Radisson has been teasing about its program refresh over the past couple of weeks (read more here and here), and it has now gone live.
Radisson Rewards awards are now fully dynamic, and you merely lower the price by fully or partially using points. The value of a point used towards a reservation is less than one-fifth of a cent (0.19 to be precise).
You can access Radisson Rewards here.
READ MORE: Radisson Rewards Rate & Bonus Points Offers:
Remember that Radisson Hotels Americas was separated from Radisson Hotels due to ownership issues (Chinese government) and later sold to Choice Hotels. Radisson Rewards Americas is eventually combined with Choice Privileges.
Dynamic Awards:
You can use points towards publicly available rates using the slider. The points are worth 0.19 US cents each (less than one-fifth of a cent).
Earning Values per Tier Level
Club = 1.52%
Premium = 5.13%
VIP = 6.84%
The actual percentages are even worse because no points are earned for taxes/fees, yet you need to offset them with points when redeeming.
Elite Benefits Matrix:
Conclusion
I feel that this is a completely lost opportunity for Radisson positively differentiate its program and genuinely enhance it to make it competitive.
There is nothing on the member benefits that other programs wouldn’t provide better, such as space available suite upgrades (you can only get room upgrades with Radisson) and guaranteed late check-out (Radisson’s only based on availability).
The earning and redemption rates are entirely out of whack. You earn less than 2% of the room rate back in points, and it maxes at less than 7% at the VIP level. The actual percentages are even lower because you don’t earn points for taxes and fees but must cover them when redeeming. Just awful.
Why would anyone even bother with this program, especially when the hotels in the Americas are now in a separate program and soon part of Choice Privileges?
