Tomorrow, May31, most probably will be the last day when you can still get two Club Carlson nights for the price of one at the old reward levels. The language is a little confusing as it says “can’t be booked after June 1″ which might suggest that June 1 is the actual final day, but I wouldn’t bank on it.
If you are a procrastinator, this is the final call to get all your ducks in a row.
I control three Club Carlson accounts: two personal and one business. Here is what I’ve booked.
- 4 nights in Stockholm
- 4 nights in Reykjavik
- 2 nights in Bangkok
- 2 nights in Hamburg
Stockholm
In June 2016, I’m traveling to the #TBEX conference in Stockholm (now, here are people who know where to hold conferences!), so I booked two nights at the Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel, Stockholm, where the conference is going to be held in July 2016, and 2 nights at the nearby Radisson Blu Royal Viking Hotel, Stockholm for 50,000 points each. I’ve read suggestions that favored another central Stockholm hotel, Radisson Blu Strand Hotel, Stockholm, but it doesn’t have a pool, so the Viking won.
Burning Club Carlson Points: Stockholm Radisson Blu Hotels
Bangkok
In October, I’m traveling to Bangkok (and will attend the first TBEX Asia conference too, I guess, I’m getting addicted), Honk Kong, and Vietnam. I didn’t see many options to burn Club Carlson points except in Bangkok where I booked two nights at the Radisson Suites Bangkok Sukhumvit for 28,000 points.
Burning Club Carlson Points: Radisson Suites Bangkok Sukhumvit
Reykjavik
I still had too many points left, so I decided to do what I always do in situations like that—invent a reason to go somewhere. I’ve wanted to visit Iceland for quite some time, and Iceland presents quite a nice opportunity to burn some hot points: Reykjavik is expensive and it does have 2 Radisson hotels: the Radisson Blu Saga Hotel, Reykjavik and the Radisson Blu 1919 Hotel, Reykjavik. I booked 2 nights at each of them.
Burning Club Carlson Points: Reykjavik Radisson Blu Hotels
Hamburg
There were still some Club Carlson points left that were burning me from the inside, so I decided to make a stop in Hamburg on the way back from Reykjavik. Why Hamburg? Oh, there are plenty of reasons why one would want to see Hamburg. Here is mine.
Parents beware: this is what happens to grown men who didn’t have enough toys to play with as children. 🙁
Anyway, Hamburg is where I hit a snag.
All my bookings have worked great so far. Some of them were booked on my points, and others on my wife’s. The only thing that does concern me somewhat, is that the Club Carlson T&C state that the member has to travel in order to be eligible for the free night benefit. I’ve never heard from anyone that they would really deny the benefit to anyone, but technically, it can happen. What the hell—let’s live dangerously. 🙂
At that point, I found myself actually short of miles. I (well, wife) had slightly more than 41,000 points left, and I needed 44,000 in order to book the Radisson Blu Hotel, Hamburg.
Burning Club Carlson Points: Radisson Blu Hotel, Hamburg
So, without thinking much, I went ahead and bought 3,000 miles for $21. Not a big deal, right? Right, only the points don’t get to your account right away. The confirmation message said it could take up to 72 hours for the points to appear in her account. I’m sure they tried to warn me before buying the points somewhere, but I was in a hurry. This is the email they sent us.
I have no idea how I work this out or if I actually can work this out (they are closed tomorrow). I’m going to try the general reservation number, but if push comes to shove, I’ll grab 2 nights at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Hamburg Airport instead. It’s reportedly a 10-minute train ride to the city center, so I don’t sweat it much. Live and learn.
UPDATE 5.31: The points appeared in wife’s account, so canceled and rebooked Radison Blu Hamburg. Took less than 24 hours.
Burning Club Carlson Points: Radisson Blu Hotel, Hamburg Airport
Will I be able to use all these reservations? I never know 100%, and that is why I’ve booked all my flights with my Chase Ritz Carlton Visa, which, supposedly, offers the best credit card Trip Cancellation and Interruption insurance coverage, although I have never (thank god!) had a chance to find out!
So, how is your Club Carlson housekeeping: ongoing or done? Share with the class!
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