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Radisson cardholders recently received a letter informing them that the Radisson Rewards Premier Card will automatically be converted into the US Bank Altitude Go as of May 2022. This was a surprising announcement and there wasn’t a reason given as to why the card is being discontinued. There was also no word as to what’s happening with existing business cards. The Radisson Rewards Business Card is being converted to the US Bank Triple Business Rewards.
The Radisson Rewards Visa is getting buried in May
Key Details
- The Radisson Rewards Visa’s 40,000 Radisson Rewards points anniversary bonus will be discontinued as of April 30, 2022.
- Only spending through April 30th will qualify toward free night certificates.
- The Radisson Rewards Visa annual fee will be credited back on a prorated basis (for up to 12 months depending on anniversary date.
- Cardmembers will receive their new US Bank Altitude Go Visa in June.
- Radisson Rewards expire after 24 months of inactivity, so without the credit card it will be important to keep an eye out to make sure that current rewards don’t expire 24 months after the last card earnings.
Quick Thoughts
This announcement took most of us by surprise. There wasn’t any hint that US Bank would be discontinuing the cards and it’s unknown who initiated the change and also if/when Radisson will partner with another issuer. Radisson does have a much better reputation in Europe, so it could be that US Bank was an awkward fit.
It’s a shame to lose the card though, as the annual fee was more than covered by the anniversary bonus, and many folks found the ability to generate free night awards with 5x rewards everywhere to be very useful.
The US Bank Altitude Go is a no annual fee card that earns:
- 4x points on dining
- 2x points on grocery stores, gas stations, and streaming services
- 1x points on everywhere spending.
The Altitude Go doesn’t have an annual fee or a foreign transaction fee, but the points are only worth 1 cent each, effectively making it a decent cashback card for dining. It’s a strange conversion from the Radisson card (albeit US Bank isn’t exactly flush with options).
A more interesting option is that the conversion could be a backdoor way of getting approved for the US Bank Altitude Reserve. For many, the Altitude Reserve is a very worthwhile card. The points are worth 1.5 cents each and the card earns 3x on mobile wallet payments, effectively making this a 4.5% cashback card when using that payment method. While the card does have an annual fee of $400, it offers $325 in travel/dining credits per membership year, taking a big chunk out of the total fee.
The problem is that US Bank can be very difficult to get approvals with, especially for multiple cards. The only card that is eligible for product change to/from the Altitude Reserve is the Altitude Go, so my assumption would be that these converted cards will be eligible as well. Normally, the card needs to be open for 12 months before a product change, so it’s unknown if that calendar will restart upon product change or if the history the Radisson Visa will carry over. Either way, this could be a very good option for folks standing on the outside looking in at the Altitude Reserve and a silver lining to the demise of the Radisson Visa.
R.I.P. Radisson Premier, we’ll miss you.
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Tim, I am looking for some advice here.
Between myself and P2 we have over a million Radisson points. Mostly moved to the International side, but a few left in the Americas in case I can use those to somehow keep the others alive.
What can I do to keep the International ones alive? Do they also expire in 24 months since last usage? I plan on using them early next year outside the US, but I will still have maybe 400K left over. Will moving them back and forth between the 2 programs extend the longevity?
I am not interested in Choice points at all. Any ideas would be appreciated.
So, now we know what is happening with Radisson splitting in two. Radisson Americas will be joining Chice Hotels Group. So, this may complicate the transfer between Americas and International.
I don’t see any mention of this change on Frequent Miler.
Choice, not Chise.
I just received replacement cards for my wife and my Radisson cards and still US Bank has never notified us that they are cancelling the Radisson cards and replacing them with other cards. What are our options at this point? Can we cancel and get a pro-rated refund? I don’t know if the replacement cards are good ones or not, but I assume if retained we would lose the ability to ever get them with a sign up bonus? Seems poorly handled on US Bank’s part.
US Bank charged me the $75 annual Radisson card fee on 6/2/22. It’ll be interesting to see if I get the 40k of Radisson points for it. If not, I’ll cancel whatever they say the card is now and be done with that weird bank.
has anyone received a prorated AF refund yet? Thanks!
Wonder how long it will take?
Yes. I have been away a couple of weeks and on my return I find 2 replacement cards, one for my business Radisson and one for my personal Radisson. I had paid my personal annual $75 fee in April and I see that they have refunded the full amount (very generous). My business card’s annual fee would have been due in July and they automatically refunded me $10 (of the $60 paid last July). So, again, I think quite generous. No need to call.
My wife’s card will be up for the annual fee in August so I assume this will be similar and I will just wait for the new card to come. We don’t need these, but as the new cards have no fee we will just keep them to help the credit score as we have had these a long time.
Yes – I received 37.50 AF credit
I was charged the annual fee yesterday May 3.
Wow, I never received the letter!
That’s seems like quite an oversight!
What about transferring Radisson points to airlines? I know it’s usually a bad deal but once in a while there are transfer bonuses that could make it decent. Not sure how to sign up for them tho.
Radisson has always had serious ID issues; the recent insanity with domestic vs international properties is a great example of bumbling. The Radisson founder, Curt Carlson, must be rolling over in his grave … he and the family put so much into Radisson back in the day, especially in the Midwest. We’ve stayed at some fabulous European Radissons, and also enjoy the Country Inns … but Rad properties are quite sparse in the US. I was always able to keep my points going with the credit card.
Any intel on whether Radisson will affiliate with a new bank to issue their own CC again?
How long do we get to keep our gold status?
In the days of 2 for 1, we did an annual trip to London and hopped between various properties in and around Leicester Square. It was an incredible value.
Now I have an award stay coming up in Venice and they said via email that they won’t even give free breakfast as gold, so the value of the card had already dropped drastically in my view.
My daughter and I did that too on our annual trips to London. 4 nights at Rad Blu Hampshire in Leicester Square for 2 50k redemptions – Such a great deal.
First, thanks for the alert. Haven’t yet received the news direct. But how is this “surprising?” The “Radishak” chain has been in steady serious decline, esp. here in the US for several years, even a decade+…. Yes, good memories — now ancient past. Still remember TravelisFree and here gushing re. the golden years for this card & the program — eons past — 2 for 1, etc. etc. But the major hits to the program and this card have been steady, constant, dating back long before covid.
This “sudden” demise of the “Radishak” cards from US bank seems rather in line then, esp. with the last year’s bizarre separation (on-line) of the Radisson global vs. Radisson americas programs…. Yes, far better Radisson fare available in northern Europe….
I’m still wondering if Radisson global will be selling off its ever declining Radishak ‘merka fare…. (yet another legacy brand off to Wyndham?)….. Other than the glorious County Inn & Suites at Kalispell, Mt (glacier) this will be all…. much deserved good riddance. Sour grapes, yes.
I just got the card sometime in Nov or so, they will give AF refund? I think I’m going to close the card after hearing this. I already have the Go.
First, I’m not quite clear how to keep Radisson points safe from expiration moving forward. Short of actual stays/redemptions they don’t seem to allow for many ways to do it.
Second, I do want to cancel the card as I have no use for Altitude Go. However, I don’t feel that pro-rated refund is fair. After all, they will not correspondingly prorate 40k points. That, of course, is a rant because fighting this with US Bank would be a useless uphill battle.
Good luck with trying to burn those points. I have just tried to make half a dozen reservations using points only – and we are talking non-popular places like Salt Lake City, and Tucson…and it’s ALL coming up as “no rooms available”. (But there are plenty of rooms available if you are paying cash only….LOL) Another loyalty program bites the dust, I guess. Only thing to do is hunker down and wait and see if we can use them eventually.
I just redeemed for 7 nights in Maldives with no issues.