Choice Hotels Buys Radisson Hotel Group Americas

@Lucky I was wondering the same thing as to whether the properties would be integrated into Choice Privileges or kept in a separate Radisson Rewards program since as you said if integrated that would mean some Radisson hotels would earn choice points and others would earn Radisson Rewards points. I am wondering whether we might not see the properties get integrated into Choice Privileges and then there is the ability to transfer points between Radisson Rewards and Choice Privileges similar to how Radisson Rewards and Radisson Rewards Americas does it today. This would make the most sense since the press release mentioned Choice looking forward to working with Radisson (Radisson Rewards) after the deal closes.

When Radisson split into two, I was wondering how well they would independently survive. Then USBank severed their credit card relationship with Radisson Americas. I do find all of this odd that Choice didn't end up will all of Radisson versus just the Americas.

Radisson will fit in perfectly with one of the more inconsistent franchise/chains (at least in the US). You never know what you are going to get in terms of quality/cleanliness.

Hmmm, what to do with the points. Currently they reside in my Americas account but I primarily book hotels in Europe.

I had the same issue and I can tell you what I did. You will open up a Radisson rewards international program account and then you can call and have your points moved over to the international plan. Nothing about it is easy but it’s the way to keep your points available for international bookings. Otherwise you’ll be stuck with just American options.

Yeah--I've been saving them for a Nordic trip at some point. Better move them before they become Choice points.

Nordic Choice has a lot of great properties, and I was considering hanging onto my Radisson points for the very reason you want to use yours. What am I missing?

I'm actually thinking the opposite. No transfer between Choice and Radisson global.

Now I have to decide to keep them as Radisson global points or convert them to Choice.

It will be a branding nightmare for sure, even worse than now.

I recently transferred 60K from Americas to International online, and it actually was easy. I did have to get a Radisson Intl. account. Can transfer up to 1 million in one transaction.

I wouldn’t stay at a single Choice property in the United States before this news and I’m unlikely to stay at a single Choice property in the United States after this announcement. Just as Choice has some great European properties — think Sweden or Norway — so does Radisson. Unfortunately, both brands pretty much suck domestically. I don’t ever remember full-service Radisson properties ever being a viable option for me in the United States, except a couple of mediocre cities with old full-service Radissons. I would rather stay at Best Western than Choice.

You should stick to Four Seasons.

I'm in the same situation...a ton of points in the US program since the split even though most earned from stays in Europe (prior to split) and via the US credit card. I also really only stay in Radisson's in Europe and the US portfolio never really interested me. Choice isn't appealing to me and I don't want to be forced to use points in the US and just the limited international Choice options. I will wait a while but will likely transfer my balance to my International RR account (which also has points in it since all European stays after the split got credited to that account.)

Lucky,
Where are you keeping your Radisson points?

Gross. Two chains that I honestly wonder why anyone would stay at either in the USA.

"especially in the upscale market..."

Srsly?!?!?

>> As it’s described, this greatly expands Choice’s presence in the upscale and upper-midscale hospitality segment, especially in the West Coast and Midwest of the United States. <<

What "upscale" properties does Radisson have in the west coast?

While Radisson is absolutely inconsistent in the US and Canada, that doesn’t mean all its properties are bad. It’s my understanding that Choice still follows an award chart, so with Amex and ThankYou as transfer partners there could be situations where this is a good value. I might not ever want to stay at a Quality Inn, but most Country Inns are still pretty nice.

I worked for Radisson's reservation call center many MANY years ago one summer while I was in college. 95% of the people calling to book rooms back then were looking for Radisson Country Inn & Suites near highways on road-trips. Nothing fancy, just a clean room, free breakfast, and back on the road the next morning.

It's unfortunate that they split from the nicer properties (Raddison Blu's and Radissons) in Europe because that's where the somewhat aspirational uses of points existed, but given the politics involved it makes sense.

Maybe I'm missing something, but in looking one can redeem Choice Points for Preferred Hotels and Resorts locations for 25-55k per night. This includes some really nice "independent" hotels in the US like The Hermitage in Nashville (my favorite hotel in the city), Condado Vanderbilt in San Juan, Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans, and a lot of interesting hotels in Europe and Asia including quite a few in India. I agree it's hard to get excited about the Radisson Bismarck, but there seems to be a lot more than I was aware existed. Also the CC issued by Barclay is a no annual fee card with a current sign-up bonus of 32k points for $1k spend. Sadly no annual points like the old Radisson card equal to more than the fee.

Huge missed opportunity for Hyatt.

For what it’s worth, I believe the Choice hotels in the Nordic countries are pretty independent of Choice in North America. Personally, I would never stay at a Choice brand in North America.

It's like roulette, you never know what you will end up with with Choice.

Why call? The points transfer can be done online in seconds! I transferred 85% of my Radisson points to the International program since I typically will only use Radisson in Europe and have no real interest in Choice.,,,especially since they only have a short timeframe for booking award rooms.

This reminds me of the time Hilton was split into two—Hilton and Hilton International... Hilton International hotels in the US were consequently operated as Vista Hotels whereas the overseas hotels operated by the American Hilton were branded as Conrad.

Most Choice hotels are terrible. You only stay if you are in location where it's the only choice or everything else is sold out.