Hotel Review: Park Plaza, Bangalore

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Tara

The Park Plaza, Bangalore is a very nice hotel in a very inconvenient location. It looks deceptively near the centre on a Google map, but never underestimate the traffic in Bangalore! It took almost an hour to get there in a taxi from Shanthinagar bus stand at 7pm.

Once you do get there, it’s a beautiful hotel with great facilities and views over the city from the pool. Of course my reason to choose this hotel was to use my Club Carlson points. I have a pretty good stash from promos in prior years and after the devaluation last year I am wary of hoarding hotel points. The only thing I didn’t like was the glass vanity area in the bathrom which could be hazardous if one slipped and fell and happened to grab it. I’m not a fan of glass in bathrooms over all anyways.

The view from our rooms wasn’t so great, the view from the pool side was better.

A standard room here costs 38,000 points and as a Club Carlson Visa holder, I could have had an extra night for free but I choose to spend more time birding instead. Even on a point stay, we got a free breakfast buffet and free internet which I was up to 2am using after being off the grid for almost a week! We did check out the spa hoping for a massage but found it too expensive so relegated ourselves to the sauna in the restrooms which was free to guests.

The location is the main downside to this hotel. There is nothing interesting in the area for tourists. The main landmark that taxis will know (if they don’t know the hotel) is the Innovative Complex cinemas. Luckily I have a friend in Bangalore who came to pick us up and take us to a local wildlife sanctuary, otherwise we would have been bored with the area. I think this hotel probably appeals more to business travelers as there are a lot of companies around here and Bangalore is the techie capital of India.

One other thing to note if you are paying your incidentals with a Club Carlson Visa. The hotel bills as “Charishma Hotels”, not Park Plaza or Carlson Rezidor or anything he system recognizes as triggering the extra points for using the card at a Club Carlson property. I did finally get the points as a manual transaction from Club Carlson. Also be aware that you don’t get points for incidentals on award stays. I am used to IHG where you do get points for incidentals and didn’t look at the T&Cs too closely for this program. I would have gotten some points for the dinner we had in the Indian restaurant if it had been a cash & points stay.

Choosing The Best Lodges For India & Sri Lanka

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Tara

Yesterday, I showed you how I put together an itinerary for a birding adventure in southern India & Sri Lanka. Today, I will show you how I chose the accommodation in each place. In all cases (except Bangalore) I was prioritizing lodges that were located in birdy locations as I love being able to sit on a deck and watch birds any time of day! Oh yeah, and we were on a tight budget being a somewhat impromptu trip!

I will be doing detailed reviews with photos on each individual lodge in subsequent posts.

BANGALORE

The first night, we would be arriving around midnight and getting a bus to Coorg early the next morning. Bangalore has horrible traffic jams so I wanted to stay as close as possible to the Mysore Satellite Bus Stand. I used a Google map to zoom in on the bus stand and found the Transit Hotel Mysore Road right across the street. I Googled the name, saw it bookable on Agoda (unfortunately not on Pointshound) and booked an AC room for a whopping $12!

COORG

On a previous visit, I had accompanied some friends to the wonderful SAI Sanctuary and really wanted to stay there. Unfortunately, their staff had left and they couldn’t accommodate us but they booked us at a guest house just down the road called Jungleside Homestay. We made a day visit to SAI to visit our friends and watch birds.

WAYANAD

I had no idea where to stay so I checked on Expedia since I had a $50 credit in my account. I found a nice-looking place called Grassroots Wayanad, checked the photos & reviews on Trip Advisor and decided it sounded like my kind of place. I booked it on Expedia to use the $50 credit.

MUDUMALAI

I was researching the sanctuary online and wanted to stay in their accommodation. However it seems you can only book it with their office in Ooty or at the facility and they had no email. I resorted to Google mapping the area and found the nearest town was called Gudalur. I searched Gudalur on Trip Advisor and found a place called Gouri Farm which sounded good. They weren’t on any booking sites so I emailed them and booked and they agreed to let me pay on arrival since we were there on a weekday.

BANGALORE

We would be arriving in the evening by bus and I have plenty of Club Carlson points so I booked the Park Plaza.

KITHULGALA

I read a few birding trip reports that highly recommended the Kithulgala Resthouse. I wanted to book and pay on arrival so I used Booking.com which was the only booking agency that allowed for this.

SINHARAJA

Unfortunately this visit fell on a weekend and my first & second choices (Martin’s Simple Lodge & Blue Magpie Lodge) were booked up (according to Sri Lankan travel agency Red Dot) and they tried to get me to book a place for $200 a night that looked lovely but was out of our budget. I did some researching online and stumbled across a place called Rock View Motel Kalawana which had room so I grabbed it.

Flights and accommodation booked…………………..the journey yet to begin!

Hotel Review: Radisson Summit Hotel & Golf Panama

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Tara

The Radisson Summit Hotel & Golf Panama offers a rare chance to use points to stay in a location where you can watch birds from your balcony if you ask for the rainforest view. It’s even better value for holders of the Club Carlson Visa from US Bank (not affiliate link). Using the “last night free benefit”, 28,000 points gets you 2 nights here.

Getting here is pretty straightforwards from the airport in a rental car. I just printed the Google map and memorized where I had to turn. The one tricky thing is you need either cash or a card for the toll booths. You can get a card from either the rental company (Alamo in my case) or the toll booth. The hotel is situated on the outskirts of the Soberania National Park just a mile or so from the Panama Canal as the crow flies.

There is a free car park in front and a golf cart facility to the left. The hotel attracts a lot of golfers. The rooms are spacious and comfortable and some have a fantastic view of the rainforest.

There is a bar next to the reception and one floor up you will find a restaurant and a swimming pool. You can even watch birds from the swimming pool, I saw 4 Brown-throated Parakeets (distinguishable by their long tails and noisy Aratinga screech) while we were swimming, not to mention a few Toucans & other birds. Unfortunately, my camera isn’t waterproof so I missed the shots.

I love how they have photos of the local wildlife on this wall near the pool! The first morning we went to the Rainforest Discovery Centre & Pipeline Road. The following morning we relaxed on the balcony for a couple hours and watched the mist rise from the rainforest and birds began to appear. We saw lots of Toucans, Aracaris, Tanagers, Orange-chinned Parrots, Blue-headed Pionus Parrots and a few other birds I didn’t know. Unfortunately, the sun was behind the area I was trying to photograph so more silhouettes!

Once the action quieted down, around 8:30-ish, we went down to breakfast, then had a walk on the trail behind the swimming pool. This takes you through a small patch of rainforest and ends at a butterfly house.

When we checked out to move to a hotel near the airport for the last night, we were able to follow the hotel’s shuttle to Albrook Mall. This prevented us wasting time getting lost as the city can be confusing to drive in. All in all, we were really happy with this hotel and highly recommend it especially to eco-tourists given it’s location and views from the balconies!

Hotel Review: Park Inn By Radisson, San Jose, Costa Rica

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Tara

We only had one night in San Jose before flying to Panama. Normally, we would have stayed out near the airport at whatever hotel had the best points rate but we got a mistake rate for this hotel on FlyerTalk for 5000 points plus a nominal amount of Colones. I think they loaded the Colones rate in the USD field or something like that. Thankfully they honored the rate and several of us got a nice bargain before they corrected the rate.

Escape to This San José, Costa Rica Hotel’s Ideal Location
Situated three blocks from Paseo Colón, the city’s main avenue, and walking distance of downtown, the Park Inn hotel’s location in San José is perfect for vacations and business trips. Sample local and international cuisine at RBG Bar & Grill, and enjoy a dip in the shimmering outdoor pool. After a long day exploring San José, Costa Rica, this hotel’s comfortable accommodations are just what you need to relax. In-room amenities like free wireless Internet access and 42-inch flat-screen televisions make it easy to unwind after your adventures in the city. This hotel’s property in San José provides you with all the features you need for a perfect stay.

We found the room to be just as described on their website. It’s basically a normal budget business traveler type of place but OK for a night. We aren’t really that interested in cities, especially when you have the natural paradise of Costa Rica to see. The wifi was slow but that’s par for the course in most hotels.

The location is downtown, a short taxi ride away from any of the bus terminals. From the airport, take a Tuasa bus, then hop out at the Pizza Hut and walk a few blocks to the hotel. Don’t stop and buy a pizza, they cost around $20 for one pizza!

Our room was large, clean and had all the necessities. We were also pleasantly surprised to see a complimentary rubber ducky! The view of the city was nice and the breakfast buffet (included in the rate even for awards) had a great variety of typical breakfast foods. We were happy with it, and so are most people on Trip Advisor.

Central American Adventure – Choosing Accommodation

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Tara

With an eco-tourism trip, the highlight is going to be the eco-lodges so you need to choose wisely. You will need to research the species you are hoping to see and find national parks with lodges in those areas. Although airline miles are of use to everyone, hotel points will only be useful for stays near airports to accommodate early morning flights. There is one exception as you will see below. Also, this itinerary is unusual in that I organized a stopover in Hawaii on the way back to Australia so I could burn some hotel points and celebrate my birthday! If you are USA or Europe based, this won’t be an option. Here are my choices, how I booked them and my reasons for choosing them. Detailed reviews on each will be forthcoming in future blogs.

BELIZE

Crooked Tree Lodge: booked direct by email (don’t use aggregators), paid cash. Chosen because the area is known for Yellow-headed Parrots, Red-lored Parrots and White-fronted Parrots and they have a good local guide.

Parrot’s Nest, San Ignacio: booked direct by email, don’t use aggregators, paid by Visa on checkout. Chosen because there are parrots in the area sporadically but primarily for the experience of sleeping in a treehouse.

GUATEMALA

Tikal Inn: booked direct by email, don’t use aggregators, paid by Amex on checkout. Chosen because it’s in the Tikal National Park, there are parrots and other birds in the grounds and they have a pool. Also they offer a free sunset/sunrise tour and some of the guides are familiar with the local birds.

Radisson, Guatemala City: booked online with Club Carlson points. Chosen because of proximity to airport, free shuttle and cheap points redemption.

COSTA RICA

Selva Verde Lodge, Sarapiqui: booked online at Hotels.com. Used 10% promo code and Ultimate Rewards Mall. Chosen because of excellent guides and known for being home to Great Green Macaws and many other birds.

Laguna del Lagarto Lodge, Boca Tapada: Booked on Pointshound for UA miles. Chosen because of recommendation by friend who was just there and area is extremely rich in birdlife.

Volcano Lodge, Arenal: Booked on Pointshound for UA miles. Chosen because of volcano views, garden, pool and it being a nice place to relax after full-on birding.

Cala Lodge, Monteverde: Booked on Pointshound for UA miles. Chosen because near town for easy meals/shopping and easy to get taxi to Monteverde Cloud Forest for Respendant Quetzals.

Villa Lapas, Tarcoles: Booked on their website, don’t use aggregators. Chosen because it is adjacent to Carara National Park for Scarlet Macaws and other birds.

Savegre Mountain Lodge: Booked on their webiste, don’t use aggregators. Chosen based on recommendation by friend who had been there recently, excellent guides and ease of finding Resplendant Quetzals.

Park Inn, San Jose: Booked using Club Carlson points on their website. Chosen because of cheap mistake rate of 5000 points, otherwise would have stayed closer to the airport. Easy enough to get Alajuela bus to airport in the morning.

PANAMA

Radisson Summit: Booked using Club Carlson points on their website. Chosen because easy 15 minute drive to Soberania National Park and also because some rooms have spectacular view of the rainforest.

Courtyard by Marriott, Panama City: Booked using Marriott points on their website. Chosen because I wanted to burn my last 10k points and it was near the airport.

USA

Holiday Inn (Desert Inn), Las Vegas: Used Chase free night certificate. Chosen because I had to use the cert or lose it and they wouldn’t give me Venetian or Palazzo on Labor Day weekend.

Four Points Sheraton, LAX: Got BRG with 2000 SPG point bonus. Chosen because of this deal and free airport shuttle.

Maui Seaside Inn: Booked on Hotels.com using free night after 10 stays and this one was the closest to the value I had on my free night. Chosen because we wanted to stay in Kahului for easy access to Road to Hana and Haleakala. Also rumours of Mitred Parakeets in nearby area.

Hyatt Regency Maui: Used Chase Ultimate Rewards sent to Hyatt to book free nights. Chosen because of resort facilities and a great place to spend my birthday!

Sheraton Waikiki: Used SPG cash & points. Chosen in hopes of an ocean view upgrade (got one!) and infinity pool.

Royal Hawaiian: Used SPG cash & points. Chosen because I have wanted to stay in the “pink palace” since I was a kid and never thought I could afford it!

Loyalty Applauded. Awarded. Rewarded………………….Or Not?

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Tara

A couple days ago, I got this email from Club Carlson on 2 July to be exact. On first glance, it looks like a standard “look what a great program we are” email.

Redeem Your Points for Rich Rewards

Club Carlson^SM is proud to offer you first-class redemption options, including faster Free Award Nights at more than 1,000 participating Carlson Rezidor hotels worldwide.

As a member, you can redeem your Gold Points^® for:

Free Award Nights starting at just 9,000 points with no blackout dates on standard rooms

Award Nights using Points+Cash starting at 5,000 points

Donations to World Childhood Foundation and redemptions for Carbon Footprint

Express Rewards for in-hotel awards such as room upgrades, food and beverage credits, laundry credits (where available)

Airline miles at more than 20 airlines at a rate of 10 Gold Points per one airline mile; please note, our airline mileage redemption options have changed effective July 1, 2013

Learn more about all of your exclusive Club Carlson benefits.Club Carlson. Loyalty Applauded. Awarded. Rewarded.

Date of email 2 July. Date of devaluation 1 July.

People on FlyerTalk saw it first and the news quickly spread to other travel blogs. No one was THAT upset over the increase in airline miles redemptions. What we were upset about is the lack of advance notice so we could redeem at the rates we signed up for if we so desired. Messages to Club Carlson on Facebook and Twitter have only met with a canned reply copy/pasted to everyone.

Now in most cases, transferring to airline miles isn’t always the best use of hotel points but if you need to top up for a special award they can be very useful. I had earmarked 100k Club Carlson points for 18k United to top up what I need for the trip to Africa in 2015. I did however note that around Nov/Dec last year, United had a partner bonus promo so I was anticipating they would have one again this year so I had not transferred the Club Carlson points yet. If I had know about the devaluation, I would have done my transfer beforehand. I have enough points to easily cover the chain hotels I need for the next couple years at least and can spare the 100k for miles.

For many of us, it takes time to save up for rewards, especially when there is a tier structure with a higher amount gaining a better transfer rate.

This is what it was before.

2,000 points = 250 miles
50,000 points = 8,000 miles
100,000 points = 18,000 miles

This is what it is now:

2,000 points = 200 miles
50,000 points = 5,000 miles
100,000 points = 10,000 miles

While hotel points are of limited value to eco-tourists, they still have value whether for free hotel nights or airline miles and if you spend most of your time in eco-lodges you will probably have more use for airline miles. There are some good redemptions for eco-travelers such as this one in Panama.

Bottom line is I don’t feel very “applauded, awarded, rewarded” right now. I did go to a lot of trouble to acquire those points and even bought some during a flash sale a couple week ago to top off my needs for both airline miles and hotels for the next couple years. Loyalty is a two-way street and Club Carlson needs to learn that. They do have some nice hotels but we don’t HAVE to be loyal to Club Carlson to book them. We can use Pointshound (my referral link), Expedia, Hotels.com or dozens of other booking sites.

I challenge Club Carlson to do the right thing and give a grace period of at least 72 hours for people to redeem at the old rates. True, their hotel rewards are still a good deal but who can say they won’t do the same thing with them in the future. For now, don’t sit on your points, if you have them, use them up. Then be loyal to yourself. Use the credit cards if you get a free or super-cheap night out of them but do your bookings wherever you get the best benefit.

Club Carlson Flash Sale, Less Than An Hour Left

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Tara

Club Carlson has been running these flash sales all week where you get a bonus of 75% when you buy points. The sales are announced on their Facebook page so you need to be liking the page to see it come up in your feed.

Time for another Gold Points Flash Sale! Buy points with a 75% bonus from now until 10:15 p.m. EDT: http://bit.ly/1488d5j

Club Carlson can be useful to eco-travelers in Panama.

Club Carlson’s Redemption Changes Mostly Good For Eco-Travelers

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Tara

Several months ago I blogged about the Club Carlson properties which are located near good birding areas or in gateway cities. Like all the other hotel chains, they have adjusted their rates but unlike most chains who had major devaluations, there are some great bargains for eco-travelers.

Even though I had already booked our stay at Radisson Summit Hotel & Golf, Panama which is very close to Soberania National Park, I called customer service and got them to rebook it at the lower rate. Here’s the complete list of hotels changing categories in 2013 and some key hotels to note below. Almost all the properties in India went down a category (too many to copy), and there are new bargains in the gateway cities of Sao Paulo, San Jose CR, Johannesburg, Cape Town & Tahiti. You can’t win ’em all and there were increases in Belem, Brazil, Guatemala City and Bangkok. Remember, if you have any of the superb Club Carlson credit cards, your last night will be free so if you book 2 nights, you will pay for 1 and get the last one free!

While hotel chains don’t offer many options for eco-travelers other than airport gateway stopovers, it doesn’t hurt to maximize the few they do have!

Hotel Point Earning Credit Cards USA Edition And Best Uses for Eco-Travelers

Posted on December 25, 2012 by Tara

This is a continuation of the Mileage Earning Credit Card post. General advice for Americans about credit cards can be found there.

BEST HOTEL POINT EARNING CREDIT CARDS FOR ECO-TRAVELERS

CCs

Generally speaking, hotel point earning credit cards will be less valuable for eco-travelers than for mainstream tourists looking for elite status and 5 star accommodations. The eco-lodges we are seeking won’t be affiliated with any of these programs. There are a couple of good uses of hotel points.

Stays at gateway hotels in your departure city or the gateway city from where you will travel on to the rainforest, savannah or other habitat.
Hotel points can be converted into airline miles to top up your accounts so you can get a free ticket faster and signup bonuses really speed this along.

Here are my recommendations:

1. Club Carlson Visa (blogged about here): Issued by US Bank, several versions so choose the one that suits you best and you could get at least 2 free nights at any Club Carlson hotel. My main interest in this card is the 50k after any first spend and second award night free so I will probably go for the Visa Signature in my next app-o-rama. They have fairly decent transfer rates to airline miles and you can choose from 20 airline programs. The best ones for eco-travelers are AA, BA, DL, UA and US.

2,000 points	250 miles
50,000 points	8,000 miles
100,000 points	18,000 miles

2. Priority Club Visa: Issued by Chase, signup bonus is currently 60k after $1000 spend. Historically, it’s gone as high as 80k with no minimum spend but all the Chase cards seem to have at least a $1000 in 3 month spend these days. Annual fee of $49 is waived the first year but you get a free night certificate each year starting on your first anniversary so this card is well worth keeping. I’m into my 3rd year with this card and have redeemed my free night at hotels that range between $160 and $230 a night. Transfer rates to airlines are a flat 10k PC = 2k airline miles and their partners include AA, BA, DL, QF, SQ, US, UA, and DJ.

3. SPG American Express: Issued by American Express, signup bonus is usually 25k of which you get 10k after first spend and 15k after spending $5000 within 6 months. They occasionally have specials where you get a total of 30k of which 20k requires the 5k spend. Annual fee $65, waived first year. Best values are Cash and Points redemptions which give a huge savings on regular hotel rates with fewer points than an outright free night redemption. SPG has an amazing transfer program which is usually 1 SPG = 1 airline mile but if you transfer 20k, you get a bonus of 5k. LOTS of partners but best ones for eco-travelers are AA, BA, DL, SQ and US. In this case, UA is not a good option as the rate is only 2 SPG = 1 UA.

4. Hilton Honors (several cards): Hilton has cards issued by Citibank and Amex. The Citicards have free night certificates or 40k sign up bonus and come in $95 annual fee/no annual fee versions. The Amex cards give you 40k signup bonus and come in $75 annual fee/no annual fee. Minimum spends are between $750-$3000 in 3 months so you really need to compare all the cards on their site. Transfer rates to airlines are very poor: 10k HH = 850 airline so only get these cards if you want to use them for hotel rooms.

5. Marriott Rewards Visa: Reviewed by me and I can get you a nice bonus if you let me refer you to join Marriott Rewards. See details on this post. Issued by Chase, signup bonus 50k and one free night at Cat 1-4 after $1000 spend in 3 months. Historical high 70k. Annual fee $85 waived first year, and you receive an anniversary bonus of one free night stay at a Category
1-5 hotel every year. Transfer rates to airlines is somewhat complicated so best to see it on their site. AA is not a partner but eco-travelers may be interested in BA, UA, US, GOL (Brazil domestic flights), Avianca-Taca, LAN, Qantas.

6. Hyatt Gold Passport Visa: Issued by Chase, signup bonus is 2 free nights at any Hyatt worldwide after $1000 spend in 3 months. People seem to find the best value in either Sydney or various European properties so limited usefulness to eco-travelers. You get free night certificates, not points so you can’t use this signup bonus to transfer to airlines.

7. Wyndham Rewards Visa: Issued by Barclays, sign up bonus currently 16k, historical high 30k, no minimum spend, just “first purchase”. Good transfer rates to airlines. Wyndham properties are usually reasonably priced so I would just pay for hotels and transfer these points to an airline. Rates are 8k Wyndham = 3200 airline, 17,500 Wyndham = 7000 airline, 30k Wyndham = 12k airline. Best partners for eco-travelers: AA, DL, UA, US.

8. Choice Privileges Visa: Issued by Barclays, sign up bonus 8k first spend, + 24k after using the card to pay for a stay at a Choice hotel. No annual fee. Transfers to airlines 5k Choice = 1k airline, partners include AA, DL, UA, US.

9. Best Western MasterCard: Issued by Barclays, signup bonus 16k after first spend, no annual fee. Transfers to airlines 5k Choice = 1k airline, partners include AA, DL, US and Avianca LifeMiles.

I have put these credit cards in roughly the order of which I think they have value to eco-travelers. People seeking elite status or stays at European and North American city properties would most likely prioritize cards in a different order. If the SPG card didn’t have such a high spend requirement, I would have put it first but $5000 could be a challenge. Please feel free to ask questions in the comments below.

Flexible Points Credit Cards

New Club Carlson Visa Gets 2 – 3 Free Nights Near Panama’s Soberania National Park

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Tara

Panama is a fantastic place for birders! Soberania National Park is less than an hour’s drive from the airport and there is even the Metropolitan National Park right in the city of Panama City! The bird lists are very impressive! Birders on a budget can stay at the Radisson Summit on points and drive over to the Canopy Tower for a day visit. Birders with more to spend can also stay overnight.

There is a special way to get up to 3 nights FREE at the Radisson Summit or any of their other hotels with the Club Carlson Visa. They currently have only a USA version of this card but they do say they will introduce cards in other countries. ***Disclaimer, this is not an affiliate link, these links go direct to Club Carlson’s site. Just sharing an awesome deal!

The USA one with US Bank comes in 3 varieties:

Club Carlson Premier Rewards Visa Signature card Highlights

10 points per $1 spent in eligible net purchases at participating Carlson Rezidor hotels³
5 points per $1 spent in eligible net purchases everywhere else³
Up to 85,000 Bonus Gold Points – 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 days¹
40,000 renewal bonus points each year when you renew your card⁴
Bonus Award Nights – When you redeem Gold Points for 2 or more consecutive Award Nights, your last night is free.²Exclusively for cardmembers!
Your upgrade is automatic⁵ – Your Club Carlson membership will be upgraded to Gold Elite Status after you activate and use your card
Already reached Gold or Concierge Elite Status? You will receive 15 qualifying nights toward obtaining or maintaining Concierge Elite status after you activate and use your new card⁶
Enjoy all of these benefits for $75 Annual Fee

Club Carlson Rewards Visa Signature card Highlights

6 points per $1 spent in eligible net purchases at participating Carlson Rezidor hotels³
3 points per $1 spent in eligible net purchases everywhere else³
Up to 60,000 Bonus Gold Points – receive 50,000 Gold Points after your first purchase plus 10,000 points once you spend $1,500 on your card within the first 90 days¹
25,000 renewal bonus points each year when you renew your card⁴
Bonus Award Nights – When you redeem Gold Points for 2 or more consecutive Award Nights, your last night is free.²Exclusively for cardmembers!
Your upgrade is automatic⁵ – Your Club Carlson membership will be upgraded to Silver Elite Status after you activate and use your card
Already reached Silver, Gold or Concierge Elite Status? You will receive 10 qualifying nights toward obtaining or maintaining Gold or Concierge Elite status after you activate and use your new card.⁶
Enjoy all of these benefits for $50 Annual Fee

Club Carlson Business Rewards Visa card Highlights

10 points per $1 spent in eligible net purchases at participating Carlson Rezidor hotels³
5 points per $1 spent in eligible net purchases everywhere else³
Up to 85,000 Bonus Gold Points – 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 days¹
40,000 renewal bonus pointseach year when you renew your card⁴
Bonus Award Nights – When you redeem Gold Points for 2 or more consecutive Award Nights, your last night is free.²Exclusively for business owners!
Your upgrade is automatic⁵ – Your Club Carlson membership will be upgraded to Gold Elite Status after you activate and use your card
Already reached Gold or Concierge Elite Status? You will receive 15 qualifying nights toward obtaining or maintaining Concierge Elite status after you activate and use your new card⁶
Enjoy all of these benefits for $60 Annual Fee

Remember, I am not a financial advisor so it is up to you to make sure you should have this credit card.

Club Carlson is a great program for non-frequent travelers as they have several promos throughout the year where you can earn points, so even if you don’t want the credit card, still join Club Carlson and be on their mailing list for promos. Usually chain hotels suit eco-travelers best as gateway hotels but we are lucky that Club Carlson has a great option right near the Soberania National Park.

Depending on which card you get, you will have 1 or 2 free nights right off the bat! But these cards have a little something extra! Did you notice this part?

Bonus Award Nights – When you redeem Gold Points for 2 or more consecutive Award Nights, your last night is free.

This means that to get this (or any other Carlson hotel), you would redeem 38,000 points and get the last night free! This effectively reduces rewards to half price, a fantastic deal any way you look at it! I would recommend staying here 2 nights, birding along Pipeline Road and into Soberania National Park, then move to one of the other hotels in the city, go birding at the Metropolitan National Park and check out the Panama Canal, Panama Viejo or any of the markets, redeem one night and get the second night free. This makes for 4 nights all up in Panama free!

Miles To The Wild

Create unforgettable eco-tourism and birding adventures using miles & points!

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