Tag Archives: Radisson Rewards

Did I get Approved for a New US Bank Credit Card? Just Log into your Account to Check

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Good morning everyone.  During my recent App-O-Rama, I applied for the US Bank Radisson Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card.  This credit card offers 60,000 Radisson Rewards Points after spending $1,500 in 3 months.  There is a $50 annual fee, but you get 25,000 Radisson Rewards Points every year for paying the annual fee.  After I get the sign up bonus, I will call US Bank and ask them to upgrade me to the US Bank Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature Credit Card, which offers 40,000 Radisson Rewards Points every year when you pay the $75 annual fee.

I already had the US Bank Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature Credit Card (previously named the US Bank Club Carlson Premier Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card) and the US Bank Radisson Rewards Business Visa Credit Card (previously named the US Bank Club Carlson Business Rewards Visa Credit Card).  I created this helpful table to show you the before (top, Club Carlson) and after (bottom, Radisson Rewards) credit card names.  Long story short, my application for the US Bank Radisson Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card went to pending and I assumed I would be declined for this credit card because I already have 6 US Bank credit cards and my ARS / SageStream credit reports are frozen.  But as I later found out, that was not the case.  Here’s how I found out that I was approved.

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March App-O-Rama: Which 7 Credit Cards am I Considering?

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Good morning everyone, happy Saturday! Thanks for the comments on yesterday’s post regarding which non-5/24 Chase credit cards I should get. I think I have narrowed down my App-O-Rama (AOR) credit card list to these 7 credit cards. I plan on applying for these credit cards sometime next week. Please let me know if you agree or disagree with any of the credit cards on this list. If there are any credit cards that you think are worth applying for, please share them in the comments and I will check them out.

Based on yesterday’s post, I will apply for these 2 Chase credit cards:

  • Chase Marriott Business Credit Card: This is the only non-5/24 Chase business credit card and who couldn’t use more Marriott points? The current sign up bonus is 75,000 Marriott points after spending $3,000 in 3 months. The $99 annual fee is waived the first year. I already have the Chase Marriott Rewards Credit Card, so the annual category 1-5 Marriott free night certificates will pair nicely with each other. I don’t plan on spending much on this credit card after meeting the minimum spend requirement. As long as I can redeem the Marriott free night certificate for more than an $99 hotel night, this is a decent credit card to hold on to for a long time. *snarky comment alert* If Marriott keeps devaluing their program, by the year 2029, there will not be any Marriott category 1-5 hotels left…
  • Chase Iberia Credit Card: Since you can get 1 personal and 1 business credit card from Chase on the same day, I have decided to go for this personal credit card. The current sign up bonus is 50,000 Avios after spending $3,000 in 3 months and an additional 25,000 Avios after spending $10,000 in 12 months. The annual fee is $95. I don’t plan on booking any Iberia flights in the near future, so I won’t be able to take advantage of the 10% discount on Iberia flights. I don’t plan on spending much on this credit card after meeting the minimum spend requirement and will close the credit card when the annual fee comes due the following year.

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I’m in a Miles & Points Funk Part 1: Hotels

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Good morning everyone, I apologize for my lack of blog posts recently, but I’ve found myself in somewhat of a miles and points funk. Usually, I’m in an upbeat, positive mood, but lately, I’ve found it hard to get excited about the miles and points game. It seems that everything that I once loved has changed for the worse (that might be a tad dramatic). Let me share what’s on my mind so you can see where I’m coming from. Let’s start with hotels first.

I recently spent 100,000 Radisson Rewards points for 2 nights at the Radisson Blu Crete, and I’m not impressed by the new Radisson Rewards program. Since the free night certificates for spending $10,000 (and $20,000 and $30,000) on the US Bank Club Carlson credit cards are only valid at hotels in the US, it’s not worth spending money on those credit cards. I tried to rally my fellow readers and travel blogger friends by sharing my dissa-point-ment with US Bank and Radisson Rewards on Twitter, but I got no response from either company. I plan on keeping both of my Club Carlson credit cards just for the 40,000 points on my cardmember anniversary.

Image source: https://www.fantasiescometrue.com/product/winnie_the_pooh_with_eeyore_under_rain_cloud_pin/

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Do you Want to Use Radisson Rewards Free Award Nights at International Hotels? (Like / Retweet Me)

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Good morning everyone, I need your help!  Yesterday, Club Carlson rebranded and changed their name to Radisson Rewards.  They made a few changes to the program (read Doctor of Credit’s post for more details), but one of the most interesting changes was this: “Co-branded credit cards from U.S. Bank now earn a free night for every $10,000 in spend, up to a maximum of three free nights for $30,000+ in spend.”  Historically, only Club Carlson Radisson Rewards properties in the United States are eligible for the free night awards.

According to Frequent Miler’s post, “Unfortunately, you’re limited to using those free nights at properties in the US. Radisson Hotel Group doesn’t have many high-end properties in the United States. In fact, they have just four Category 7 properties in the US and four more in Category 6. Out of those eight hotels, three are in the Minneapolis metro area, two are in New York, and one is in Canada (where you can’t use your annual certificates) — meaning that the geographic distribution of the top two tiers is limited to four cities/metro areas: New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Anaheim.” Continue reading →

Most of my 2017 Travel Predictions Were Wrong (Who Could Have Predicted That?)

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Good morning everyone, happy almost New Years Eve.  Earlier this month, Doctor of Credit wrote how bad travel bloggers are at making predictions (I came in last at 33% correct), but he only reviewed our credit card predictions.  I made a lot of other predictions in January 2017, so let’s see how good or bad my predictions were.  I covered airlines, hotels, credit cards, and MS.  I will put my thoughts in bold at the end of each prediction.

Airlines

  • Southwest seems bent on making the Companion Pass very difficult to get unless you fly Southwest every week.  I believe credit card signup bonuses will no longer count toward the Companion Pass and Southwest might kill the whole concept of the Companion Pass entirely or switch to a certificate program similar to the Alaska Airlines companion fare or Virgin America companion ticket.  Southwest Airlines did eliminate hotel transfers counting toward the Companion Pass, but credit card spend and sign up bonuses still count toward the Companion Pass.  I am also the proud companion on my girlfriend’s Companion Pass.
  • Other airline credit cards will adopt the Alaska Airlines companion fare (you pay full price and your companion pays up to $120) or the Virgin America companion ticket (you pay full price and your companion pays full price minus $150).  No, I don’t think any other airline added a companion fare as a credit card benefit.
  • American will introduce a basic economy fare class to compete/copy Delta and United.  Yes, I got this one right!
  • Alaska Airlines will introduce a new level of elite status (maybe MVP Gold 100K?)  No, Alaska Airlines MVP Gold 75K is still the highest elite level.
  • More airlines will get away from the 12,500 one way domestic ticket and start to introduce 5,000, 7,500, and 10,000 mile awards.  Yes, I think Alaska Airlines announced cheaper awards on shorter flights.
  • British Airways will kill the 4,500 Avios award band globally and possibly remove one of their lower award tiers.  No, 4,500 British Airways Avios tier is still available outside the US.
  • Singapore Airlines will allow us to book Star Alliance awards online, rather than calling in.  Partially true, but not rolled out completely.
  • Hawaiian Airlines will get bought by a low cost airline, Southwest Airlines or JetBlue.  No, no one bought Hawaiian Airlines.
  • We will see 1 or 2 more mileage matching promos, this time from a big legacy airline.  No, no mileage matching promo like the JetBlue / Virgin America match last year.
  • My ~20,000 Spirit Airlines miles will expire and I won’t care.  Sort of, my Spirit Airlines miles did expire, but I still shed 1 tear.

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