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Man, I was a Club Carlson fanboy for a while there. You couldn’t get me out of Club Carlson hotels when they offered the BOGO for cardholders of the US Bank Club Carlson Visa Signature.
And then, they brutally snatched the benefit away, leaving peeps (and their brand) in the dust.
It was a too-big-for-their-britches move during which they artificially inflated their points currency, and made themselves completely irrelevant when compared to the big players… but that’s just one man’s opinion.
The upshot was they started apologizing in the form of free night e-certs good at any Club Carlson property.
Except there was one snag. Not everyone got them.
But, you can email US Bank via their online platform if you didn’t get one!
How to do it
So easy.
On the US Bank website, click “Contact Us.”
La la la
Then, you’ll see a heading that says, “Prefer not to call?” to which the answer is DUHHHHH!
I don’t want to talk to anybody, thanks
Select your card from the drop-down menu, and for subject select “Rewards.”
I didn’t provide that much detail
All I wrote was, pretty much:
“Where my e-cert at?!”
Seriously. I think I wrote 2 short sentences.
I wrote them on September 2nd, and got the standard blah-blah-blah form email as a reply:
Yada. Yada. Yada.
Anyway, flash forward to today.
I got this in the mail:
They gave me it!
So, I’ll be getting that free night after all.
And, you should to0! If you have the US Bank Club Carlson Visa Signature card, you should write to US Bank and ask them to credit your Club Carlson account with a free night e-cert.
Why this is cool
I have ~76,000 Useless points… er, I mean, Club Carlson points.
Because the BOGO is gone, the e-cert recreates the effect at inflated European properties, which is basically all of them.
Take, for example the Radisson Blu 1919 Hotel in the center of 101 Reykjavik.
~$331 a night in October
It’s 70,000 Club Carlson points a night, which I have. But with the e-cert, I can get another night free.
What does this mean?
I saved over $300 by writing a 2-sentence email!
This is only 1 example. Many Club Carlson hotels in Europe are comparable in price and quality, like the Radisson Blu Berlin with the crazy aquarium, which is over $200 a night.
Over $200 a night in Berlin
Or how ’bout $250 a night at the Radisson Blu Warwick Hotel in Philly, Penn.
Not during the Papal visit, obvi
Bottom line
My US Bank Club Carlson Visa Signature card renews in November. I’m going to swipe the 40,000 point anniversary bonus, and cancel that card so hard.
But at least I’m coming out of it with some points, and an e-cert that basically recreates BOGO for me one last time.
If you haven’t already, log in to your US Bank account, and request that e-cert. They’re slow as Christmas about replying, but when they do, it’s usually good news.
Your e-cert can easily be worth a few hundred bucks (or least a couple hundred), depending on where you use it. But getting $300+ for writing an email for a minute is very worth it!
So if you haven’t already, get your free night e-cert while the gettin’s still good!
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I figured it’d be the same form letter, but mine was “signed” by Jason Wilkie and my letter used a smaller font size.
Hilarious!
I looked at my letter up close. It looked like real signature – I could see the ink sitting on top of the paper. Kinda nice, but an email 3 days sooner would’ve been better “in my book” lol.
Glad you got the e-cert too! Which hotel do you have in mind?
Not sure yet, but possibly the Radisson Blu in Helsinki or Amsterdam next summer. I used the BOGO in Amsterdam next July so maybe tack on a day.
Sounds lovely. Two cities I’d love to visit!
Thanks for the reminder! Just put in my online request for 2 family members. I had already called a couple of weeks ago and got nowhere.
Same thing happened to me. Good luck, you’ll definitely get it. $$$!
I emailed about USB about it, but my response came about two weeks ago by PHONE. She said she had reviewed the account and I would get the e-cert. Then I got snail-mail today from the Senior Vice President of Retail Payment Solutions thanking me for my loyalty and confirming the e-cert would be emailed to me in 6 to 8 weeks.
I guess they’re all getting in on the act now.
Good to hear!
Maybe they’re desperately trying to get Club Carlson to bring the BOGO deal back. A boy can hope, right?
Glad you got the e-cert! Any idea where you’ll use it?
I also got my letter in the mail today giving my certificate in 6 to 8 weeks. I will probably use it in Dubai.
Ah, nice! See that’s why I keep asking people where they use them – always reminds me of (or shows me) great hotels in the Club Carlson portfolio.
Congrats!
I emailed a week or so ago, and still no response. I’ll call by the end of the week, if that’s what it takes. …Wishing Club Carlson and US Bank would let us get “1 Night Free E-Certificate when you spend at least $6,000 a year on your Club Carlson Visa.” That would give Club Carlson Visa card holders an incentive to spend with the card, and they would effectively rack up enough points (40,000 + 30,000) plus E-Certificates to stay at least 2 nights a year at the best Club Carlson hotels …all for the $75 annual US Bank fee. If E-Certificates had a two year shelf-life, customers could stack them and book at least four hotel nights every two years.
Agreed. It look them over 2 weeks to get back to me, but they’ll get around to it. You can always call to try to speed it up.
You KNOW somebody at US Bank is desperately trying to figure out ways for people to put spend on the CC Visa again. I haven’t put a dime on it since they killed the BOGO deal.
Hmm. They already have you getting one free night in the US for $10,000 spend on the card, so where to do you come up with that outlandish proposal?
Harlan — Don’t cancel the card. Downgrade it to the no fee card. There is no downside to this as you extend your credit history with the bank, etc. There also may be a bonus for paying with the card if you were ever to stay at a CC hotel again and finally, having the card permitted me to get free checking at US Bank so if you should ever open an account there it could be helpful.
Another great point. I think I wanted cancel as a “I’ll show them!” message. You’re the voice of reason, of course. 🙂
And, US Bank sometimes has bonuses for opening their checking accounts.
If you have easy access to a US Bank location, having the no fee version of the Club Carlson card is an easy way to get a free checking account.
Thanks for adding these useful tips!
I certainly understand the sentiment. I don’t have a US Bank near me, but the credit card was good enough to get me free Gold checking for the new checking account that I opened with them!
I’m one of the people you reminded. Thank you! I really appreciate useful posts. (Not much use for “how I got my xxx wet in an Ethiad shower.”)
At risk of appearing simple-minded, I also appreciated the step-by-step. Before the BOGO was killed, I booked a speculative BOGO in Paris. If I can make that trip work, I’ll add the e-cert for BOG2 and use my 40K renewal to help pay for a 4th night for BOG3 (sorta). Or I’ll just go to Chicago.
How cool!
I definitely post “look at my hotel” posts sometimes, but I consider this blog a sort of diary of things I’d like to remember, including promos like this.
Thank you so much for reading!
Ooooh, I hope you get to go to Paris! What a lovely city!