Club Carlson announced their Cyber Monday Deal on Twitter earlier today: Get a 100% bonus when you purchase Gold Points. Club Carlson limits point purchases to 40,000 per calendar year. However, I discovered upon that the 100% bonus applies to a maximum of 10,000 Gold Points:
Take advantage of the one day only Cyber Monday special and earn a 100% bonus when you purchase between 1,000 and 10,000 Gold Points® to increase your Club CarlsonSM account balance. Act fast because this special offer is only available today, December 1, from 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. CST.
Club Carlson ran a 75% purchase bonus promotion earlier this year which didn’t have these added restrictions, so this Cyber Monday deal may be a bit disappointing for some. Personally, I think it’s a good thing since it means fewer Gold points will be sold. That decreases the likelihood of a devaluation.
The maximum 10,000 bonus points (which will equal 20,000 with the 100% bonus) will set you back $70. Club Carlson point purchases are processed by Points.com, so you will not earn a travel category bonus from it. However, if you have a Club Carlson credit card, you’ll be earning 3-5 per $1 on non-category purchases. That comes to just 210-350 Gold points, but it’s better than 70.
So are 20,000 Gold points worth purchasing for $70? Considering it gets you two nights at a Category 1 or one night at a Category 2 Radisson Rewards hotel , you can certainly get $70 worth of value out of it. If you’re a Club Carlson credit cardholder, you can double your nights by taking advantage of the credit card’s last night free benefit. All three of the Club Carlson credit cards provide this benefit. So really, those 20,000 Gold points can end up getting you four nights at a Category 1 hotel if you book in two night increments. Meaning your $70 are getting you 36,000 points worth of value. [EXPIRED]
Earning 20,000 through manufactured spending on the Club Carlson Premier Visa Signature card would require $6,667/$4,000 worth of spend. Depending on the card you have. Completed via Visa or Simon Mall gift cards in $500 increments, you would incur $55.30/%31.60 in card fees. Go the American Express gift card route and you’re looking at 1.5% cash back ($105 on $7,000 or $60 on $4,000). Cashed out via Amex for Target, the fees would be largely eliminated.
Earning 36,000 Gold points through the Club Carlson Premier Visa would require $12,000/$7,200 in spending. Buying 24 or 15 Visa/Simon Mall gift cards would incur $94.80 or $56.88 in fees. Purchasing American Express gift cards would earn you $180 or $108 cash back. That helps offset Amex for Target load fees ($3 per $1,000) and the cost of cashing them out in $400 increments at ATM’s.
Depending on how many points you buy and how you use them, as well as which Club Carlson card you have, manufactured spending could be cheaper than this Cyber Monday deal. Especially if you do it by purchasing Amex gift cards with your Club Carlson card. However, it’s also more time consuming. How you value your time should ultimately be the deciding factor in which option you choose.
If you’re going to take advantage of the Club Carlson Cyber Monday deal, keep in mind that it starts on December 1 at 12:01 AM (CT) and ends at 11:50 PM (CT). Points will post within 2-5 days of purchase.
[jetpack_subscription_form title=”Subscribe via email for more points, miles and free travel”]
Leave a Reply