Club Carlson announces 120 hotel category changes for 2018 – book now to lock in cheap deals

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It is ‘hotel category changes’ week. Marriott and Starwood announced their 2018 changes yesterday, but first I want to look at Club Carlson.

Club Carlson, the Radisson / Park Inn / Park Plaza scheme, has announced that 120 hotels will be changing their reward cost on 1st March.

Even if you never earn points from these chains, it is worth remembering that Club Carlson is arguably the most generous American Express Membership Rewards redemption as I wrote here. 1 Amex point is worth 3 Club Carlson points which should get you 1p of value.

The list of category changes is here.

It is a genuine mixed bag and you can’t say that it is an overall devaluation because I don’t think it is. I will not be changing my value of a Club Carlson point – around 0.33p – as a result of this.

What you CAN say is that some illogically cheap hotels are moving up. The Park Inn Walsall and Park Inn Harlow, for example, were very cheap for 9000 points per night. These will now be 15,000 points.

The sign-up bonus on the free Amex Gold card – 20000 Amex points, so 60000 Club Carlson points – currently gets you a free week at the Park Inn Harlow. I had a quick look for the first week of March and a seven night stay is £392.

Here are a few other observations:

The Park Inn Palace, Southend on Sea (picture above and below) which I reviewed here drops to 28,000 points per night. You are paying £141 per night over a weekend in August, which means 0.5p per Club Carlson point (1.5p per American Express point if you convert them). That is good value. The hotel home page is here.

Turkey sees some large falls, presumably linked to large falls in cash rates.

There are some interesting cuts in rates in Dubai and Oman ….

…. but in Abu Dhabi points rates are going up.

Similarly, Dublin sees one Radisson drop a category whilst the other goes up a category

The Radisson Edwardian Grafton goes up to 70,000 points but that only aligns it with other top London properties. 70,000 for the Radisson Edwardian in Manchester does seem toppy – it is an impressive hotel, I was there recently myself, but Manchester is not that expensive.

You have until 1st March to lock in redemptions at the old rates. This gives you plenty of time to transfer American Express Membership Rewards points if necessary. The list of changes is here.

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.)