Do You Need Points for ALL Nights in Your Account for the Free Night With the Club Carlson Card?

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Million Mile Secrets reader Hilde commented:

You said that one could maximize the savings by staying 2 nights for the price of 1 with the Club Carlson Rewards card.  I was under the impression that you need to have enough points to “pay” for 2 nights and you get 1 refunded.  Is my assumption wrong?

Hilde is referring to getting the last night free on award stays of 2 or more consecutive nights if you have the Club Carlson Premier Rewards card.   This is 1 of the best perks of having the card!

On a 2-night stay, will you need to have enough points in your account for both nights, and later get a refund for the 2nd night?  Or will points for 1 night be enough?  Let’s find out!

What’s the Deal?

Link:   US Bank Club Carlson Premier Rewards

Link:   Free Hotel Night With Club Carlson Card Explained

Link:   Is the 30% Bonus on Club Carlson Points Worth It? (Expires October 31, 2014)

You’ll get a free night on award stays of 2 nights or more if you have the Club Carlson Premier Rewards card.  This is a fantastic deal, because you can basically get 2 nights for the price of one.

Club Carlson includes Radisson, Radisson Blu, Park Inn by Radisson, Park Plaza, and Country Inns and Suites hotels.

And until October 31, 2014, you’ll get a 30% bonus when you purchase Club Carlson points.  Folks who have the Club Carlson Premier Rewards card could save a lot of money with this promotion!

I wrote that if you purchased the maximum number of points (40,000) through this deal, you’d get 52,000 Club Carlson points for $280.  And that’s more than enough for 1 night at a Category 6 hotel, which is Club Carlson’s 2nd highest tier.

Example:   2 Nights at the Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa

I tried to book 2 award nights at the Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa.  It costs 50,000 points per night, or 100,000 points total for 2 nights.

But I only have 99,664 points in my account – not enough for a 2-night stay.

However, as a Club Carlson Premier Rewards cardholder, I got the following message on the booking screen.

So you do NOT need to have enough points for all of the nights in your stay to get the last night free!

Note:   The Club Carlson Premier Rewards cardholder must be traveling.  You can’t book an award stay for someone else and get the last night free.

This is a very good deal because you’ll pay 50,000 points for a 2-night stay that would normally cost over $900!  And you’d only pay $280 for the points through the Club Carlson 30% bonus promotion.

Bottom Line

If you’re a Club Carlson Premier Rewards cardholder, you’ll get the last night free on award stays of 2 nights or more.

You do NOT have to have enough points for the whole stay in your account!  They’ll subtract the points for the last night before you make the booking.

And you can get a 30% bonus on purchased Club Carlson points until October 31, 2014, to sweeten the deal!

Thanks for the question, Hilde!