Through June 30, 2020, Radisson Rewards is offering a 100% bonus on purchased points. Note that you have to log into your account to see the offer so it’s possible not everyone will see the same promotion. The accounts I manage all show a 100% bonus, so I’ll go off that.
Radisson Rewards ordinarily lets you buy up to 80,000 points per account per calendar year (pre-bonus). However, during this promotion the limit has been increased to 120,000 points.
Factoring in the 100% bonus, you can buy a maximum of 240,000 points through this promotion. The 240,000 points would cost you $840, meaning they’re charging 0.35 cents per point.
Radisson Rewards doesn’t sell points very often. The last time we saw a promotion like this was in late 2019. So if you’re in the market for Radisson Rewards points, this is as good as it gets.
Personally I value Radisson Rewards points at ~0.3 cents each, though that’s a conservative valuation and you should be able to get more value out of points if redeeming at the right places.
Here’s the Radisson Rewards award chart:
As you can see, the top properties go for 70,000 points per night. If you’re buying points for 0.35 cents each, that’s like paying $245 per night for a stay at a top hotel, which could represent a good value in some cases.
The purchase of Radisson Rewards points is processed by points.com, so wouldn’t qualify as hotel spend for the purposes of your credit card.
Therefore I’d recommend using a card on which you’re trying to reach minimum spending, or otherwise a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spending, like the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review) or Citi® Double Cash Card (review).
See this post for more on which credit cards are best for buying points.
Radisson Blu Polar Hotel in Longyearbyen, Norway
Bottom Line
Bonuses on purchased Radisson Rewards points don’t get better than this, so if you’re in the market for some points, this is a great opportunity.
However, this isn’t a rate at which I’d pick up points without a particular use in mind.
I’d say this is generally ideal if you want to top off an account for a redemption, especially given that even buying just 1,000 points would qualify for the 100% bonus. Furthermore, with a specific hotel in mind, buying points at this rate could make a lot of sense.
Do you plan on buying Radisson Rewards points with a 100% bonus?
In light of the following, I do not find this offer interesting:
Radisson, or “Club Carlson” used to have award rooms for at the maximum 40,000 points (expensive destinations like London etc…) for a standard award. Looking at the possibility of re-travelling to Madrid (Radisson Blue, small good hotel but much cheaper destination than London), I see that the superior rooms are around 140-150 Euros (USD 155-170) while the Standard awards are now a whopping 90,000 points (NINETY).
So, with 240,000 pointsincluding the promotion, you get less than 3 nights which would cost you around USD 460-500 while you pay $ 840 for the points.
I realize that Travel is just (maybe) restarting and that a lot of things are being reset / tested/ attempted by the industry, but the apparent bottom line is that the points have just been devalued by half and that, AT BEST, the “promotion” maybe lets you, ONCE, skip the devaluation.
If you pair this with short term hugely promotional paying fares to jumpstart the stays, it makes no sense at all.
@ Ben — This is possibly the worst points promotion in the history of the world. Radisson’s hotels suck, and there is no way in hell their points are worth 0.35 cpp.
Unfair broad brush criticism, Park Plaza hotels in Croatia are great places to redeem points.