Good morning everyone, I have a confession. I am not perfect. I make (plenty of) mistakes. Let me explain. I was trying to help my parents and utilize the Club Carlson Last Night Free promo before it expired on June 1. I mistakenly booked 2 2-night reservations for the wrong month. I meant to book hotels in July, but for some reason, I made the reservations for June. I meant to book 2 nights at the Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden. During the Last Night Free promo, I could get 2 nights for only 50,000 Club Carlson Points total.
When I called the Club Carlson Member Services Desk (1-888-288-8889), the rep said it was not possible to change the reservation without paying the difference in points. The new reservation for 2 nights would be 140,000 Club Carlson Points total, an increase of *only* 90,000 Club Carlson Points. Since I did not have enough Club Carlson Points (or want to pay an additional 90,000 Club Carlson Points), I decided to cancel the reservation and get back the original 50,000 Club Carlson Points.
The first night had a paid stay for $138.16 or $118.42 + 20,000 Club Carlson Points.
The second night had a paid stay for $246.87 or $148.42 + 20,000 Club Carlson Points. The total cost for 2 nights would be $138.16 + $148.42 + 20,000 Club Carlson Points = $286.58 + 20,000 Club Carlson Points. That is an average price per night of $143.29 + 10,000 Club Carlson Points.
I checked prices at the nearby Hilton Stockholm Slussen and found good Cash and Points prices for $106 + 24,000 Hilton Points per night. For 2 nights, the price would be $212 + 48,000 Hilton Points. Since I have plenty of Hilton Points, I decided to book this hotel instead. I still have around 90,000 Hilton Points and 90,000+ Virgin Atlantic points that I could (probably will) transfer into 135,000 Hilton Points at some point.
The second reservation I messed up on was at the Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark. The price for 2 nights when I booked during the Last Night Free promo was 44,000 Club Carlson Points total. Luckily, the hotel did not change categories. To get the new reservation in July, I needed 88,000 Club Carlson Points total, so I decided to use the 50,000 Club Carlson Points from the above canceled reservation to pay for the extra night on the correct date. 
This has been an expensive lesson to learn, but I am glad I had points to fix my mistake. Have you ever made any hotel booking mistakes? Please share in the comments. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. Have a great weekend everyone.
I made specaulative booking as well for 2017(crazy isnt it) too, hoping I would be able to change it later. oh well, win some loose some.
I would say probably not. You have tied up Club Carlson points that you may be able to use before then. You may want to cancel those reservations if you have a more immediate use. Where did you book hotels for in 2017?
Dubai
Gotcha.
Why not call the hotel directly and see if they will just change the dates?
I didn’t try. The Club Carlson rep said it wasn’t possible, but I didn’t try on my own.
I think the hotel can change your dates as well.
I should have tried that first. My bad
I tried to change a pre-BOGO 2 nt reserv directly with the hotel; they said no can do. YMMV, but I expect it will be few and far between that do it.
Most hotels (not just Club Carlson) are willing to change points reservations as long as the price is the same. If prices have changed, it is definitely YMMV.
Happened to me when the Hilton devalued in 2013. Booked Capital Hilton for 3 nights and Hilton Tyson Corner (for the DC FFU) for another 3 nights straight on points using the old valuation. Got to find out later that the bookings were made for March rather than April 2013. Hilton never admitted any error, even though they claim that calls are recorded. By the time canceled and rebooked, the cost in points doubled with their new price chart. The stays were a must as we were doing around-the-world with a stop in DC and I also was registered to attend the DC FFU in late April.
Yikes, that sounds like a pain to get sorted out. Did you have to pay extra to fix the reservation or did Hilton fix it for free?
We paid with the new devalued chart as they refused to go back & review the recordings. Anyways Capital Hilton was crap but with great location near the White House. And the Tysons Corner was booked for the great company of like minded people – this was our second FFU or FTU. On six nights, we burned 240K HH points!
That sounds like a pricey stay in DC. Sorry Hilton was not able to help fix the reservation.
Summer over at mommypoints did report some limited success changing Club Carlson reservations for free by contacting the hotel directly (in a recent blog post). I would have at least tried that before canceling.
Too late to try that now, but I will make sure to try that first next time. Thanks you Chris.
I was in contact with Radisson blu Aqua in Chicago, and they kindly offer to change the dates so I could keep the BOGO night.
That’s very nice of them to change the dates for you for free. I’m kicking myself for not calling the hotel directly. Oh well, live and learn.
I had to call Europe to change one of mine. I was scrambling around on 5/31 trying to burn up my points, and needed to switch an existing bogo reservation around. I was trying to do it online but couldn’t, then over the phone via CC customer support. Unfortunately June 1 was a Monday and the staff was off all weekend. (Another nice touch, Club Carlson!) I spent hours on this on Sunday 5/31, and witnessed the price increases on some hotels while we were logged on at midnight CST, with out realizing that changes to the BOGO could still be done through Monday 6/1.
So far, so good, but we will see next year when we go. We’ve got about 10 BOGO reservations still ahead. It was the greatest thing while it lasted!
I totally agree with the limited hours for the Club Carlson Member Services Desk. The hours are not conducive for last minute changes during weekends/evenings. I wish they would change their hours. I hope your ten upcoming BOGO reservations go according to plane. Where are you staying?
Pingback: Hidden Paradise, A Costly Award Booking Mistake, Less Options to Hawaii & More! - Miles to Memories