Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is almost done! The last two weeks Greg, Nick, and Stephen competed to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines. But who completed the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
| Sorry, this deal is no longer available. Do you want to be alerted about new deals as they’re published? Click here to subscribe to Frequent Miler's Instant Posts by email. |
The US Bank Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature card is now offering an increased welcome offer of up to 100,000 Radisson Rewards points — that’s 50K after first purchase and another 50K after making $2,500 in purchases in the first 3 months. That’s not a huge increase as it’s only 15K more than the standard offer, though I personally think this is one of the more underrated cards on the market, particularly for family travel.
The Offer
| Card Offer |
Key Card Details
| Card Name w Details & Review (no offer) |
Quick Thoughts
Previously known as Club Carlson, the rewards program rebranded last year as Radisson Rewards and renamed this card accordingly. Many of us miss the days when this card offered an unsustainable benefit of the last night free on all award stays, making it essentially a BOGO on all awards. Since that benefit died, the card fell out of favor and doesn’t get much press.
However, I have this card in my wallet and have been spending lately at the big spend bonus — for every $10K spent during your cardmember year (up to $30K), you get a free night certificate (after renewal). Those certificates are only valid in the US, which doesn’t do Radisson any favors in terms of PR for the card.
Still, I think the returns on this card justify its place in my wallet. According to our Reasonable Redemption Values, Radisson Rewards points are worth about 0.38 cents each. That makes the 5x return on everyday spend worth the equivalent of approximately 1.9% back. That’s not bad for unbonused spend on a hotel card. It’s clearly lower than you can earn with a simple 2% cash back card. However, when you also consider the fact that each 10K spend earns a free night (up to $30K), the return becomes pretty good — if you like staying at Radisson Rewards properties, anyway. After 10K of unbonused spend, you’d have 50K points, which is worth about $190 (though it certainly could be more if you work to maximize). If you value the free night certificate at just $100, that brings the total return on $10K spend to about $290 in value — or the equivalent of 2.9% back if you spend in exact increments of $10K and don’t spend more than $30K. That is perhaps a slightly over-generous valuation due to the restrictions on the free night certificate and the somewhat limited footprint of Radisson Rewards, but it’s strong compared to other hotel cards.
Furthermore, unlike other hotel cards, the Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature offers points each anniversary rather than a free night certificate. I much prefer points over an annual free night cert as the points won’t expire as long as you maintain activity and points are more flexible — use them for a couple of nights at a low-category hotel or combine them with points you earn from spend for a stay at a higher-end place. The 40,000 points awarded at anniversary are worth well more than the $75 fee in my opinion.
Of course, all of that hinges on whether or not you’d like to stay at Radisson Rewards properties. Radisson doesn’t have the footprint of a Hilton or Marriott nor the more “aspirational” properties of Hyatt. However, for families who mostly travel domestically, there are some decent values. I’ve previously noted that the Country Inn & Suites Virginia beach is right on the beach for instance.
That hotel costs 44,000 points per night. Thus, spending $10K on the card in year 1 and paying the annual fee to renew for year 2 will yield you enough points (40K at anniversary + 50K from spend) to cover 2 free nights in addition to your free night certificate for spending $10K. You could certainly do worse. And that’s not considering the welcome bonus of 100K, which would cover a couple more nights.
Most Radisson Rewards properties in the US aren’t quite that well located, though I find there are gems here and there for family travelers. The Country Inn & Suites in Queensbury, NY is literally next door to The Great Escape amusement park. While that’s not a park that will draw in tourists from far and wide, it’s a relative value if you live within a few hours’ drive. While I often find the best use of Radisson Rewards points to be for rural hotels where competition is low and cash prices are high, Radisson also has properties that can be decent in larger cities like New York, Chicago, or Minneapolis. Radisson isn’t necessarily known for being glamorous, but some of the properties are pretty nice. And every now and then, you’ll find a hotel somewhere you may not expect it. When I spent a night in Maputo, Mozambique a couple of years ago, the Radisson Blu was the only chain property in town. Super expensive whether on cash or points, I was glad I booked it when I got held up with an issue at immigration and the Radisson shuttle bus driver smoothed things over and got us through after hours of our own efforts were falling through.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
I signed up for this card by the deadline and just met the min spend requirement, but they only posted an addtional 35,000 points to my account (the standard second bonus). I am pissed. I had to fax them screen shots of the promo. The CSR says their records don’t show I was approved for the 100K offer…
Anybody else have this problem??
Thanks.
Mark
I have the same problem. I don’t have the screen shot of terms. Let me know what did you find out.
AJ – I received a letter in the mail saying they are investigation it…
I have had Radisson points for years and years. They never are my chain of choice as their product is so hit and miss. But, I have found the points very handy at times. For the U.S. and Canada they are great at the Country Inn products. Have used them in Orlando, Niagara Falls Canada and many other places. Overseas they are great. I used them a couple of times for the Raddisson Blu in Cebu Philippines…..a nice property. Last year I used them for Saltzburg Austria. You can get the cards in the business format as well as personal. My wife and I have churned them a number of times over the years. And, you can combine the points with a simple phone call to Radisson Program.
If you still have the old version of this card, can you apply for this one and get the bonus on this one too? Do you know if is it looked at as a different product for those purposes?
No, it’s the same product. Eventually, they’ll send you the Radisson Rewards-branded card when yours is set to expire. I still have the old Club Carlson branding on mine as well, but they just changed the name of the card rather than launching a new card.
That said, there are a couple of different Radisson cards (the Premier Visa Signature, Visa Signature, and Business). I know you can get the business and a personal. I’m pretty sure the two personal cards are treated separately as well. You can find all three under “US Bank” on our Best Offers page:
https://frequentmiler.com/best-credit-card-sign-up-offers/#USB
Thanks for continuing to add value with every article. HOWEVER, the font that you’ve switched to (unless my eyes/monitor have gone on the fritz)…is giving me a headache. I feel like my eyes have to travel hills and valleys with every word and it’s seriously distracting. Please go back. Thanks!
Glad you find the content helpful, Drew!
As for the font, we haven’t made any changes in our fonts – it shouldn’t look any different. I know that I’ve thought something looked weird now and then and found it was just the size I was displaying (you can set your browser to show 100% size, 75%, 150%, etc) – but when I reset that to my normal level it usually fixes things. Again, we haven’t changed anything on our end. I certainly don’t want you to get a headache reading here. Have you tried another device to see if you have the same experience?