Good evening everyone, hopefully your week is off to a great start. A few days ago, I wrote US Bank Club Carlson Visa Signature and Business Cardholders Receiving Free Night E-Certificate (Different from Anniversary Night Certificates). In that post, I determined (thanks to reader comments) that everyone who has a US Bank Club Carlson credit card was going to receive a free night certificate (my letter is below). More interestingly, the free night certificate mentioned in the letter is not related to the $10,000 annual free night certificate (which is only valid in the United States, boo). Today (only 2 days later), I received an email with my free night certificate information. In this post, I will show you how to book your Club Carlson free night certificate at any Club Carlson hotel in the world.
The email subject line is Your Free Night Certificate is Here! and the email address it was sent from is carlsonhotels@email.carlsonhotels.com. In the email, there are instructions on how to book your free hotel night stay. You must use the promo code USBANKEC (EC = E-Certificate?) and your individual e-certificate code that starts with an E. If you click on the reservation link, it will take you to the Club Carlson home page with the promo code and e-certificate number prefilled. You can also manually type in both fields on the search page.
If you log into your Club Carlson account, you will see a section called My E-Certs with details of your free night certificate. The free night certificate is valid through August 31, 2016, so you have a little more than 1 year to redeem your free night certificate. There are a few restrictions, which you can read about here.
This is a hypothetical example, but let’s say I want to use your free night certificate for a stay in Zurich, Switzerland. After entering your dates, the e-certificate number, and the promo code (USBANKEC), you can view all available hotels.
The e-certiciate reduces all available hotel stays to $0 and you can book any hotel that is currently available.
If you want to upgrade your free night certificate to a better room or purchase breakfast for your room, there is a separate charge. The standard room is always free.
On the checkout page, confirm that the hotel room is free and click Confirm Reservation. That’s all you have to do. Just check in as you normally would and enjoy your Club Carlson stay.
Should I cancel a BOGO night stay and use 2 free night certificates instead?
It depends. But before we go on, let’s assume you have 2 free night certificates (from your US Bank Club Carlson personal and business credit cards). If you originally booked 2 nights at a category 7 Club Carlson hotel (70,000 points/night) using a BOGO night stay, your total stay would be 70,000 Club Carlson Points. If you were planning on booking a lower end Club Carlson hotel (category 1-6), you might be better off cancelling the BOGO reservation, redepositing the Club Carlson Points, and using 2 free night certificates to book 2 nights. In this scenario, you would have 70,000 Club Carlson Points in your account, which is almost enough for 2 category 4 hotels (38,000 points/night) or several nights at a category 1-3 hotel.
On the other hand, if you already booked a category 7 BOGO night stay, your total cost is 70,000 Club Carlson Points. If you plan on booking another category 5-7 hotel, you are better off using your free night certificate at those hotels and not modifying your previous category 7 BOGO night stay. Hopefully those examples make sense. If they do not, please let me know and I will try to reiterate my thoughts.
If you have any other questions, please leave a comment below. Have a great night everyone!
Not everyone who has the credit card… i didn’t get one…
Did you not get the letter in the mail or the email today? I would follow up with US Bank / Club Carlson to see if you are going to get a free night certificate. Did you ask for a retention bonus or call UR Bank about the loss of Last Night Free?
I didn’t get it either..i never called US Bank for retention offer..:(
There might be some correlation between those who complained and those who got the free night certificate.
I never complained…and I got an e cert and 7,500 points for my personal card.
Well then, you got the best deal in the world then :)
For those above who said you haven’t received anything yet, Have you checked your Club Carlson account(s)? I ask that question because I received a letter and email for my business card, but not my personal card, yet I logged into both today and had certificates in each one. Data point: I did call on both cards to complain awhile back and received 7500 bonus points for each. Good luck and safe travels.
Good tip, MFK. Check your Club Carlson account to see if there is an e-certificate loaded to your account.
you should get few of these free night certs for the BOGO Award night benefit removal and award increase at 310 of their hotels to 70000 points a night.
I got 50K bonus points and $300 credit a month ago
Very nice, thanks for sharing your experience, Dean.
I would like to know more as to how you received 50,000 points and a $300 credit when most received at most 7,500 points and usually no credit — as US Bank is notorious for not giving retention/incentive bonuses.
Yes, I want to know how that is possible too.
you should know and explain to them how they scammed you and actions you will take for their scam. THis is how i got those points and credit. Just calling and saying i ain’t happy won’t work . this is how youonly got 2500 or 7500 points.
It would help if you were a bit more specific. Such as, how many cards are you talking about in connection with receiving points and fees reimbursed, etc.
Do you have any other relationship with US Bank such as other credit cards or other accounts, etc.
I congratulate you on your efforts, but if you gave me a spiel like you just wrote here, I don’t think I would be very forthcoming, just being honest.
I did not receive it either. I did call for retention, did not get any, but left card open anyhow because I’m close to some redemptions. I’m def going to call.
Good luck on your call.
Their twitter replies indicate that the free night e-certs were only sent to a targeted group and all e-mails have gone out if you were targeted. I definitely did not receive one, despite having the personal card.
That’s a bummer, hopefully they will offer you something.
Grant, do you know if the 1-year expiration means that the award stay has to be completed within 1-year, or does it mean that the award has to be booked within 1-year?
I tried to look for that answer, but couldn’t find the answer anywhere. I would assume you must stay by the expiration date. That is how the Hyatt, Hilton, and Marriott free night certificates work.
I just tried to make a reservation for after August 2016 and it would not show the free price – it seems it’s hard coded into the system to only apply to stays completed by the expiration date.
Thanks both for the follow-up, that helps and makes sense.
Good find Elliott. The date does look hard coded.
“You do not have any E-Certs.”
Yeah. Must not have been targeted. I did not ask for a retention. I’m up for AF, so I guess I now will be.
Thanks for the data point, Steve. Hopefully you will get some type of retention offer.
I called US Bank, asked about retention offers, was put on hold for 20 minutes, hung up, called again and was told “Oh yeah, it’ll take 25 minutes to speak to a supervisor,” waited on hold again, then spoke to someone who said, “We have a special unit that handles the Club Carlson accounts who will call you back in 48 hours to discuss your options.”
Wow, that’s a long wait time. I hope the supervisor calls you back soon with good news.
They called today (24 hours later) and the US bank rep told me that he could offer me the free night cert. He said that this cert was “for those who were concerned about losing the free night reward.” I asked if everyone was getting it or just those who complained, and he again said, “it’s being offered to those who had the benefit and were concerned about losing it.” He then specifically said it would take 8-10 weeks to come to me because “we want to avoid people getting the certificate and then just cancelling.” Yes, had I complained previously, I could have gotten the cert and then still called to ask for a retention offer on the card, which has its AF this month. The cert is just to offset the complaints around the benefit, but unfortunately for me it’s now both that and a de facto retention offer (or hostage) for paying the AF.
Thanks for the update, Steve. I’m glad your free night certificate is coming. It should arrive sooner than 8-10 weeks.
I checked the website and no e-cert. No email either. I’ve only had the card since January, so maybe that makes a difference?
That’s possible. Did you call US Bank when the devaluation was announced?
No, I have never called. Guess I should have done that.
Yes, it is always good to complain where there is a devaluation announced. You never know what kind of compensation you will get.
Any idea how cancellation would work with one of these?
I think you can cancel the award and get the certificate redeposited but the expiration date will remain the same as before.
I already canceled it and it was re-deposited and I used it to make a new reservation.
Thanks for the data point :)
I received an email with the subject line “Your free Award Night is ready”. But, it turned out to be a promo piece advising me to use the award points that I had earned to book a room. After reading this column, I decided to call Club Carlson (800) 236-4012) and the agent verified that everyone is getting a one night free certificate, and that the letters were sent out last month. She then placed me on hold for a long, long time, and a supervisor popped up on the phone. He had no idea why I was calling, so I mentioned that my husband and I had not received our free night on our Club Carlson cards, although our friends had. Back on hold. When he returned, he still had no idea what I was talking about. On hold again. He told me that a special supervisor would call me back within 24 hours to handle the matter. I’ll write back in 24 hours and let you know what happens. In the interim, I think we should all complain.
Thanks for the update. Strange that the supervisors have no idea what is going. I guess US Bank and Club Carlson are not good and spreading news.
if you keep calling and complaining, they will close your card. so don’t do it.
Good advice, when I say complaining, I don’t really mean complaining.
I received the same email – use your points that you already have in the account. So, I called US Bank today and a very nice agent said that it shouldn’t be only the complainers to be awarded. That’s right! :-) He was sending an email to “his supervisor” to take a look at the account so I should expect a reply of some sort within the next couple days via email or something in the mail either a certificate or a response of why I wasn’t getting one. There was no promise of a “special supervisor” calling me back within 24 hours. This handling of term revisions and complaints by the US Bank overall seems to very inconsistent and a lot amateurish.
US Bank and Club Carlson are doing a terrible job of handling this devaluation. They have done so many things wrong. I hope you get a free night certificate.
I cancelled my card end of July and I still got the certificate! I did pay the annual fee once so this was my second year with card. Wonder if that makes a difference. I also complained when the announcement was made and got 7500 points.
I think complaining is the key to getting the free night certificate.
you guys who wanted to complaint about the BOGO removal and award increase at 310 of their motels, should have filed complaint many months ago when they did this. Many did and got rewarded.
Too late now
Early bird gets the worm :)
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Anyone know if I have my wife call about the Club Carlson credit card in her my name on my US Bank Club Carlson credit card account — e.g. she is an authorized user — whether she could also get a certificate mailed to her?
I don’t think AUs have much power to do anything. I think you will have to call on your own behalf.
No e-cert. Got bait and swiched back in April when they announced 2×1 would be terminated 3 days after AF posted. Complained and got 2,500 points. Complained now that I didn’t get a certificate and was told “sorry that was for a selected number of cardholders, go take it up with US Bank”. Will be closing the card just on principle.
Dang, you got a terrible deal from US Bank. Sometimes I am tempted to close a credit card when I have a very bad experience with one of my credit cards.
How did you get upgrades on the screen? Each time when I select $0 rate it doesn’t show any upgrades on the next screen. I even selected Zurich hotel from your screen shot and still no upgrades displayed. We have 2 adults and 2 children and I can’t find any hotel to use this certificates.
I think your problem has to do with the number of people in the room. Change your search to 2 adults and 0 children. That should work since many rooms in Europe are only supposed to be for up to 3 people.
No! I changed it to 2 adults and 0 children and I still don’t see any upgrade options, even on that Zurich airport hotel. Could you give me step by step instructions?
I got it. It’s basically not upgrade. They offer you to “upgrade” from $0 to full price of upgraded room, e.g. pay full price for upgraded room.
Don’t get the upgrade unless you want it and it’s a good deal.
What days and location are you trying to book?
An update on my prior call to IHG. I received a call back, with an offer for a free night. I mentioned that I had recently pushed my husband to sign up with IHG specifically because of the 2-for-1 perk. The agent checked my husband’s account (not much to check as he had never used his card to stay in an IHG), and then offered my husband a free night. I would love to use these free nights in Russia in October, but I wonder if we’ll get them in time (we will be using IHG points at the St. Petersburg Hotel Indigo.)
I assume you mean Club Carlson, no IHG. Glad you were able to get a free night certificate on your card and your husband’s card.
Oops, sorry. I was just checking IHG hotels for our trip to Hong Kong and Vietnam.
No worries, I know what you meant.
Thanks Grant. You were helpful again as always.
I was just searching for option to book using E-Certificate. Looks like you have to enter the promo code “USBANKEC”, otherwise, it won’t show E-certificate offers.
Ahh yes, you must use the promo code to search. Glad I could help you out :)
I just got the E-Certificate for one free night for being a card holder (never stayed with them) but only good in the USA? They must have changed something?
Hmm, did you spend $10,000 on your US Bank Club Carlson credit card? Those free night certificates are only good in the US.
I got my E-cert today and its only good for the US as well. I didn’t spend $10,000 on the card for sure. Did they change something?
Hmm, I’m not sure. It should be for all Club Carlson properties world wide.
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Hi, can the e certs be booked for someone else? Or can you list another person as additional guest and can they check in? I know with BOGO they are very strict that the member has to register in person. Thanks, I have three to use and not much use for them.
I think you have to book the free night certs in your name, but you can add another person as a guest. They should be able to check in without you.
if I have a club carlson e-certificate and it allow me to book two times on the same number. I’m I ok with such reservation?
I would recommend using each Club Carlson eCertificate for a 1 night reservation. Play it safe so you don’t get a nasty surprise at check in.
It looks like it expires aug 31 2016 and i don’t know if’ll have much use of it before then. Do you know if we have to book by aug 31 or stay by aug 31? thank you!
I’m not sure. Try to book a stay after August 31 and see if the system gives you an error message.
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