Is it worth converting Radisson Rewards points to Avios or Flying Blue miles?

If you have some Radisson Rewards points, you may be wondering if it is worth transferring them to Avios or Flying Blue miles, which are the only two major programmes now supported.

The answer, in this case, is ‘No’.

Some hotel loyalty programmes, led by Marriott Bonvoy, are keen to promote the idea that you can turn your hotel points into airline miles. With Bonvoy, it’s actually not a terrible idea – you don’t lose much value.

I value a Marriott Bonvoy point at 0.5p. With a conversion rate of 60,000 Bonvoy points to 25,000 Avios or other miles, you are swapping £300 of hotel room for £250 of airline miles (assuming 1p value per mile). That is not a bad trade.

Radisson Rewards, on the other hand, desperately tries to stop you redeeming for anything except hotel rooms. After all, third party redemptions like miles cost it real money.

There are now just three airline partners:

• Avios (BA – not Iberia etc)
• Flying Blue (Air France / KLM)
• EuroBonus (SAS)

This is the page to convert your Radisson Rewards points to Avios or other airline miles.

Look at the conversion rates for Avios and Flying Blue:

• 2,000 points = 200 miles
• 50,000 points = 5,000 miles
• 100,000 points = 10,000 miles

Don’t ask why they even bother with the higher levels given that it is still 10:1.

SAS EuroBonus has a different rate of 7:1.

Note that transfers to Emirates ceased on 31st May.

Is this a good deal?

No.

I value a Radisson Rewards point at 0.33p. This makes sense, given that a 5-star hotel tends to cost 75,000 points and would be £250+ for cash.

If you want to learn more about how Radisson Rewards works, have a look at our review.

On this 10:1 conversion rate, you are giving up 3.3p of hotel room to get 1p of airline mile. You are losing two thirds of the value of your points.

It MIGHT be worthwhile if you have a small number of Radisson Rewards points – say 10,000 – which are not enough to get you a free room. Perhaps it is better to have 1,000 miles than hope you might earn some more one day to get a hotel stay.

For everyone else, give airline miles a miss and use your Radisson Rewards points for free nights.

You can learn more about Radisson Rewards on the Radisson site here.

How to earn Radisson Rewards points and status from UK credit cards (December 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 50,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 150,000 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is increased to 30,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 90,000 Radisson Rewards points. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card from American Express is increased to 80,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 240,000 Radisson Rewards points! The spend requirement is changed to £10,000 in six months for this offer. Click here to apply.

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. You can apply here.

Got a small business?

You can get free top-tier Radisson Rewards VIP status with the new Capital on Tap Pro Visa credit card for small business. Clck here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th December 2024, there are EXCLUSIVE sign-up offers for our readers on the two Capital on Tap small business Visa cards. You can earn 20,000 points on the Business Rewards card and 30,000 points on the new Pro card. Click here to apply.

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

30,000 points (TO 9TH DECEMBER) plus good benefits Read our full review

(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.)