Point Me to the Miles

I cannot currently say that I know much about Radisson hotels, though I know they have a great promo that is still running. I have seem them around in several places that I have traveled to, but never actually remember staying at one.

Their loyalty program, Club Carlson is currently having a promotion where a one night-stay at an Radisson or Radisson Blu hotel, through December 30, 2011 earns 50,000 Gold Points-so there is STILL TIME!.  Additionally, the Terms & Conditions state that it must be Radisson, and CANNOT be a Country Inn & Suites, Park Plaza, or Park Inn.

I should mention also that this promotion, which kicked off a couple of weeks ago, is supposedly only for the first 50,000 people who register.  However, if you do not make the cut, you are still eligible for 15,000 Gold Points.

At top-tier properties, especially in larger cities one night a Radisson cost around 50,000 points.  This is a steal when compared to an average rate of 470 Euros per night in Paris, according to this post by Loyalty Traveler.

Once you hit “Register Now” you simply watch a short video on the new Radisson Blu hotel in Chicago, enter your Club Carlson number, and if you are eligible you will see this:

As far as what constitutes a “Qualifying Stay” it seems that is all relative. Unfortunately, despite living in an area with a quarter of a million people, there are no Radisson hotels within 3 hours of me.

So I made a refundable booking and called the hotel directly about my virtual stay to ensure it would count.  While the hotel receptionist had not heard of the promotion, initially she indicated that it would be alright as long as it was a pre-paid rate since I would not be physically checking in.  She then checked-in with her management and indicated it would not count.

I should probably mention here when you find a good travel deal it may not always be the best idea to call the hotel or airlines.  In this case, I wanted to ensure my money would be well-spent.

Nevertheless, I ruled out that specific hotel but decided to look for one in another state, just in case they would not let the virtual stay count.  I searched Radisson’s map, and looked for hotels in fairly cheap markets.  Thus I landed on the Huntsville Airport Hotel, at a rate of $63 for the night of Thanksgiving .  To be on the safe side, in the special requests section I left a note stating “Will not physically check-in, room booked for Big Night Giveaway Promo.”

I was not sure if this would work or not.  I even got a little worried when I checked back on my reservation and it showed BOTH a check-in and check-out on the 25th, the day after my “stay.”

A couple days later I checked back to find that I had been credited with around 4,000 Gold Points for my stay–which includes 1,000 as a bonus just for booking online.  Per their site, I had to wait 10 days for the points to post, but to my delight right on cue the 50,000 points posted!  So for only $60 and a little bit of research, I earned 54,000 Gold Points for a stay I physically did not complete.

Maybe I am a greedy, but I decided to create another new Club Carlson and try the same thing again, at another hotel.  I heard through FlyerTalk that the Radisson Hotel Dallas East has been contacted quite about this, and should be prently lenient on “phantom” stays.  We will see how it goes the second time around.  Let me know how it goes for you.

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