“Last Night Free” on award stays of 2 nights or more with Club Carlson Credit Cards

Since there have been many recent hotel chain points devaluations such as Hilton, Marriott, Priority Club, and Wyndham, the rising star now seems to be Club Carlson properties.  They have had numerous stellar promotions in the past year or so including the ability to earn many free nights.  They definitely got me to participate and I have since stayed at numerous Club Carlson properties, my favorite one being Radisson Hotel & Suites Fallsview in Niagara Falls.

One of the new and best “permanent promotion” seems to be for cardmembers who have any one of the following three Club Carlson’s new credit cards.

 
This built in benefit is that when you redeem Gold Points for 2 or more consecutive Award Nights, your last night is free.  Here is a photo example:

This is a fantastic benefit of the card.  For example, I checked a random weekend (July 26-28, 2013) for a stay in Chicago and found that I can get the Radisson Aqua Blu Hotel for either $194.65 (plus taxes) per night or 50,000 Gold Points per night.

However, if you have any of the Club Carlson credit cards, you can stay here for 50,000 points total for 2 nights.  If you don’t have any of the cards, you would be paying 100,000 points or $389.30 (plus taxes).  As you can see, the Club Carlson credit cards offer a valuable benefit.  Of course, this is best for 2 night stays since you maximize the value of your points.  3 nights would cost you 100,000 points and 4 nights would cost you 150,000 points.

At the time of release of these cards, there was confusion as to if you need the full amount of points at the time of booking.  For example, do you need 100,000 points in your account to initially book the 2 nights? And then will you get 50,000 points refunded for the free night? Or do you just need 50,000 points in your account to book the 2 nights?

According to this post by Freetravelguys.com, the Club Carlson website recognizes if you have a Club Carlson credit card, and immediately shows the discount upon booking.  So, you do not need 100,000 points to book a 2 night stay, you only need 50,000.

Conclusion: This “Bonus Award Night” with a Club Carlson credit card can be worth hundreds of dollars in value depending on the property booked.

Terms and Conditions from the Club Carlson website:

Bonus Award Night: When you redeem Gold Points for Award Nights of two or more consecutive nights at the same participating Carlson Rezidor hotel property, you will receive the last of the Award Nights of that stay free without deduction of any Gold Points from your Club Carlson account (“Bonus Award Night”).  Your Account must be open and reservation must be in the Club Carlson member’s name and use the member number associated with your Account to be eligible for the Bonus Award Night. The Bonus Award Night offer is available only on advance reservations for Award Nights paid in full with Gold Points and is not valid with standard paid reservations or Points + Cash redemption reservations. Only one Bonus Award Night will be available for a stay of two or more consecutive nights at the same hotel (early checkout with one night stay not eligible), regardless of the total length of stay, the total number of reservations or the number of check-in/check-outs, is subject to availability and all other terms and conditions and cancellation policies regarding Award Nights apply.  Does not apply to additional reservations booked as contiguous stays at the same hotel.  Only one room per reservation, per hotel for an Award Stay will be eligible to receive the Bonus Award Night offer.  Maximum fifty (50) Bonus Award Nights per calendar year per member with an open Account (“Annual Maximum”).  If a reservation with a Bonus Award Night is subject to a cancellation penalty, the Bonus Award Night from that reservation will count against the Annual Maximum.  A Bonus Award Night has no Gold Point or cash value and cancellations involving a Bonus Award Night will not result in the credit of any additional Gold Points in your Club Carlson account.