9,000 Club Carlson points (£45 of free hotel stay or 900 Avios) for 3-day Avis rental

It isn’t just frequent flyer schemes that offer points in return for renting a car.  Some of the hotel programmes are partners with major car rental companies too.

In general the points earned aren’t worth as much as the equivalent airline miles, but do check.  The main partnerships are:

Club Carlson – Avis, Alamo, National, Budget, Enterprise, Sixt

Hyatt Gold Passport – Avis

Marriott Rewards – Hertz

Hilton HHonors – Alamo, Avis, Budget, Europcar, National, Sixt, Thrifty

Starwood – Avis, Sixt

IHG Rewards Club – Avis, Budget, Hertz

Of all of these deals, by far the best is the promotion that Club Carlson (the Radisson, Park Inn, Park Plaza hotel programme) has with Avis.

Now extended for the whole of 2015, you will earn 9,000 Club Carlson points for booking a 3-day Avis rental from a participating airport pick-up point.

You will find full details via this link.  Make sure that you add the MUHA021 coupon code to your reservation when you book.  It is unlikely that you need to keep the Club Carlson AWD rate code in the booking.

9,000 Club Carlson points is a good deal. You can get a night in one of their cheapest hotels for 9,000 points.  I would value 9,000 Carlson points at around £45 if used well for hotel stays.  Remember that you can top up your balance using American Express Membership Rewards points as well, on a 1:3 basis.

9,000 Club Carlson point would also get you 900 Avios or 900 miles in many other airline programmes, although technically you need to convert in chunks of 2000 (= 200 miles).

Remember that Avis is also a partner with British Airways and Iberia.  Purely from the point of view of earning Avios, you may be better off crediting to them depending on how long your rental is and what car you are taking.  The Carlson deal does give you the option of using the points for more valuable hotel stays, though, with the fall back option of converting to Avios later if necessary.

How to earn Radisson Rewards points and status from UK credit cards (December 2021)

Radisson Rewards does not have a dedicated UK credit card. However, you can earn Radisson Rewards points by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.  These include:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 60,000 Radisson Rewards points. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with two free airport lounge passes.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 30,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 90,000 Radisson Rewards points

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 5,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 15,000 Radisson Rewards points. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:3 into Radisson Rewards points which is a very attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 3 Radisson Rewards points.

Even better, holders of The Platinum Card receive free Radisson Rewards Gold status for as long as they hold the card.  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Gold and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here.

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)