On Monday night I was up at midnight waiting to sign up for the two Club Carlson promotions with registration starting at 1 a.m. on the east coast. Most important to me were the terms and conditions because I want all of you to qualify and earn your bonus points from these promotions. Many of you, myself included, made some Club Carlson reservations in anticipation of the three promotions and those reservation made prior to registering for the promotions will not qualify. The terms and conditions state, Promotion is not valid on existing reservations. Also I had a problem canceling a cancelable rate and wanted to share that information with you as well.
Since all of the terms and conditions are in the one very long paragraph, I thought it would be helpful to go over the fine print with you.
FINE PRINT
To earn bonuses for these promotions you must:
1-Be enrolled in Club Carlson
2-Members must register online for the Promotion at link
3-Provide their Club Carlson member number at the time of reservation or check-in of the Qualifying Stay
4-Then complete one Qualifying Stay at any Radisson or Radisson Blu hotel worldwide
-Guest must check in for the Qualifying Stay on or after May 15, 2012 and check out must be completed no later than July 15, 2012
-A Qualifying Stay is defined as a stay of one or more consecutive nights in the same room on a rate for which Gold Points are awarded
-Guest must be present at both the time of check-in and check-out (My plan is to get a statement from each hotel showing our check-in and check-out.)
The first 100,000 guests who complete the Promotion Registration will receive 50,000 Bonus Gold Points after the completion of their Qualifying Stay.
After the first 100,000 Promotion Registrations, every guest who completes the Promotion Registration will receive 15,000 Bonus Gold Points after the completion of his/her Qualifying Stay.
-Allow 6-8 weeks for the Bonus Gold Points to post to the member’s account.
Country Inns & Suites SO GO! link Promotion has the same FINE PRINT except for the information below:
-Complete one Qualifying Stay at any Country Inns & Suites By Carlson hotel.
-The first 35,000 guests who complete the Registration and a Qualifying Stay will receive 44,000 Bonus Gold Points after the completion of the Qualifying Stay.
After the first 35,000 registrations, every guest who completes the Registration and a Qualifying Stay will receive 15,000 Bonus Gold Points after the completion of the Qualifying Stay.
Since I made cancelable reservations in anticipation of this promotion, I needed to cancel and rebook online (to earn the online booking bonus). Checking one reservation I could not find the cancellation button and then read my confirming email and found the following conflicting language:
Rate Type: Advance Purchase Offer
Sat Jun 09 2012 – Sun Jun 10 2012 (1 Night)
Classic Room-Fridge-Microwave
Sat Jun 09 2012 91.96 US Dollar (USD) plus Tax for 1 night
* Estimated Fees: 0.00 USD
* Estimated Taxes: 8.28 USD
* Estimated Total Price: 100.24 USD
The following is a brief description of the rate features for your convenience:
Special Advance Purchase Offer
Must be booked at least 14 days in advance
Cannot be combined with any other promotional offer
For individual bookings only
NON-REFUNDABLE CREDIT CARD PRE-PAYMENT REQUIRED AT THE TIME OF BOOKING FOR THE ENTIRE STAY
No changes, cancellations or adjustments to the reservation are permitted
No refunds or cancellations
________________________________________
Cancellation Policy:
Cancel by 6:00 PM hotel time on Jun 09 2012 = No penalty
Late cancel or no show will be charged 100.24 USD.
I booked a cancelable rate. When I called Club Carlson they agreed that the confirmation had conflicting language, described the problem as a “Web issue” and advised me that I would need to call the hotel directly. The front desk clerk read me the top portion of my confirmation, but did not have the information about the cancellation policy. She transferred me to and the hotel reservation department. My rate was cancelled and I was thanked for bringing this conflicting language to their attention. The hotel will be contacting Club Carlson to have this issue resolved.
My suggestion is to check your email confirmations carefully as soon as you receive them.
Frequent Miler shows you how to get back 10% on your reservations for these promotions at this link. Thank you Frequent Miler!
We have starting making all of our reservations for these promotions through topcashback.com. By using this link I will earn $5 for your registration at topcashback.com. After you sign up at topcashback.com just type in Radisson or Club Carlson for Country Inns and Suites to start your new reservation and earn 10% back. Thanks in advance for using my link!
Feel free to start a conga in the comment section of this post with your own referral link to earn your $5 referral from topcashback.com.
Where does it say that the promotion is not valid on existing reservations?
Go to https://www.radissonbignightgiveaway.com/#terms. It is buried in this long paragraph. Read the sentence that I bolded for you. This the main reason for this post today!
The Big Night Giveaway Promotion (“Promotion”) is available only to Club CarlsonSM members. To be eligible for the Promotion, members must register online for the Promotion at http://www.radissonbignightgiveaway.com(“Promotion Registration”), provide their Club Carlson member number at the time of reservation or check-in of the Qualifying Stay, and then complete one Qualifying Stay at any Radisson� or Radisson Blu hotel worldwide (“Participating Hotels”). Guest must check in for the Qualifying Stay on or after May 15, 2012 and check out must be completed no later than July 15, 2012 (“Promotion Period”). A “Qualifying Stay” is defined as a stay of one or more consecutive nights in the same room at a Participating Hotel regardless of the number of check-ins or check-outs on a rate for which Gold Points� are awarded in accordance with the Club Carlson Program Terms and Conditions. Guest must be present at the Participating Hotel at both the time of check-in and check-out, enrolled in Club Carlson at or before the time of check-in, and registered in the Promotion no later than the time of check-out (to enroll in Club Carlson, visit http://www.clubcarlson.com). The first 100,000 guests who complete the Promotion Registration will receive 50,000 Bonus Gold Points� after the completion of their Qualifying Stay. After the first 100,000 Promotion Registrations, every guest who completes the Promotion Registration will receive 15,000 Bonus Gold Points�after the completion of his/her Qualifying Stay. These Bonus Gold Points � are in addition to the standard Gold Points� awarded for a stay. Only one Club Carlson account per Qualifying Stay will be credited with the Bonus Gold Points�. Maximum of one Bonus Gold Point award will be credited to a member with a Qualifying Stay under the Promotion regardless of the number of Qualifying Stays completed by the member during the Promotion Period. Allow 6-8 weeks for the Bonus Gold Points� to post to the member�s account. The Promotion and Gold Points� are subject to all Club Carlson Program Terms and Conditions. Rates for each night of a Qualifying Stay may vary. Promotion is not valid on existing reservations and is subject to availability. Promotion void where prohibited by law. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Radisson reserves the right to add, modify or discontinue these terms and conditions or the Promotion at any time with or without notice. Radisson is not responsible for: interrupted or unavailable network, server or other connections, miscommunications, computer hardware or software or technical failures, Internet Service Provider/network/website accessibility or availability, garbled or jumbled transmissions or other errors of any kind, whether human, mechanical or electronic; including without limitation the incomplete, incorrect or inaccurate capture of Promotion Registration information and any late, lost inaccurate or misdirected Promotion Registration information. By participating in this Promotion, you agree and consent to these terms and conditions.
How can I find out if the promotion is still offered 50000 points reward? Thanks
You would need to register and read the message you receive after registration. In addition you should receiving an email confirming your 50,000 bonus points offer after your qualifying stay.
[...] The terms and conditions state, "Promotion is not valid on existing reservations" Here is a link to my post about the FINE PRINT for these two promotions. http://frugaltravellawyer.com/2012/0…-bonus-points/ [...]