Club Carlson Visa with 85k Gold Points

I made a post not long ago in which I said that the Club Carlson card with 85k bonus points wasn’t as good as some other hotel card offers.  I’m now going to repent and ask for forgiveness. While there are still other great offers out there, there are a couple of very key benefits to this card that make it worth your attention.

Three Club Carlson Cards

• The Club Carlson Premier Card – 50k bonus plus 35k after spending $2500 in the first 90 days plus gold status
• The Club Carlson Rewards Card – 50k bonus plus 10k after spending $1500 in the first 90 days plus silver status
• The Club Carlson Business Rewards Card – 50k bonus plus 35k after spending $2500 in the first 90 days plus gold status

As I mentioned the other day, I like to think of the bonuses in terms of how many Category 2 hotel nights they’d get me.  With Category 2 hotel nights at Club Carlson hotels running 15k a night, we’ll be pocketing 4-6 free nights after meeting the spending requirements.

The status is nice because it never hurts to get a courtesy upgrade – something that will likely come when you stay in hotels that aren’t extremely busy.

Those reasons alone are already enough to start wanderlusting with Club Carlson’s hotel directory… but it’s about to get even sweeter.

Since blazing onto the scene, I’ve found the Club Carlson loyalty program to be extraordinarily generous – and they don’t disappoint cardholders.  This next little benefit is what really makes this deal sweet like candy: Any time you redeem Gold Points for two or more consecutive nights, your last night is free. That becomes extremely powerful when you start to look at loop-trips with two nights in each location.

What that means is that if you’re able to find 5 category 2 hotels and stay two nights in each of them, you’d burn up a total of 75k gold points. Wait, that’s like 7500 points a night? Uh..huh… You’re grasping it, aren’t you?

The Park Inn Hotel in Sophia Bulgaria is a Cat 2 CC Hotel

All of the sudden this beautiful little addition to your wallet is starting to sound very nice.  But like an infomercial, it’s about to get even better.  They also want you to keep this bad boy for more than just a year, so they’ve said, “look, for every year you keep the card, we’ll hit you with 40k more gold points.” And you reply, “so I could almost stay 6 nights a year (in 2-night increments) with the ongoing I’ll be getting?” Then Club Carlson’s all, “You freaking love me, don’t you?” So you’re like, “Yes, I do freaking love you.”

One more little added benefit is the abundance of free breakfast at so many of these hotels.  The Country Inn & Suites properties do not skimp when it comes to making sure you’re well-fed.  From warm cookies at check-in, to a hearty breakfast each morning, these places are better than home!

Now, what infomercial wouldn’t have a catch? The “catch” in this case is that they don’t waive the $75 annual fee in the first year, and each year your renew you’ll be on the hook for it again.  When you think about it, though, it’s a very small price to pay for some incredible benefits.  Here’s the link again to review the cards and the benefits: Club Carlson Visa.

If you’re worried that the selection of Category 2 hotels is going to be a disappointment, just check them out here.  Then be on the lookout for some more WorldWanderlusting loops through vacation destinations with Club Carlson properties.

By the way, we do not receive any commission in promoting this card.  We get our reward when you comment or email and tell us how you’re using your points to discover the world.