Club Carlson Visa and Why It’s Awesome

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Club Carlson Visa credit card

Club Carlson Visa

And why it’s awesome…

So I wrote about our stay at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel in Chicago (it was great!) and a bit about how we were able to stay there for free. Literally. Our bill when we checked out was $0 for 3 nights. We used Club Carlson points, of course. You may ask….what is a Club Carlson? If you are anything like we were, you have never heard of it. They are the masterminds behind the Radisson, Radisson Blu, Country Inn & Suites, Park Plaza and Park Inn. Prior to looking into it further before getting the card, I had only heard of Radisson and Country Inn & Suites (and had probably only stayed in a CI&S once). Once I learned more about the Club Carlson Visa, I realized that it would be a valuable card for us to have.

So why did we get the Club Carlson Visa card?

We have the Club Carlson Visa Rewards Signature Cards (there are different versions). We first got the card(s) when we were planning a trip to Europe. Club Carlson has lots of hotels overseas, and many of those in Europe (London and Paris specifically) seemed like they would work for us. I did plan and book hotels in London and Paris using these points, but that trip was cancelled, and I ended up using the points in other (just as exciting for us) ways.

Here are the details about the card from their website:

  • 10 points per $1 spent in eligible net purchases at participating Carlson Rezidor hotels worldwide
  • 5 points per $1 spent in eligible net purchases everywhere else
  • 85,000 Bonus Gold Points to start - Receive 50,000 Gold Points after your first purchase.  Plus 35,000 points once you spend $2,500 on your card within the first 90 days
  • Bonus Award Night - When you redeem Gold Points for 2 or more consecutive Award Nights, your last night is free.  Exclusively for cardmembers!
  • Club Carlson Gold Status is yours after you activate and use your card

I have found all of these benefits to be very valuable. My favorite is probably the bonus award night, and I will show you how we have used this benefit for some great trips. The bonus points for signing up for the card are pretty great as well, especially considering that they can go further with the “buy one get one” on a 2 night stay. I also like that I can get 5 points per dollar for all spending.

My husband and I each have a card, which means double the bonus (and double the $75 annual fee as well). What it also means is that we can get every other night free on an even numbered night stay. With one account, you get the last night free. So on a 6 night stay, you would use points for 5 nights and get 1 free. With 2 cards though, you would use points for 3 and get 3 free. What we have done (for an upcoming stay) is book like this:

Night 1 – my account

Night 2 (free) – my account

Night 3 – his account

Night 4 (free) – his account

Night 5 – my account

Night 6 (free) – my account

 

How are we using our Club Carlson points?

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           1. Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago -

we stayed for 3 nights in a Club Lounge room (review here)

75,000 in Club room

50,000 in standard room

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2. Radisson Blu Warwick Philadelphia

We have a 2 night stay booked at a very expensive time of year, so it was a great redemption value (Buy one Get one)

We booked it at 44,000 points per night (went up after we booked)

Aruba

3. Radisson Aruba Resort

We have 6 nights booked at this hotel during high season when rooms are going for $600+ a night…very excited!

50,000 points per night

 

NYNEWYRK-Exterior-450x300

4. Radisson Martinique on Broadway – New York City

We have 2 nights booked in a Club Lounge room (75,000)

50,000 points per night

 

We still have some points left after these redemptions (and can get more by using our Club Carlson Visa). There are some Country Inn & Suites hotels that are an excellent points value in certain locations that generally have high prices at certain times of year (like HersheyPark, where we have stayed in the past).

How have you used your Club Carlson points?

 

What is Manufactured Spending? Hint: It’s Not as Crazy as it Sounds

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ManSpend2

What is Manufactured Spending?

In the Miles & Points world, there is this thing called “Manufactured Spending” that sounds really crazy and complicated, but it’s neither of those things when you really get to the heart of the matter.  Don’t get me wrong, lots of people go beyond the norm with their ManSpend efforts, but the average travel hacker can do this pretty easily as well. I have a job, kids, and a busy life.  Therefore, I can’t and don’t take it to the extreme.  I do participate in ManSpend to the Level 1.5 degree, I would say.  So what exactly *is* Manufactured Spending?

ManSpend** (as I like to call it when I’m feeling lazy) is essentially buying a form of “cash” with a credit card in order to get points/miles/rewards for said purchase. Normally we would attempt to get as many points/miles/rewards for the purchases we make everyday.  Like using online shopping portals for buying things, and using our credit cards where they get category bonuses.  What if you could purchase money, get your points for that purchase, and then use the money to pay off your credit card bill?  What if you could pay bills that don’t normally take credit cards (like mortgage payments) with your rewards-earning credit cards? That is the essence of ManSpend.

What are some easy ways to Manufacture Spend?

In this post,  I will go into detail about the methods that I personally use.  These are not top secret.  I have not been let in on any secret ManSpend societies (yet), and I pretty much stick with the basics because I am a wimp busy.

       1. Reload Cards

***UPDATE*** You can no longer buy Vanilla Reload cards at CVS with a credit card 

These are plastic cards that look kind of like gift cards and are on the gift card racks at places like CVS and Walgreens.  I like to think of them as the middleman, a place to ‘hold’ your money until you can get it into a usable form.  You purchase the Reload card (with your rewards-earning credit card), and then you have to move on to the next step before you can use your money.

My go-to reload card is called the Vanilla Reload, and I buy them at the local drugstore that starts with a C.  You are allowed to purchase $5,000 worth per day at that store, but I am never that desperate (not that there’s anything wrong with you if you are…or, on second thought…). I purchase them for one of 3 reasons: 1) I want to earn extra rewards on a certain card OR 2) I need to spend X amount of money in X amount of days to get a sign-up bonus 3) I want to pay a bill with a credit card & they don’t take credit cards.  The fee for buying this card is $3.95 no matter how much money you put on it, so it makes sense to ‘load’ the card with the maximum amount allowed ($500 per card).

So I bought my Vanilla Reload card at the store that let me use my credit card (a challenge for some to find stores like this)…now what do I do?

        2.  American Express Bluebird

Ok, so this should really be step one, I suppose. In order to access your credit card company’s money, you need to somehow get it away from the middleman (Vanilla Reload) and into your own grubby little hands (or to your mortgage company).  For this, I have an American Express Bluebird card.  There are 3 ways that you can get your very own Bluebird card (and you should if you are serious about this hobby):

  • You can purchase a Bluebird Account Kit at Walmart
  • You can order one online here (this is what I did)
  • Register through the Bluebird mobile app

You will be asked things like name, address, social security number, birthdate, email, user name, password, etc. Once you do the registration, you will get your card in the mail in about a week.  You then have to go online to activate it.  Note: you can only have one Bluebird account per person, but you and your spouse, parent, etc can each get one.

Once you have both your Amex Bluebird and your Reload Card (that you bought with your rewards-earning credit card), you “load” the money from the Reload onto the Bluebird by going to this website.  There is a scratch off silvery strip on the back of the Vanilla Reload (pretend you are playing the lottery!) with the code underneath it.  Put that and your Amex Bluebird number into that website and, viola! your money is available for you to use.

What can I do with my Amex Bluebird?

  • You can do online Billpay
  • You can send the money to your bank account
  • You can use it at an ATM to get cash (small fee)
  • You can use it as a credit card (why?)
  • You can use the money to pay off the credit card that you bought the money with

I usually withdraw it to my bank account and then pay bills with it (either the credit card or something like a mortgage or car payment).  You can load $1000 per day (up to $5000 per month) onto each Bluebird card, so it is limited.

       3. Amazon Payments

Are you familiar with PayPal? Amazon Payments is a similar concept.  You can send money to other people for goods & services. You can go here to sign up and learn more.  You will need the same information as for the Bluebird (name, address, social security number, date of birth, etc).  You can then set up your account with your banking information (for receiving your payments). You can pay another person using your rewards-earning credit card (up to $1000 per month).

 

          4. Buy and Sell Stuff

This method is definitely not for everyone, and I have only tried it minimally myself.  If you can find a really good deal on some items that you think you can sell for a higher price or break even (after fees), you can try re-selling those items on Ebay, Amazon, or Craigslist.  You can buy those items with your rewards-earning credit card, sell them & pay off the credit card with that money.  This can be somewhat risky because you may not be able to sell the items or make enough money to make it worthwhile.  I am planning to think about this a bit more when I have time, as I have sold thousands of things on Ebay (not re-sell things, but used) and have gotten pretty good at it.  I think I can use this method for some ManSpend when I have the time (wait, when will that be?!?!?!).

 

There are other ManSpend methods out there, and I will write more about them at a future date.  For now, I only wanted to write about my own personal experiences and not just things I have read about.

 

**Most in the Miles & Points world call it MS, but the real MS (Multiple Sclerosis) hits too close to home in my family for me to refer to ManSpend that way, so I just do my own thing, as usual.

How to Travel For Free with Credit Cards (Part 2) – Sign-Up Bonuses

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Free Travel Basics Painting

 How to Travel for Free – Getting Miles & Points from Credit Card Sign-up Bonuses

The truth is, for a person (like me!) who needs to earn miles & points without actually paying for flights or paying to stay in hotels, credit card sign-up bonuses are the way to go. You can read the first installment to learn the basics about travel rewards cards (How to Travel for Free – Credit Cards - Part 1).  Once you understand the basic concept of what a travel rewards credit card is & how it benefits the person applying, you can decide how to go about building up your own stash of miles & points to use for planning your cheap trip.  In this second installment, I will discuss how I go about deciding which credit cards to apply for at any given time.

Step One : Analyzing My Current Credit Situation

Is my credit score good enough to support some credit card applications?  See my information here about understanding and checking your credit score and credit report.  I generally want to make sure that my score is over 750, knowing that it will dip a bit temporarily when I sign up for some new cards.

One thing that many people who follow this hobby tend to do with credit card applications is an app-o-rama (or AOR).  An AOR is essentially the practice of applying for multiple credit cards all on the same day.  The reason for this has to do with the fact that a new credit application gets reported to the credit agencies.  You can get turned away (even with a stellar credit score) for having “too many inquiries” recently.  If you apply for a bunch of cards on the same day, each of the credit card companies does not see the information about your other inquiries for that day.  I use this strategy, and it works for me.  Some in the hobby have a set schedule of when they will apply for new cards (something like every 90 days for a new AOR).  I don’t generally do it that regularly, but enough to have the miles & points in my accounts that I want to use.  Which brings me to….

Step Two : Knowing my Travel Goals

I like to keep a running list of places we want to go and dates when we can travel.  See here to read about how I plan our travel, in general.  Planning ahead really helps me to narrow my focus about what types of miles & points I need to work on accumulating.  For example, I knew that I wanted to plan a trip to Hawaii, and I was able to research and find out that British Airways miles would get me there.  I then applied for a British Airways Chase Visa Card, which had a 100,000 mile bonus at the time of my sign up (not right now, but these things change all the time).  That one application was enough to get all 4 of us to and from Hawaii from the West Coast.  I also applied for some hotel cards after researching which hotels we wanted to stay in once we were in Hawaii (here is one example).

Step Three : What are the best Credit Card offers at the time of my application(s)?

It helps to know what the current credit card offers are, and for this I always go to Flyertalk and/or Milepoint for my research.   Those people on the forums know everything there is to know about reward travel.  I like to read this specific Flyertalk thread to learn about the different sign-up bonuses that are being offered.  I also try to jump on any really spectacular bonuses that come along, as many of them are very limited as to how long the applications are available.  For example, last year I was able to get in on a 100,000 point bonus for the American Express Platinum card that was only available for about a day, which was a great deal for us!

Some tips:

  • My husband and I generally both apply for the same offers if they are really good, so we end up getting double the bonus points in many cases
  • We keep a spreadsheet with all of our application dates, how much the bonus is, how much we need to spend to get the bonus, annual fee (usually waived the first year, but I like to know what it is), and when the bonus points post
  • I continually evaluate and reevaluate which cards I have, which ones I’m keeping, and which need to be cancelled before the annual fee hits
  • You can often get the fee waived or an offer for a retention bonus when you call to cancel your card (more on that later)
  • If you are denied, you can call the reconsideration line to plead your case & this works for us 99% of time (more on that later too)

 

Just like we do, you can put your credit to work for you and save thousands of dollars in the process.  Free travel with credit card sign-up bonuses has become a way of life for us at this point!

 

 

 

Credit Scores and Credit Reports

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Credit Scores and Credit Reports – Some Basics from a Non-Expert

There may be times when you want to gather information about your own credit scores and credit reports, such as when you want to apply for a shiny new car travel rewards credit card.  I’m going to share some tips here about how to do that:

What is a Credit Report?

  • Your credit history compiled into a long-ass report (well, mine is long because I’m old and have needed a lot of loans to get through life so far)
  • It lists your loans such as mortgages, car loans, student loans, credit card applications, lines of credit
  • It reports about your bill paying history (pay your bills on time or else your report will call you out on this)
  • Has information about any need for a collection’s agency (and now that Victoria’s Secret credit card you opened in college & forgot to pay comes back to bite you in the butt)
  • How much your balances are and your available credit
  • I’m sure there’s more but I can’t remember
  • There are 3 credit reporting agencies: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion

How can I get a FREE copy of my Credit Report?

You should check your credit report every year because you get a freebie each year.  It’s important to check for inaccuracies so that you can have them corrected.

Go to : AnnualCreditReport because this is the official site for getting your free credit score.   There are others with similar names that will try to fool you, but this is the real one.  You don’t need to pay or give them any payment information to get this free report.

“Federal law requires each of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion to give you a free credit report every 12 months if you ask for it. They also make it easy to accomplish many credit-related tasks right from your computer. Visit today to learn more”

What is missing from the Credit Report? 

Your actual Credit Score.  The little (or hopefully bigger) number you have been waiting for.  The one that you have heard of & compare with your friends like your SAT scores or your baby’s birth weight.

What is a Credit Score?

This is the number that represents your credit worthiness. From the mouth of the Federal Trade Commission itself:

“Ever wonder how a lender decides whether to grant you credit? For years, creditors have been using credit scoring systems to determine if you’d be a good risk for credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages. These days, other types of businesses — including auto and homeowners insurance companies and phone companies — are using credit scores to decide whether to issue you a policy or provide you with a service and on what terms. A higher credit score is taken to mean you are less of a risk, which, in turn, means you are more likely to get credit or insurance — or pay less for it.”

  • Your credit score will be a number from 300-850
  • FICO is the one most often used by companies, so that’s the one you want to know
  • Your credit score fluctuates constantly

From the research I have done, I have found that the determining factors for coming up with the FICO score are:

  • You payment history = 35%
  • Debt amounts = 30%
  • Length of Credit History = 15%
  • Having different types of credit (a good thing) = 10%
  • New credit = 10%

You will have to pay for your actual credit SCORE if you want to see what that number is.  You can pay for it through the credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion), through MyFICO, or through other types of credit monitoring sites (be smart about this though).

I have also found that some of the banks (US Bank specifically) will send me a copy of my score when I apply for one of their cards.

Weird fact: your score will not be the same across the board.  We have gotten scores that have ranged by 50 points depending on where the score is coming from.  Each of the credit card companies (banks) will pull your scores from their preferred agency, so your score will look different from, for example, Experian vs TransUnion.  It is much less straight-forward than you would think, so just make sure you pay your bills on time, have various types of credit, and keep your oldest credit cards open (preferably this would be with no annual fees).

How to get a Free Credit Score

I use both Credit Karma and Credit Sesame to get my credit scores for free (in addition to the above mentioned services).  Some people will argue that these are not as accurate as MyFICO, but they are useful (and free) tools to use for monitoring your credit.  It’s good to have lots of tools in your toolbox.

Does applying for new credit cards hurt my credit score?

Yes and no.  According to the MyFICO site, the drop in your score will be minimal and temporary when you apply for new credit.  If you are planning on going for a big loan like a mortgage, then you should hold off on credit card applications.  Otherwise, your score is just a number and doesn’t necessarily impact your life unless you are in need of a big loan (or you want to have something to brag about to all of your friends).  The benefit (for us…only speaking for ourselves here) of getting thousands of dollars worth of free travel is worth a temporary hit to our credit score when we have no big loan needs in the near future.