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Radisson Rewards just launched its own shopping portal, Radisson Rewards Shop, where members can earn points on online purchases. And to incentivize you to use it, an ongoing promotion offers new members up to 30% bonus points on their first three purchases.
Here’s what you need to know about Radisson's new portal and how it compares to other shopping portals.
Page Contents
Overview of the Radisson Rewards Shop Portal
Radisson Hotels has finally joined the club with its own branded shopping portal: the Radisson Rewards Shop. It's powered by Valuedynamx and offers rewards at merchants across the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and India.
Most major airlines and many hotel chains already offer shopping portals that let members earn bonus points, miles, or cash back on everyday online purchases, so this launch isn’t too surprising. For example, Wyndham Rewards members can earn points through the Wyndham Shopping Portal.
Earning rewards in the Radisson Rewards Shop
Like most shopping portals, the Radisson Rewards Shop lets members earn rewards on purchases made through hundreds of online merchants.
At the time of writing, Radisson Rewards Shop doesn’t offer a browser extension like many airline shopping portals do. Instead, you’ll simply log in to your Radisson Rewards account, select a merchant through the portal, and complete your purchase as usual.
Eligible transactions will automatically earn Radisson Rewards points and they'll post to your account automatically.
Example earning rates
A quick look at the Radisson Rewards Shop shows some (seemingly) impressive earning opportunities:
- Sephora and Under Armour are offering 10X points
- Lululemon is offering 18X points
- Gap is offering 8X points
By comparison (again, at the time of writing), JetBlue Shopping has the next best rates for many of these merchants, with 3X at Sephora, 9X at Lululemon, and 2X at Gap. And with the current offer, you can earn 4X at Under Armour through the United, American Airlines, and Alaska shopping portals.
Should you use Radisson Rewards Shop?
However, you shouldn’t let those multipliers fool you. Radisson Rewards points lost significant value after an overnight devaluation a couple of years ago. And since then, it's been hard to recommend collecting those points. While there may still be pockets of value out there, it’s worth making sure you’re comfortable earning Radisson points before using the portal.
In many cases, you may get more value from an airline-branded shopping portal like AAdvantage eShopping, or from a more-flexible option like Rakuten, where you can earn cash back as Amex Membership Rewards points, Bilt Rewards Points, or even as a Big Fat Check in the mail.
It’s also worth noting that Radisson’s footprint in the U.S. has changed considerably. Radisson Hotels Americas has since been integrated into Choice Hotels, though the Radisson Rewards Shop still includes U.S. merchants. However, the selection is much smaller than in Europe. For example, only five U.S. vendors currently have special offers, compared to 229 merchants in the U.K.
That said, if you’re an active Radisson Rewards member, there’s a good chance you travel internationally and may find more useful earning opportunities through the portal’s European partners. If that's you, then maybe it's not a bad idea to use the portal.
Related: Everything You Need to Know about Radisson Rewards
New Member Bonus: Earn up to 30% Bonus Points
To encourage members to try the new Radisson Rewards Shop, Radisson is offering up to 30% bonus points on your first three purchases:
- 10% bonus points on your first purchase
- 20% bonus points on your second purchase
- 30% bonus points on your third purchase
This promotion doesn’t currently list an expiration date or even have a dedicated landing page. However, the offer is referenced in the portal’s rotating image banner on the homepage.
Because of that, it’s a good idea to screenshot the promotion before making a purchase and double-check that the bonus points post correctly. If they don’t, it may be worth reaching out to customer support.
Our Take
The Radisson Rewards Shop is a new way for members to earn points on everyday online purchases, and in many cases it offers much higher earning rates than other shopping portals. However, Radisson points are also among the least valuable hotel currencies, with the average AwardWallet user redeeming them at just 0.41¢ each.
So, before routing purchases through the portal, it’s worth weighing whether those extra points will move the needle for you over points you could earn through another portal.
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