Club Carlson is annoying. There’s no other way to put it. I am trying to burn these Office of the President E-Certs which I was given after the Club Carlson devaluation. I managed to book one night at the Radisson Blu Corsica and use points for an additional night as part of my That Champagne Lifestyle Trip Report. The problem is that there is no E-Cert availability for the third night. Standard rooms are available, standard points are available, and the rate isn’t even exceptionally high. Indeed, the hotel doesn’t even look that great.
The E-Cert expires in 2 months which is why I tried to use it in Iceland to book the Radisson Blu Saga. The same thing happened then, no award availability. As is implied in the name, the E-Cert can only be booked online so calling customer service or reaching out to the hotel is useless. I get there isn’t always award availability, that’s not the nature of our business but I don’t understand (and nobody can tell me) if the award will open up. The interesting thing is that I made the first E-Cert booking today so booking in advance is not the issue.
This is the last of my Club Carlson affiliation. I’m not sure I’ll keep the Club Carlson cards one more time.
Anyone have any tricks?
in the promo box you need to put in USBankEC or something like that
Amazing! It worked. Haa. Now do I want to stay here?
haha nice Ted. I remember finding out about having to use that code – in reality, the E-Cert seems universally applicable. I don’t think I’ve ever been denied a reservation. I’ve used them in Bergen, Norway (okay room, great location, free awesome breakfast for all guests) and in Toronto on the Harbourfront (nicer room, another great location, no breakfast). Both were solid hotels. I don’t think Radisson has ANY truly “lux” hotels & resorts, so I just used the certs when they served my purpose well in terms of location – many of their hotels are overpriced, so high sticker price doesn’t mean you’ll enjoy it more than any others i’ve found
Oh it shows up now. It didn’t show up without that code. There are some nice Radisson Blu’s including Istanbul, Cape Town, and 1919 Reykjavik…http://thepointsoflife.boardingarea.com/category/trip-reviews/hotel-reviews/club-carlson/
how do you even have a blog. your content sucks. are you related to somebody at boardingarea
wow, thanks.
I actually think this blogger has found himself a nice niche. He says / does dumb shit and I come here to laugh at him. I mean, I know that I’ve personally given him dozens of page views over the last couple of weeks.
Hmm, don’t know how to take this one. Obviously, I’ve had some great duck ups as of late (Iceland, China Visa) but how would anyone know unless I shared the stupidity? Now as far as saying dumb shit? Not sure I agree with that. And in defense of my mistakes, I have to say I’ve pulled off a lot of great stuff too. I’ll just take your comment to mean that you appreciate my transparency.
Hey man… clicks are clicks and I’m the schmuck who comes back for more, sooo
haa I’m forever in your debt
no matter what you think about the blog generally, gotta respect TPOL’s game in terms of putting together these massive, all-luxury-all-the-time trips. Can’t even imagine how difficult that is, and he makes it look like an art form with those charts. Let’s give the man some respect on that front.
Thanks Mike. It’s refreshing to hear something positive! I’m on Excel right now trying to figure out this South of France, Corsica, Sardinia, Milan trip
Agree 100%. I check in at least once a day for that reason.
Oh more of this, no longer funny…
I’m missing something here… every single hotel I look at still says “rate not offered” when I put USBankEC in the promotion box… what am I missing?
Ask Ted #2 LOL. I put in the E-Cert # and the USBankEC and I see availability.
think I figured it out.. if I only search with USBankEC and then click on the paid rate it works, then once I get into the paid rate reservation I select “I have an ecert” and it lets me apply it to bring total down to 0
Club carlson lost my trust! close the f**ing cards and never stay at Club Carlson again!
I bought a couple of hundred thousand points to use with the credit card one night free award – all useless now!
Club Carlson – never again!
It’s good to see someone actually get upset at corporations instead of finding fault with the consumer. Why should I have to know the special promo code to book a tin can room on a gift card they gave me for their sneaky ways? It’s one thing to be savvy in finding award travel, it’s another when the companies are sneaky!
I used mine at the Radisson Lake Buena Vista Orlando. Hotel was ok, but I was slapped with a $50 mystery change on my credit card after check out. I agree it was not easy finding a hotel where I could use it.
I’m rid of mine too!