Club Carlson business account guesses and clarifications

23

I’m learning as I go here.

This morning I wrote that Club Carlson business accounts were not as great as they sound because extra points are not earned when you book special rates (AAA, 30% off, etc.).  A reader named Katherine, though, commented that she does earn 10 extra points per dollar with her business account even when she books special rates.  What’s going on?

Background

When you signup for a business account with Club Carlson, you’ll get two things: a 6 digit business ID, and a 16 digit business member number.  The 6 digit ID can be used at the time of booking and can be used by anyone.  If they use the ID, they’ll save 5% off the standard room rates and your business account will receive up to 10 extra points per dollar for the stay.  The individual will continue to get the same points they would have normally.

When you receive your business member number, you are invited to activate your membership number online.  I had trouble with this because the email address I used for the business was the same as the one used for my personal account.  So, I had to change my personal account’s email address in order to be able to setup my business account.  With that done, I now have two Club Carlson accounts I can log in to (1 business and 1 personal).

Earning points on all stays

I called Club Carlson a second time to ask if there was some way to earn business points for stays booked on promotional rates.  This time the person I talked to checked with his manager and told me that “no, you cannot earn business points with promotional rates.”  Hmmm.  Based on Katherine’s input, I think they’re wrong.  My guess is that if you log in with your business account to make reservations, then all reservations will be awarded the extra points.  Let me stress that this is just my hunch.  I don’t know this to be true, but it seems reasonable, even if Club Carlson employees don’t understand it.  If true, what then?

Big Night Giveaway Promotions

If my guess above is true, then you may need to register your business account with the Big Night Giveaway promotions if you want to earn the extra points.  I don’t know if it’s really necessary, but it can’t hurt to do so.

Elite Status

I have Gold status on my personal account, but no status with my business account.  If I book stays directly from my business account, I don’t know if I’ll get elite benefits.  I contacted Club Carlson to ask if they can match my personal status to my business status.  They said no:

Thank you for taking the time to write.

Business accounts are not eligible for Elite status only personal accounts are.

Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to assist you.

So where does this leave us?  Do we have to choose between elite benefits or business benefits when booking promotional rates?  Or, could we log into our business account and somehow make a reservation for our personal account?

Booking Rooms

Yes, it looks like you can book rooms for personal accounts when logged into your business account.  I logged into my business account and setup a fake booking and was taken to this screen:

image

Note that there is space to put in personal account information: name, address, Club Carlson number, etc. 

My assumption now is that the trick is to log in with your business account, but enter in your personal information with the booking.  That way you should get business points awarded to your business account and personal points awarded to your personal account.  And, you should receive any elite benefits you are due.

Combining Points

Once you have points in various accounts, you can call Club Carlson and have your points moved from the business account to a personal account or vice versa. 

Feedback

I would like to publish a step by step guide to booking Club Carlson rooms (and getting the most out of it), but first I’d like to get some feedback about my information and guesses above.  In your experience, is what I said correct?  Are there any other important pieces of information to add?  Please comment below.

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

23 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments