Thoughts on the Club Carlson Card?

[Open123]

Haven't been able to keep current on many of these rewards cards, but I recall this was once a good card to have.  Back then, there were so many others I had found more valuable, I was never able to make room for this on one of my sprees.

Rather than do my own legwork or search, can anyone share some insights if this is still a good value?

Thanks!

[CreditCuriosity]

I know B335 has a few of these and sure others on the forum do as well.. Believe the VS version of the card is still pretty dang good, not so much the Platinum.  Sure he will chime in here shortly.

[jsucool76]

This card used to be fantastic because of a single perk it offered. Any award stay you made, the last night would be free (provided the stay was more than 1 night, lol)

For example, on a 2 night award stay, you'd only need to use points for 1 night.This perk has been discontinued, and the card has somewhat fallen from people's attenton. It still has a decent rate of return if you're willing to throw some love towards the program it's pretty good.

The signup bonus is pretty good, as well as the 40k bonus points each year, and the one free night you earn with 10k spend. So essentially the possibility of 2 free nights per year for the annual fee.

[Open123]

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@jsucool76 wrote:
This card used to be fantastic because of a single perk it offered. Any award stay you made, the last night would be free (provided the stay was more than 1 night, lol)

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Ok, I think this was one of the reasons why the card was such a compelling value.  

[noobody]

Free night is US only with 10K annual spend, FTF, nerf the most valuable benefit (B1G1) make me rethink if i will keep the card next year. Some how i need liquidite 140K points first.

[Open123]

After some consideration and reading some of the insights offered here, I'm going to pass on this card, for now.  

[CreditScholar]

I too had considered this card, and ultimately decided to pass. On top of the benefits downgrade, the other issue I had was with the location/nature of their properties.

They seem to have a very limited selection of nicer properties outside of Europe. Locations in the US are concentrated at the lower-end, and coverage in the Asia-Pacific region is sparse when compared to other chains.

[Open123]

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@CreditScholar wrote:

I too had considered this card, and ultimately decided to pass. On top of the benefits downgrade, the other issue I had was with the location/nature of their properties.

They seem to have a very limited selection of nicer properties outside of Europe. Locations in the US are concentrated at the lower-end, and coverage in the Asia-Pacific region is sparse when compared to other chains.

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My cursory review on the efficacy of the program resulting in a similar view.  In general, the properties didn't seem on par with, say, Hyatts, Marriotts or SPGs. 

[CreditScholar]

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@Open123 wrote:

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@CreditScholar wrote:

I too had considered this card, and ultimately decided to pass. On top of the benefits downgrade, the other issue I had was with the location/nature of their properties.

They seem to have a very limited selection of nicer properties outside of Europe. Locations in the US are concentrated at the lower-end, and coverage in the Asia-Pacific region is sparse when compared to other chains.

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My cursory review on the efficacy of the program resulting in a similar view.  In general, the properties didn't seem on par with, say, Hyatts, Marriotts or SPGs. 

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Speaking of SPG, have you found category creep to be a significant issue in the past year or two?

Perhaps it might not seem as noticable as Hilton's devaluation a few years ago, but it feels like the increased prices for C&P combined with category creep has dented SPG's value.

Marriott is still the worst offender for category creep from 2013-2015, from what I can tell.

[Open123]

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@CreditScholar wrote:

Speaking of SPG, have you found category creep to be a significant issue in the past year or two?

Perhaps it might not seem as noticable as Hilton's devaluation a few years ago, but it feels like the increased prices for C&P combined with category creep has dented SPG's value.

Marriott is still the worst offender for category creep from 2013-2015, from what I can tell.

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There is definitely a noticeable devaulation from 3 or 4 years ago, from both category creep and a price increase on "cash + points" redemption.  I've noticed more and more properties shifting away from the category 4 sweetspot.  Though, SPG claims certain properties also are placed in a lower category, the numbers appear insignificant and aren't really properties I find all that appealing.

I'm curious to see what will happen this year.  Because of this devaluation, I've resorted to churning my Bus SPG every 12 months for extra points; fortunately, Amex seems to be tolerating and taking this in stride.

While I still derive the most value from SPG "cash + points," the value has diminished considerably over the past several years.  At this point, I really can't burn the points fast enough, but could always fall back on FF transfers, assuming they don't elmininate the 25% bonus.