of all of the cards. Today, let’s compare all 4 of the cards. You can see the similarities and differences below.
| Card | Current Bonus | Annual Fee | Annual Bonus Points | Status | Points Earning | Elite night credit (if already have status) | Last night free benefit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premier Rewards Visa Signature | 85,000 points. 50,000 after 1st purchase and 35,000 points after $2,500 spend in 3 months | $75 Not waived first year | 40,000 | Gold | - 10 points per $1 at Club Carlson hotels - 5 points per $1 on everything else | 15 | Yes |
| Rewards Visa Signature Card | 60,000 points. 50,000 points after 1st purchase and 10,000 points after spending $1,500 in first 3 months | $50 Not waived first year | 25,000 | Silver | - 6 points per $1 at Club Carlson hotels - 3 points per $1 on everything else | 10 | Yes |
| Rewards Visa Card | 30,000 points after spending $1,000 in first three months | None | None | None | - 3 points per $1 at Club Carlson hotels - 1 points per $1 on everything else | None | Yes |
| Business Rewards Visa Card | 85,000 points. 50,000 after 1st purchase and 35,000 after $2,500 spend in 3 months | $60 Not waived first year | 40,000 | Gold | - 10 points per $1 at Club Carlson hotels - 5 points per $1 on everything else | 15 | Yes |
Conclusions:
- The Business Rewards Visa card has a lower annual fee ($60) than the Premier Rewards Signature Visa ($75 annual fee), but the signup bonus and anniversary bonus is the same. The 40,000 annual bonus for both cards is almost enough for a stay at a Club Carlson category 6 property. This makes both of these cards worth the annual fee. In addition, the gold status is a great perk of the cards as you will get a 2,000 point online booking and a 50% point bonus on your stay. You could also use the gold status to status match other hotel chains.
- The Rewards Signature Visa costs $25 less than the Premier Rewards Signature Visa, but gives 25,000 lower up front bonus, and a 15,000 point lower annual bonus. The Premier Rewards card is worth the extra $25.
- The no fee card is not a bad card considering it still comes with the free night benefit. Club Carlson has offered many promotions in the past for huge points bonuses. If you have a large points balance from those, you can essentially double the value of those points with this no annual fee card.
There is also a 5th card that is not really mentioned too much. I did not add this card to the table above. This is the Club Carlson Platinum Rewards Visa Card. This is a card that you cannot apply for. You may get this card if you do not qualify for the Premier Rewards Signature Visa or the regular Rewards Signature Visa. However, the benefits of this card are identical to the regular Rewards Signature Visa. The only difference is that it is not a “Signature Visa” and doesn’t come with some of the “Signature Visa” benefits.
Keep in mind that Club Carlson allows family members to combine points into one account. This can be particularly useful if more than 1 family member applies for these cards. For example, let’s say a husband and wife each get the Premier Card and met the minimum spend. They would earn 85,000 points each (170,000 points total). If they didn’t combine points, they could each book a 50,000 point award (get a free additional night from the card), get 4 total nights and have 35,000 points leftover each. However, if they combined points, they would have 170,000 points and could use 150,000 points for 6 nights and have 20,000 points total leftover.
Then, annually, they pay the $75 fee each for a total of $150. Annually, they would also earn a combined anniversary bonus of 80,000 points, which is again good for 2 nights at the 50,000 point level with 30,000 points leftover.. not a bad deal for $150. Hope that makes sense.
I do believe that the Club Carlson Premier and Club Carlson Business Cards are two of the top deals currently available, and as a result, I have added them to my top deals page.
Pingback: Why the Club Carlson Visa may be the Best Card for Manufacturing spend