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The Radisson Rewards loyalty program has undergone substantial changes over the past several years. First, the program rebranded. Then, it was split into two: Radisson Rewards Americas and plain ol' Radisson Rewards (sometimes referred to as Radisson Rewards International). The former includes properties in the Americas — North, Central, and South — while the latter is for the rest of the world.
The two loyalty programs were originally similar. But then Radisson Hotels Americas became part of Choice Hotels, and we are now left with Radisson Rewards as the sole remaining program.
To make matters worse, Radisson Rewards hit members with a gut punch: an unannounced change to completely dynamic award pricing. This removed much of the program's value — but not all of it. In this guide, we'll walk through how to earn and redeem Radisson Rewards points, the perks you can enjoy as a Radisson elite, and how to maximize the program's remaining value.
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Radisson Rewards Background
Radisson Hotels, which owns the Radisson Rewards program, is a collection of more than 600 hotels across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. Back in 2021, Radisson mixed devaluations into the program changes, with many properties increasing in price.
Then, in late 2022, the Radisson Rewards international program switched to completely dynamic pricing, drastically changing the redemption scheme. This was one of the most brutal hotel loyalty program devaluations I've ever observed.
Additionally, Radisson Rewards also overhauled its elite program; there are now only three tiers: the base-level Club member and two elite tiers.
Radisson hotel brands
Radisson Hotels has nearly 800 hotels across its ten brands. The brands are:
- Art'otel: Upscale hotel brand for the creative at heart with city center locations.
- Country Inn & Suites: Mid-tier hotel brand with complimentary hot breakfast for all guests.
- Park Inn: Mid-tier, modern hotel brand.
- Park Plaza: Upscale hotel with designs tailored to the hotel location.
- Prizeotel: Economy hotel brand with bold designs.
- Radisson: Upscale hotel brand, which is the flagship hotel line and uses local influences in the hotel decorations.
- Radisson Blu: Upscale brand with personalized service.
- Radisson Collection: Unique luxury hotels in the premium brand of the hotel group.
- Radisson Individuals: Upscale, unique hotels in key destinations.
- Radisson Red: Upscale hotel brand focusing on urban locations and informal services.
How to Join Radisson Rewards
If you're not yet a Radisson Rewards member, head to radissonhotels.com and click the “Sign In” link to the right in the header. A box will open with a “Join Us” button to the right at the bottom. You'll need to provide your name, email, phone number, country of residence, and preferred language. You'll also set an account password. The entire signup process takes less than two minutes and is completely free. Once enrolled, you can start earning and redeeming points.
Once you've created your new loyalty program account, make sure to link it to your AwardWallet account. Don't have an AwardWallet account yet? Sign up for free and track unlimited rewards programs and travel plans.
U.S. residents who were part of the previous program (before the split) would have had a Radisson Rewards Americas account post-split. If you're in this boat, you'll need to create a new Radisson Rewards account. Members in the region covered by the Radisson Rewards “international” program will have kept their accounts.
If you don't have a Radisson Rewards account, create one. Once enrolled, you can earn and redeem points.
Add your Radisson Rewards account to AwardWallet
Now is also the perfect time to add Radisson Rewards to your AwardWallet account. AwardWallet will track your reservations, points balance and expiration, elite status, and any credits or promos associated with your account.
If your points or elite status expires soon, AwardWallet will email you a series of reminders. You can also use AwardWallet to log into your Radisson Rewards account with one click, which is much faster than entering your membership number and password on Radisson's website.
AwardWallet Plus members also see their program earnings, redemption history, and progress toward the next tier of elite status.
You can also track accounts for friends and family with AwardWallet. Log into AwardWallet through a web browser or the AwardWallet app (iOS, Android) to add a second account or a different program. Then, click the “Add Award Program to Track” button and type in the program's name.
Value of Radisson Rewards Points
The value of Radisson Rewards points is around 0.25 cents per point. Sadly, it's hard to exceed this value, and the actual value is generally in the range of 0.18 to 0.27 cents per point.
In previous iterations of the program, AwardWallet users had redeemed Radisson points for an average value of 0.42 cents apiece. Under the new pricing scheme, this is an effective loss of 25%–50% in value.
Points valuations are a product of comparing the number of points used to the cash price for the same redemption. For example, my most recent Radisson redemption required 154,151 points for two nights. The flexible nightly rate was ~$170 (after currency conversion) for the flexible rate, including taxes and fees, yielding a value of 0.22¢ per point (USD 340 divided by 154,151 points). This is right in the new typical range post-devaluation range.
How I wish I would have used my Radisson points when I could have gotten far better value…
Ways to Earn Radisson Rewards Points
Compared to other hotel loyalty programs, Radisson Rewards offers its members more points per dollar spent — well, at least its elite members. The disparity between the Club level and either elite tier is substantial. It's important to remember that Radisson also requires more points for redemptions than other programs, given its dynamic award redemption system and the low per-point value. So, even if you earn more points, the overall value isn't all that far from some other programs.
And there are several ways to earn Radisson Rewards points beyond hotel stays. You can quickly rack up enough for a free stay. Let's walk through all the ways to earn Radisson Rewards points.
Hotel stays
You'll earn anywhere from eight to 36 Radisson points per $1 spent on Radisson room rates and food and beverages charges billed to your room. Elite members earn much more than Club members. Here are how many Radisson points you can earn during your stay, based on elite tier:
- Club member: Eight points per $1
- Premium member: 27 points per $1
- VIP member: 36 points per $1
Earnings really jump for Premium elite members. Assuming Radisson points are worth 0.25 cents on average, Premium members each just below 7% back on every stay. At the VIP level, you'll get roughly a 9% return. Note that earning rates at Prizeotel properties are 50% of what you get at all the other brands.
Earn points with partners
You can earn Radisson Rewards points with the following partners:
- Rent a car with Sixt or Europcar: Earn 750 Radisson Rewards points per Sixt rental, plus save up to 15%. With Europcar, you'll earn up to 300 points per day as a Radisson Rewards member, up to a maximum of 1,800 points per rental.
- Shop at Bicester Village: Earn 10 points for every euro or pound spent at any of the nine Bicester Villages in Europe. There are also two villages in China where you can earn 10 points for every 10 yuan spent. Present your Radisson Rewards membership card and receipts at the Village Information Centre to receive points.
- Book a Radisson Rewards Experience: Book a tour, activity, or other experience through Radisson Rewards and earn 15 points per $1 spent.
- Host a meeting or event at a Radisson property: If you join Radisson Rewards for Bookers & Planners, you'll earn 10 points per $1 spent on room bookings you make on behalf of others. You also can earn five points per $1 spent each time you book a meeting or event, up to a maximum of 250,000 points per booking. Being a Booker & Planner is also a fast track to Premium tier elite status, as you'll receive an upgrade after completing your first booking.
Related: How Far in Advance Can You Book Hotel Reservations?
Transferring points to Radisson Rewards
Radisson Rewards is not a transfer partner with any major points program, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards. However, it does partner with American Express for members based in Great Britain.
Radisson Rewards members can transfer up to 100,000 points per month to another member. These points can be transferred to one other member or split among up to five other members.
Can you earn Radisson Points with a credit card?
Since all U.S. Radisson Rewards credit cards have been discontinued, and no major points program partners with them, you cannot earn Radisson points from credit card spending.
If you're a U.K.-based member, you can earn Radisson Rewards points via any card that earns American Express Membership Rewards.
Related: Best Hotel Credit Cards With No Annual Fee
Buying points
We don’t recommend buying Radisson points. You can buy Radisson points at a rate of $5.90 per 1,000 points — just under 0.6 U.S. cents per point. This is terrible value, given the new dynamic award pricing and the value at which you'll redeem these points.
Even if there is a 100% bonus on purchased points, you're still paying 0.3 cents per point, which is likely more than you're receiving in redemption value. AwardWallet does keep track of bonuses on buying Radisson points, but we don't recommend purchasing.
Earning points through promotions
Radisson Hotels occasionally offers promotions where you can earn bonus points for nights or stays. For the latest, see our current Radisson Rewards promotions.
Redeeming Radisson Rewards Points
Hotel stays
Radisson Rewards switched from a fixed-category award chart to dynamic pricing in October 2022. This overnight change was intensely frustrating for me to digest, as I was sitting on over half a million Radisson Rewards points at the time. Changes like this are never good. I ended up booking a stay out of them at the Radisson Collection Royal Hotel in Copenhagen. I transferred most of the rest to Radisson Rewards Americas (and ultimately Choice Privileges) while I still could.
Even with their massive devaluation, redeeming Radisson Rewards points for hotel stays is likely the best value for your points. To redeem points for a stay, first search for the hotel you want. The points price is tied to the cash price, so keep an eye on the rate. If you have some flexibility, try to find the lowest cash rate you can.
Let's walk through a redemption to demonstrate how to redeem Radisson Rewards points.
Example hotel redemption
First, head to radissonhotels.com and choose your destination and dates. Here, we'll search for a hotel stay in Copenhagen — the place I most recently redeemed Radisson points.
The Radisson Collection Royal Hotel made for a great stay, so let's select that. Clicking through to see rooms will show the rates you can book. Radisson usually offers non-refundable, semi-flex, and flexible rates. Note that all these options have “Pay with Points” listed as an option. You'll also notice the toggle to include breakfast in your stay, which you may want to do if you're not a VIP member.
Unless I'm completely sure about my plans (and even then, I book using a card offering trip cancellation insurance), I always book flexible rates. After selecting a rate, continue to the final booking screen. You may have to click through an additional screen before checkout where Radisson tries to upsell you on extras for your stay.
Finally, at checkout, you can choose to Pay with Radisson points. You'll see the option for “Redeem your point on this stay” or “Redeem your points for a discounted rate” about halfway down the page.
This will take you to a form where you can decide how many points to apply toward your stay. It's similar to how Hilton allows you to make partial redemptions with points + cash. In this case, there aren't enough points in my account to cover our example 3-night stay. If this is your situation, you'll see how much you're saving.
The total cost for the stay is DKK 7,587.77 (~$1,100). With 100,000 points, I'd save ~$197, getting less than 0.2 cents per point. This is poor value, even for the devalued program. I've found that using 100% points yields a better value per Radisson point.
You'll see something more like this if you can cover the whole cost using points — this is for one night at the Radisson Blu Malmo, right across the Øresund from Copenhagen. “You're saving 1,377 Swedish Krona” (~USD 133) for 46,946 points. This is a much better value, at 0.28 cents per point.
The major downside of this whole system is that you can't compare award rates or values directly. Instead, you have to go off the cash rates, only seeing the value you're getting for your points just before you complete your booking.
And, unfortunately, unless you have points in your account, you cannot even check potential rates at all.
Radisson transfer partners
You can transfer your Radisson Rewards points to several airlines at mostly a 10:1 ratio. We don't recommend doing so, as you're giving up 20-50% of the value. Transfer to airline miles in one of three increments:
- 2,000 Radisson points for 200 miles (10:1 ratio)
- 50,000 Radisson points for 5,000 miles (10:1 ratio)
- 100,000 Radisson points for 10,000 miles (10:1 ratio)
- Exception: SAS EuroBonus points (redemption ratio of 7 Radisson Rewards points to 1 SAS EuroBonus point)
Participating airlines are:
- Air France / KLM
- British Airways
- SAS Airlines
Other redemption options
Here are more ways to redeem Radisson Rewards points:
- Redeem for a Priority Pass membership. Redeem 160,000 Radisson points for a one-year membership for one person. The membership includes ten free visits. Each additional visit will cost $35. Since memberships start at $329, redeeming 160,000 points is a value of 0.21¢ per point. Not great, but not as terrible as I thought it would be. It's far better, though, to get Priority Pass access through a credit card.
- Donate points to First Climate or SOS Children's Villages. These are all charity options. Donate a minimum of 3,000 points; there is no maximum.
- Redeem points as a carbon offset for your stays. The cost is 325 points per night.
Radisson Rewards Elite Status
Now that we've covered how to redeem Radisson Rewards points, let's discuss how Radisson provides additional benefits the longer you stay. In this section, we cover how to earn elite status, what it’s worth, and what it offers to customers.
Radisson Rewards elite status tiers
- Club member: Join Radisson Rewards; no night or stay requirement.
- Premium member: Earned after five nights or three stays within a calendar year.
- VIP member: Earned after 30 nights or 20 stays within a calendar year.
Achieving Premium status is not all that difficult, and the benefits you receive are decent for what it takes to earn. Things get even better if you hit VIP member. Here are the perks you'll enjoy at each status level.
Club member
- Base level for program members.
- Earn eight points per $1 spent on eligible stays and food + beverage charges billed to your room.
- Save up to 15% through members-only rates.
- Priority check-in line at select hotels.
- Receive a 10% discount at participating hotel restaurants.
- Participate in members-only promotions.
Premium member
- All of the Club member benefits, plus these additions/replacements:
- Earn 27 points per $1 spent on eligible stays and food + beverage charges billed to your room — a massive increase over what Club members earn!
- Complimentary room upgrades — subject to availability and limited to the next room category.
- Free early check-in and late checkout on request, subject to availability.
- “Discount booster” to receive up to 20% off your bookings.
- Ability to receive exclusive benefits at a selected “favorite hotel” (includes priority room assignment and ability to request a “favorite room”).
- 24-hour exclusive Premium & VIP contact center lines.
VIP member
- All of the Premium member benefits, plus these additions/replacements:
- Earn 36 points per $1 spent on eligible stays and food + beverage charges billed to your room.
- Receive a 15% discount at participating hotel restaurants.
- Room upgrades may include suites.
- Complimentary daily breakfast for two.
- Free ironing of one piece of clothing at select brands.
- Exclusive access to VIP areas at select hotels.
Lifetime elite status
While other hotel programs, such as Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors, offer the ability to earn lifetime status, Radisson Rewards does not. You must re-qualify for status each year.
Comparing elite benefits to other programs
One of the wild features of the Radisson Rewards program is how poorly it rewards non-elite members. Earning just eight points per USD 1 is awful, especially when you consider points are worth 0.25 cents on average. This is a return of $2 per $100 spent. You can do better with pretty much any other program.
That said, reaching the Premium member level is fairly easy. If you hope to get much value out of the program, you'll need to earn this status level at a minimum. As a Premium member, you'll earn 27 points per dollar — roughly a 6.8% return. This still falls short of other programs, however, for mid-tier elite status. But other benefits kick in that could make this potentially worth it.
The points-earning gets even better at the top tier, VIP. Free breakfast kicks in, which is a valuable perk. But the program doesn't offer much else to top-tier elites. You're rewarded far better with chains like Hyatt and Hilton. Not to mention the global footprint of most other large chains is better than Radisson. Being loyal to a chain doesn't help when it doesn't have a presence where you want to travel.
Radisson Rewards Rules and Policies
Change and cancellation policies
The change and cancellation policy for your stay, including stays for which you redeem points, will be spelled out in the rate during the booking process. Some rates are non-refundable after booking or within a certain window of the stay.
Make sure you read the change and cancellation terms carefully during booking. If you need to cancel a night where the free cancellation period has lapsed, you'll be charged and/or forfeit your points. This is unlike many rewards programs where points bookings always enjoy free cancellation up to 1-3 days before your stay.
Related: Hotel Free Night Award Change and Cancellation Policies
Points expiration
Radisson points will expire if there is no activity on your account for 24 months. Qualifying activity to keep your points active includes earning points from a hotel stay or a partner, as well as redeeming for a stay.
Track your points and miles expiration for 650+ accounts and get email alerts before your miles expire by signing up for a free AwardWallet account.
Best online rates guarantee
If you book a stay directly through Radisson Hotels online and find a lower rate, Radisson will match it and give you an additional 25% off your stay. There are, of course, some qualifiers:
- The comparison rate must be found on a publicly available website other than Radissonhotels.com within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on Radissonhotels.com. It cannot be a qualified discount rate (e.g., AAA, government, etc.), group rate, or other exclusive rate.
- You must find the comparison rate at least 48 hours before midnight hotel local time on your arrival date.
- The comparison rate must be for the same hotel, same reservation date(s), same room type (i.e., room size and amenities), same number of guests, and same currency as your confirmation email.
- The same advance payment, refund policies, and restrictions must apply to the reservation.
- Customer Care must be able to find the rate when they validate the Best Online Rate Guarantee claim.
- The rates will be compared net of any taxes, gratuities, or other fees associated with the room rate. Disparities attributable to rounding and/or currency exchange rate differences are excluded.
To make a claim, visit the guarantee page and use the contact form plus instructions for submitting your claim.
Related: What's a Hotel Best Rate Guarantee and How Can It Save You Money?
Final Thoughts
With the change to dynamic award pricing, Radisson Rewards has stripped much of its program value. Several years ago, a good number of mid-tier properties made for solid redemptions. Additionally, Radisson used to have co-branded credit cards that provided enough points for at least one annual free night. These also earned points at a rate that offered a reasonable return.
All of that has gone by the wayside. Other hotel loyalty programs offer far more value — not to mention a much bigger global footprint. I wouldn't recommend focusing on Radisson Rewards unless you have specific travel plans that will take you to its hotels. In that case, get what you can out of the program. Qualify for Premium status to enjoy perks and earn far more points for your stays.
If you're looking for a hotel program for long-term loyalty, I'd recommend Hilton as the best global option and Hyatt as the program with the best elite benefits. Marriott and IHG also have programs that offer much greater returns than Radisson Rewards.
Are you a fan of Radisson Rewards? How have the program changes impacted your loyalty?
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