The Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature card once again has its highest-ever new cardmember offer: get 120,000 Radisson points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. While this card is much less popular today than it once was, that’s still a potentially solid offer on a card that I personally think is underrated in the hotel card space. Don’t get me wrong — it’s not my favorite card on the market, but the return can be surprisingly good for a hotel credit card and the anniversary points easily justify the annual fee in my opinion.
The Offer
| Card Offer |
|---|
Key Card Details
| Card Name w Details & Review (no offer) |
|---|
Quick Thoughts
The standard offer on this card is 85K points (usually after $2.5K spend). In 2019, this card offered a 120K bonus — the highest they’ve ever offered on it — but that offer had expired. It’s always great to see an all-time high offer return.
These days, the Radisson Rewards Visa is much less popular today than it once was because Radisson (formerly called Club Carlson) used to offer the last night free on award stays for cardholders. This meant an effective BOGO on award stays (provided you booked them in 2-night batches) — so while the new 120K offer is the most points ever offered, it isn’t necessarily the most valuable bonus offered on this card since you could have gotten more mileage out of 85K points back when that benefit existed. That was a lot of fun while it lasted. When that benefit died, so did most enthusiasm for this card. That certainly made sense as it was a huge devaluation, but for those looking to rack up points quickly for a good use, this new 120K offer really isn’t bad.
—>Link to Radisson award rates and category filters. Simply select a category from the drop-down to see the hotels in that category organized by region.<—
I’ve written before about the Radisson card and why I like it despite the fact that I do not love Radisson hotels or the Radisson Rewards program. In short, the card offers a very reasonable return at 5x everywhere (10x at Radisson properties) and a free night within the US for each $10K spent during your cardmember year (up to $30K). Further, it offers 40K points at anniversary each year, which offsets the $75 annual fee in my opinion (I’d much rather have points, which do not expire and can be combined with your other points for the redemption you want, than an annual free night certificate limited to a specific category). If you opened it now and spent $10K the first year and kept it open past the anniversary, you’d end up with a free night certificate valid at any property in the US and 210K points (120K from this new cardmember bonus, 50K from spending $10K on the card at 5x, and 40K from the anniversary points). For the cost of two annual fees ($75 this year and $75 at anniversary), you could have up to 4 nights at one of the few top-tier US properties (or use the cert for a night in the US and the points as you see fit). That seems like a reasonable enough offer, especially now that Radisson once again has properties in Manhattan.
I completed $10K spend for a free night certificate last year. While there aren’t many hotels within the United States where I’d be excited about using the free free night certificate, I used use mine last year to stay at the Radisson Blu Mall of America (which is actually attached to the mall – that was awesome for simple access while traveling with a baby). I got upgraded to a Junior Suite sorta thing for having Radisson Gold status (a benefit of the card).
While Radisson properties within the US are mostly limited to road-trip-worthy Country Inn & Suites locations, some of the Radisson Blu properties in Europe are quite nice. I recently discovered what looks like a real gem in the Radisson Blu Milatos on Crete. (Travel with Grant stayed there last year and confirmed that it’s a pretty nice place to kick back for a few days).
I’ve further found Park Inn locations in cities I’ve wanted to visit and my stays at them have not failed my expectations for a simple and clean place to sleep. Apart from the handful of European Radisson Blu gems, most properties within the Radisson portfolio are not luxurious but rather functional and earning 5x on everyday purchases puts award stays within relatively easy reach.
A hundred and twenty thousand Radisson points is not quite enough to stay two nights at their top-tier properties, though when put together with the 15K points you’ll earn from meeting the minimum spend, you’d be just 5K short of 2 nights anywhere or many nights at lower-end properties.
All that said, I probably wouldn’t burn a Chase 5/24 slot for this offer unless I had a really good use of points in mind, nor would I choose this hotel card over the World of Hyatt card. It’s not my top pick, but it’s good to see an increased bonus for those folks who can make good use of the points.
H/T: Doctor of Credit
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
[…] [Back again] Highest-ever 120K Radisson card offer […]
[…] [Back again] Highest-ever 120K Radisson card offer […]
So they have a 50k bonus offer for any first time purchases for the lower Platinum visa card but nothing other than the $3k spend for the 120k bonus points??
[…] [Back again] Highest-ever 120K Radisson card offer […]
My wife applied for that card the last time it came around. Instead of getting the 120,000 points she was instead given 85000 points with a $2,500 spend. When she contacted US Bank to ask why she got the lower award amount, she was told that the 120000 is not automatic and that they gave her the best card available for her. This was despite the fact that she has a 810 FICO score. We think it may have been because this is the first card she’s ever had with US Bank and perhaps future offers from them will yield a better result.
[…] [Back again] Highest-ever 120K Radisson card offer […]
Looking to stay at the one in mall of america but I believe it’s 80k for one night. Thus bonus even with the minimum spend won’t even get you 2 nights . Saving my 3/24
I used to have this card and closed it when they stopped offering the one free night per stay for award. I think it was 4 years ago.
If I apply again, will I qualify to get the bonus points ?
[…] Via Frequent Miler this offer, that I last wrote about April 30, 2019, has returned. […]
I’m a very very long term us bank customer and big radisson fan but the US only free night cert on this card keeps me from loving it. For those asking about churning this, it’s US bank so keep that in mind, a bit harder than citi or chase for sure.
The Radisson Suite Hotel Oceanfront in Melbourne FL is pretty nice for 44k per night. All rooms are oceanfront and the suites are nicely appointed. I was upgraded to a corner suite during my last stay which had a large balcony. Cool bar with bands next door to the hotel as well. I’m using my 3 free night e-certificates there this coming May.
Nice! Good to know. I may have to look at that. Looking to escape the winter for a few nights – always glad to have a new option in mind.
Hi Nick, I am visiting Ireland in March and have 4 Radisson Blu hotel stays booked around the country. I’ll report back on whether any of them are worth a visit 🙂
Nice! I look forward to hearing about it.
Any issues MSing the 10k free might at Simon?
Hasn’t been a problem for me. I’ve done all $30K there for the 3 free nights this year. Certs won’t post for a couple more months. Did $10K in GCs last year no issue either. YMMV of course. Note that I have only done $5K-$6K each time despite a limit of close to $20K on that card (I usually split tender over a few cards for about that much on each to spread the love around), but I’ve made a couple of trips in the same billing cycle without issue.
I thought USB was off limits for purchasing GCs? Many shutdowns reported for MS their CCs. Please clarify.
Not much I can clarify — I’ve bought $30K in GCs this year on it and $10K last year. No issue. The few folks I know who have the Radisson card have done the same with no issue. There were reports of shut downs on the Altitude Reserve early on, but I think anyone who has that card values it too much to test and see if they are more tolerant with it now (and you couldn’t use that to good value at Simon anyway).
So there is no issue with purchasing $3k at Simon for the SUB on this Radisson card. But not a good idea for the SUB on the Altitude Reserve?
I can’t promise the “no issue” part of that. I’d change it to “no known issue with…”
To expand on what Greg said, I don’t think anyone can promise you “no issue” on taking a brand new card and making your first purchase on it be $3K in VGCs, no matter the card or issuer — there is always some element of risk. That’s probably not how I’d handle a brand new card in general – I’d probably make some regular purchases on it first and then bring it to the mall and buy $1K or $2K on it one day and then maybe make another trip and ramp up slowly. The original question was whether there are issues MSing for the $10K free nights at Simon and my answer is that I haven’t had any issues. I didn’t try making a $3K purchase on day 1 though either.
On the Altitude Reserve in particular, people had reported shut downs after buying just one or two $500 VGCs in the beginning. That may have been USB trying to set a precedent in the beginning to scare people away from going hard in places where you can pay with a mobile wallet or perhaps they are intolerant of MS on their own cards. That doesn’t seem to be the case on the Radisson or other co-brand cards to my knowledge.
I agree with you a 100% on slowly ramping up spending on a new card. Better not to draw a lot of attention.
That’s definitely true to the US Bank Altitude Reserve, but maybe not for co-branded cards like this one.
Thanks for the clarification. Interesting how USB screens GC purchases on the Altitude Reserve, but not on the co-branded cards.
[duplicate post]
If we are not approved instantly – what is the reconsideration line ?
Unless you’re working to get/stay under 5/24, why not get this card? If the RRV is 0.38 and you get 40k every year, that’s more than double the AF. Seems like a no brainer to keep in a drawer collecting points every year until you need them at a convenient time.