Club Carlson rebrands its hotel loyalty scheme as Radisson Rewards – what is new?

Club Carlson rebranded as Radisson Rewards yesterday.  This is part of a swathe of changes to the Radisson hotel group which we covered in this article.

The new Radisson Rewards website is here.

The scheme covers 1,100 hotels worldwide including Radisson Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson, and Country Inn & Suites by Radisson.

It looks very familiar to the old Club Carlson site, but there have been subtle changes:

The tiers have been renamed.  Instead of Club Carlson Red, Club Carlson Silver, Club Carlson Gold and Club Carlson Concierge, we have:

• Radisson Rewards Club
• Radisson Rewards Silver
• Radisson Rewards Gold
• Radisson Rewards Platinum

It is now easier to earn status (although many Head for Points readers get Radisson Rewards Gold status for free as a benefit of the American Express Platinum charge card):

• Silver used to require 15 nights / 10 stays but this has dropped by 40% to 9 nights / 6 stays
• Gold used to require 35 nights / 20 stays but this has dropped to 30 nights / 20 stays
• Platinum used to require 75 nights / 30 stays but this has dropped to 60 nights / 30 stays

If you an Amex Platinum cardholder, this represents a devaluation of your Gold status.  Historically there were very few Concierge (now Platinum) cardmembers so a Gold was well treated – you would often be the highest status person in the hotel on a particular night.  There will now be a big jump in both Gold and Platinum members which is likely to lead to fewer upgrades.

Importantly – and impressively – Radisson Rewards is backdating these new thresholds.  If you did 30 nights in 2017, you will have been upgraded to Gold yesterday from your previous Silver tier.

You can see full details of the tier requirements, and the benefits for each status tier, on this page of the Radisson Rewards website.

Here are the other changes:

Quorvus Collection – the niche high-end chain – has been renamed Radisson Collection

A couple of top Radisson Blu hotels have been moved into Radisson Collection (Strand, Stockholm and Royal, Copenhagen)

EVERY Radisson Rewards members receives two free bottles of mineral water in their room

Platinum members now receive full breakfast, except in North America where it remains just a free continental breakfast

Earnings have gone down very slightly – a Gold now gets 25 points per $ instead of 27 and a Silver now gets 22 points per $ instead of 23

Overall there is nothing to be too concerned about here.  Let’s hope that Radisson Rewards decides to launch a big promotion to push the new brand.

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How to earn Radisson Rewards points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

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 cards earn Membership Rewards points:

• 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 four free airport lounge passes.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 120,000 Radisson Rewards points

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 30,000 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 Premium 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.)