Club Carlson for Business final word (I hope)

21

Is it possible to earn Club Carlson business points for stays booked with promotional rates? 

In the post “Club Carlson for Business: not as great as it sounds,” I said no, you can’t use a promotional rate and get business points.  I then followed up with “Club Carlson business account guesses and clarifications” where I said maybe.  In today’s post, I’ll say yes.  Let’s hope I’m right this time!

I called Club Carlson three times to ask the question “is there some way to earn business points and use promotional rates at the same time?”.  Each time I was told “no”.  In the meantime, I received forwarded emails from two readers who heard from Club Carlson that the answer was “yes”.  The funny thing is that one of the Club Carlson reps who emailed a “yes” was the same person who told me “no” over the phone!  Hmmm.  OK, so I tried the email approach and this time I got a “yes” as well!  Since I have a written e-record of this, I feel somewhat OK in giving this out as advice.  I specifically asked via email if the approach listed below is correct and I was told yes. 

If, after following the advice below, you don’t end up getting points for your business account, just remember to email Club Carlson for help instead of calling!

Two accounts and an ID

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.

When you receive your business member number, you are invited to activate your membership number online. If your personal account uses the same email address as your business account, then activating your business account will be a challenge.  You need to first change your personal account’s email address to something else and then activate your business account.

Once you have activated your business account, you should now have two accounts (one business and one personal), and a business ID.

Using the Business ID

The 6 digit business 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. 

To use the business ID, you may have to first click “More Search Options”:

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Then, add your corporate ID and search again:image_thumb21

The problem with this approach is that there seems to be no way to use a promotional rate (AAA, for example) AND the business ID. Some readers have attested to being able to do so in the past, but Club Carlson reps have steadfastly denied this possibility (over the phone, anyway).

How to get it all

The trick to using promotional rates and getting business points is to log into your business account, but book rooms for your personal account.  For example, I logged into my business account and setup a fake booking and was taken to this screen:

image_thumb14

On the above screen, there is space to put in personal account information: name, address, Club Carlson number, etc.

By entering your personal account information here, you can use a promotional rate AND get extra points for your business even though you never put your business ID in the reservation.  You should also receive whatever 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.

Club Carlson Big Night Giveaway promotions

Make sure your personal account is registered with each of the Club Carlson promotions.  It won’t hurt to register your business account, just in case, but I don’t think it will help either.

Feedback

As you stay at Club Carlson hotels and receive points (or not), please let me know what works and what doesn’t.  Hopefully we can learn from each other quickly and resolve mistakes while there’s still time.

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