Opinions and suggestions welcome!
With the recent news that Starwood will be acquired by Marriott, I'm ready to jump ship. They might surprise me with offering a good plan, but I've generally been displeased with Marriott more so than Starwood over the years which was one of the original reasons I chose Starwood many years ago.
My travel habits have changed in recent years and I'm finding more interest in visiting smaller cities, have little interest in elite benefits (other than free breakfast, when offered), and could care less about having a marble bathroom in a hotel. I'm more interested in cleanliness, quietness, service quality, and being in a desirable location (easy transit, not far from sites, etc). In the last 10+ years I've used many (most?) of my SPG points in Europe. I also don't really care about suite upgrades (most of the suites I've had were less desirable than the regular rooms), though some perks are nice (water, high/quite floor, breakfast, etc). Starwood has some excellent hotels and I've enjoyed them, but don't need the best. I'm primarily interested in value for money (sound familiar? I bought my timeshares resale, too!). :)
The vast majority of my hotel points are earned via credit card. Starwood earns 1 point per $1, typically. This is what I use for all my calculations. While not comprehensive, my personal cost is ~9,600 points per night (across ~129 hotel nights over many years); I intend on updating this to be more accurate soon with recent stays. This means it cost me approx. $9,600 spend on the credit card per night.
As I'm more interested in redeeming points for travel in Europe (though I do some redemption in North America and elsewhere) I'm particularly interested in a program that has a good network of hotels especially outside of the big cities and at a reasonable rate. From what I can determine, I should consider Club Carlson.
Club Carlson credit card offers 5 points per US$ spent anywhere other than at the hotel (this is referring to their Premiere Visa - http://ift.tt/1PHv17D). I randomly selected a few hotels in Europe to use for comparison. I was surprised to find the value available at some of the hotels, especially with cash & points (more value than the current Starwood redemption options). For example, here are five hotels (in big cities...) for comparison. These rates were all for the same three night stay in May 2016.
Park Inn Berlin City-West
c&p = 5,000 + $64.17, $0.0428 per point
free night = 15,000, $0.0356 per point
cash = $107
art’otel berlin kudamm
c&p = 5,000 + $88, $0.058
free night = 28,000, $0.026
cash = $146
park inn berlin alexanderplatz
c&p = 10,000 + $76, $0.025
free night = 38,000, $0.0165
cash = $126
radisson blu alcron prague
c&p = 10,000 + $135, $0.0455
free night = 44,000, $0.0257
cash = $226
radisson blu es. hotel, rome
c&p = 15,000 + $178, $0.0396
free night = 50,000, $0.0297
cash = $297
Club Carlson hotels may be viewed at http://ift.tt/1PHv17F
Also, the "cost" for cash & points at many hotels is significantly less than Starwood. 5,000 Club Carlson points is only US$1,000 spent on the credit card, so a three night stay at the Park In Berlin City-West hotel would only require US$3,000 on the credit card + $64.17 per night. Or, 45,000 points for US$9,000 spend for free nights (which is less than my current average cost on a per night basis with Starwood).
Other than the obvious differences with many of the Club Carlson hotels (many of which appear more equivalent to Four Points by Sheraton, though some are quite nice) am I missing something obvious?
I haven't made a change of my primary hotel loyalty program is a long, long time so this is a big deal for me. I've read a bit at Flyertalk and elsewhere, and it seems Carlson would be a good fit for me. FWIW, I also looked at IHG but the redemption cost there appears, at first glance, significantly worse than even Marriott.
Thanks for reading and the time for your opinion.
With the recent news that Starwood will be acquired by Marriott, I'm ready to jump ship. They might surprise me with offering a good plan, but I've generally been displeased with Marriott more so than Starwood over the years which was one of the original reasons I chose Starwood many years ago.
My travel habits have changed in recent years and I'm finding more interest in visiting smaller cities, have little interest in elite benefits (other than free breakfast, when offered), and could care less about having a marble bathroom in a hotel. I'm more interested in cleanliness, quietness, service quality, and being in a desirable location (easy transit, not far from sites, etc). In the last 10+ years I've used many (most?) of my SPG points in Europe. I also don't really care about suite upgrades (most of the suites I've had were less desirable than the regular rooms), though some perks are nice (water, high/quite floor, breakfast, etc). Starwood has some excellent hotels and I've enjoyed them, but don't need the best. I'm primarily interested in value for money (sound familiar? I bought my timeshares resale, too!). :)
The vast majority of my hotel points are earned via credit card. Starwood earns 1 point per $1, typically. This is what I use for all my calculations. While not comprehensive, my personal cost is ~9,600 points per night (across ~129 hotel nights over many years); I intend on updating this to be more accurate soon with recent stays. This means it cost me approx. $9,600 spend on the credit card per night.
As I'm more interested in redeeming points for travel in Europe (though I do some redemption in North America and elsewhere) I'm particularly interested in a program that has a good network of hotels especially outside of the big cities and at a reasonable rate. From what I can determine, I should consider Club Carlson.
Club Carlson credit card offers 5 points per US$ spent anywhere other than at the hotel (this is referring to their Premiere Visa - http://ift.tt/1PHv17D). I randomly selected a few hotels in Europe to use for comparison. I was surprised to find the value available at some of the hotels, especially with cash & points (more value than the current Starwood redemption options). For example, here are five hotels (in big cities...) for comparison. These rates were all for the same three night stay in May 2016.
Park Inn Berlin City-West
c&p = 5,000 + $64.17, $0.0428 per point
free night = 15,000, $0.0356 per point
cash = $107
art’otel berlin kudamm
c&p = 5,000 + $88, $0.058
free night = 28,000, $0.026
cash = $146
park inn berlin alexanderplatz
c&p = 10,000 + $76, $0.025
free night = 38,000, $0.0165
cash = $126
radisson blu alcron prague
c&p = 10,000 + $135, $0.0455
free night = 44,000, $0.0257
cash = $226
radisson blu es. hotel, rome
c&p = 15,000 + $178, $0.0396
free night = 50,000, $0.0297
cash = $297
Club Carlson hotels may be viewed at http://ift.tt/1PHv17F
Also, the "cost" for cash & points at many hotels is significantly less than Starwood. 5,000 Club Carlson points is only US$1,000 spent on the credit card, so a three night stay at the Park In Berlin City-West hotel would only require US$3,000 on the credit card + $64.17 per night. Or, 45,000 points for US$9,000 spend for free nights (which is less than my current average cost on a per night basis with Starwood).
Other than the obvious differences with many of the Club Carlson hotels (many of which appear more equivalent to Four Points by Sheraton, though some are quite nice) am I missing something obvious?
I haven't made a change of my primary hotel loyalty program is a long, long time so this is a big deal for me. I've read a bit at Flyertalk and elsewhere, and it seems Carlson would be a good fit for me. FWIW, I also looked at IHG but the redemption cost there appears, at first glance, significantly worse than even Marriott.
Thanks for reading and the time for your opinion.
Considering Club Carlson instead of Starwood
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