Club Carlson Program Changes: A Basic Analysis

This bed in a room at the Radisson Blu Hotel Champs Elysees hotel property in Paris will soon cost you 20,000 additional Gold Points per night, as the hotel property increased one category from Category 6 to Category 7 — costing you 70,000 Gold Points per night. Photograph by FlyerTalk member christianj. Click on the photograph for additional photographs by christianj, as well as a discussion pertaining to this hotel property.

“Members will now have a choice of room types for redemption, in addition to standard rooms. Hotel redemption categories will be updated, and a new tier added, as the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group will soon be rolling out an expertly curated collection of luxury hotels, under the Quorvus Collection.
“Our members will continue to earn 20 points per dollar spent, with Award Nights still starting at 9,000 Gold Points. Beginning March 15, the rate at which Elite members earn bonus points will change to 15% for Silver and 35% for Gold. Concierge members will continue to receive rich rewards that include a 75% earning bonus. Members will now receive online booking bonuses on a promotional basis.
“Redeemed Award Nights will now be combined with qualifying paid nights to count toward Elite Status. And our members can now earn points on food and beverage purchases during Award Night stays. We have also added new retail gift card partners to the already extensive list with redemption starting at 7,000 points.”

FlyerTalk members expressed mixed reactions to the announcement — some lament the loss of the booking bonus and the decrease in bonus Gold Points for Silver and Gold elite members — but depending on which hotel properties you intend to redeem your Club Carlson frequent guest loyalty program points in the future, the overall announcement could either be good news or a perceived devaluation.
Blaming the credit card on what is being perceived as a devaluation, FlyerTalk member nsummy posted: “Now you can buy gold for $80 a year. Doesn’t seem surprising that they would devalue gold benefits. This program was pretty sweet 2 years ago. Of course for $10,000-$12,000 spend on their card you can stay 2 free nights at a very nice hotel. How many other credit cards can you say the same?”
FlyerTalk member Brendan portended with concern this past December that there would be a perceived devaluation announced for the Club Carlson frequent guest loyalty program — but at least the changes were announced almost two months in advance, unlike the change in the conversion of Gold Points to airline miles which was implemented quietly this past July with no advance announcement.
According to the charts — which, unlike the charts of changes in most other frequent guest loyalty programs, are rather clear with its information — of hotel properties which are expected to change categories as shown below, 114 hotel properties move up one category; while 67 hotel properties move down at least one hotel category. For your convenience, I coded the charts where an increase in category for a specific hotel property is colored in red; while a decrease in category for a specific hotel property is colored in green:

Of the 98 hotel properties in the Americas region listed in the chart above, almost double the hotel properties move up to a higher category than those which move down to a lower category: 65 hotel properties move up one category; while 32 hotel properties move down one category. A bonus if you intend to redeem your Gold Points at the Radisson, Petra Concepcion in Chile is that that hotel property moves down two categories from Catergory 5 to Category 3. That is a savings of 16,000 Gold Points per night.

Of the 58 hotel properties in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region listed in the chart above, almost 3.5 times the hotel properties move up to a higher category than those which move down to a lower category: 45 hotel properties move up one category; while 13 hotel properties move down one category.

Of the 25 hotel properties in the Asia Pacific region listed in the chart above — as a refreshing change — greater than quintuple the hotel properties move down to a lower category than those which move up to a higher category: 4 hotel properties move up one category; while 21 hotel properties move down one category.
However, changes in categories are not even across the board with regard to the redemption of Gold Points: “The cat 2 to cat 3 diff had always been huge”, posted FlyerTalk member hobo13. “It almost doubles right there. And (not coincidentally?) that’s where the biggest number of props going up a cat are. Really sucks.”
To summarize the changes announced for the Club Carlson frequent guest loyalty program:

• The reduction of the percentage of bonus Gold Points for Gold elite members from 50 percent to 35 percent and Silver elite members from 25 percent to 15 percent: negative
• Award nights now count towards elite status: positive
• The discontinuation effective as of March 1, 2014 of Global Concierge Service 24 hours per day, seven days per week: negative
• Earning Gold Points on food and beverages purchased during award nights: positive
• Category changes of 181 hotel properties: more negative than positive, as 114 hotel properties move up one category — nine of which move up to the new Category 7 award level at 70,000 Gold Points per night — while 67 hotel properties move down at least one hotel category

 
How will these changes announced for the Club Carlson frequent guest loyalty program affect you, if at all?