Radisson Rewards (formerly known as Club Carlson) is not a very popular hotel loyalty program in Canada. There is no co-branded credit card and only one hotel east of Ontario – the Radisson Kingswood Hotel & Suites in Fredericton, NB. If you happen to have some Radisson points, however, you might be interested to know which hotels will be changing categories next month.
Devaluations are common in the points and miles world. Early in the year loyalty programs will announce their forthcoming category adjustments with more hotels moving up a category, requiring more points, than moving down. That holds true with these Radisson changes – only one hotel will require fewer points in the future. Thankfully the list is quite short. Presumably it’s the final version and more won’t be added before February 1st.
Americas
Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Jackson, TN
- Current Category: 4
- New Category: 3
- Points Required for Award Night: 28,000
Radisson Hotel Vancouver Airport
- Current Category: 4
- New Category: 5
- Points Required for Award Night: 44,000
Radisson Hotel Seattle Airport
- Current Category: 4
- New Category: 5
- Points Required for Award Night: 44,000
Radisson Hotel Nashville Airport
- Current Category: 3
- New Category: 4
- Points Required for Award Night: 38,000
Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, San Diego North, CA
- Current Category: 4
- New Category: 5
- Points Required for Award Night: 44,000
Europe, Middle East, Africa
Radisson Blu Hotel, Bucharest
- Current Category: 4
- New Category: 5
- Points Required for Award Night: 44,000
Park Inn by Radisson Bucharest Hotel & Residence
- Current Category: 2
- New Category: 3
- Points Required for Award Night: 28,000
My Thoughts
I have a relatively modest amount of Radisson points earned from past promotions. I’m disappointed to see the Vancouver airport Radisson on this list as I redeemed points for a stay there in 2018. I remember the room was a bit dated but perfectly acceptable and the hotel is in a great location to catch the SkyTrain. When rates are high and you need a one night stay near the airport it was nice to have it as an option for a reasonable number of points.
The plan for my Radisson points going into 2020 is to redeem some e-Rewards dollars to prevent them from expiring and then maybe focus on hotels in category 3 – 28,000 points per night. The nice thing about this category is the fixed 5000 point amount when booking a points+cash stay. At the category 4 (38,000) level it jumps to 10,000 points. Hotels in category 1 (9000) and category 2 (15,000) are very few, although a full directory is conveniently available on the website.
Bottom Line
At this time of year, it’s a good idea to be on alert for category changes in hotel point programs. If you think you might need to redeem for a stay, you can at least lock in a speculative booking at the lower rate before the changes become effective. These Radisson adjustments aren’t too terrible but it’s still a good reminder for me to think about spending my stash.
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