Do you have one of the Club Carlson Visa credit cards issued by US Bank?
My Club Carlson Business Visa card came up for renewal. A $60 renewal fee was charged to my account, but it was hard to see the amount due online because US Bank has this strange procedure where it assigns a business account 2 different numbers, and only the one with a $0 balance was showing up when I looked online. Consequently, a late fee was imposed. I paid the $60 renewal fee and then called US Bank.
The bank rep immediately offered to remove the late fee, and I of course agreed.
Although this card is not one of my “everyday” credit cards, I hold onto it because it gives me gold Club Carlson status (which has limited loyalty benefits, but notably not breakfast) and 40K points annually.
In my conversation with the US Bank rep, the topic of foreign transaction fees came up. I noted my unhappiness with the fact that the Club Carlson credit card has a foreign transaction fee. I explained that most of the Club Carlson properties I stay at are Radisson Blu hotels outside of the United States – consequently, I rarely use my Club Carlson credit card for those foreign stays and miss out on the extra points I should be earning.
I then nicely asked whether there was any compensation or points for my inconvenience and loss of points. The rep put me on hold, and quickly returned. She said “I can offer you 7,500 points.” I said okay to that. Of course, I gently asked whether this was a set amount or whether the rep had flexibility.
The rep responded that the standing instruction from the bank is that any Club Carlson cardholder who calls in and expresses dissatisfaction with the Club Carlson Visa is offered 7,500 satisfaction reward points.
I told a friend about this. He phoned US Bank, expressed dissatisfaction with his Club Carlson Visa and was offered nothing. So who knows? Maybe I just got lucky.
A New York frequent flyer who elegantly combines her passions for worldwide travel, running a gazillion marathons all over the globe and staying fit ... without sacrificing her fancy for good wine and food.
Sometimes if you book a standard room on an award (or paid), they will upgrade Golds to a business class room which does come with breakfast. However for the last few years, I’ve only been booking business class rooms and 99% of the time get upgraded to a jr suite or a suite (plus Biz class rooms always come w/ breakfast) Is it worth the extra points? Some may disagree, but I generally found the extra benes worth it.
Thanks for these tips. On two of my recent Radisson Blu stays, I was able to use the Friends and Family rate (legitimately). It is difficult to get upgraded on those stays, and you do not get points or stay credits, but the price is right and it includes breakfast. When I am traveling solo, I don’t care much whether I get a suite, but I do like the Nespresso machines in the Club Rooms.
Seems to me I had this happen once too; that is, I got 7500 points after calling US Bank about something with my Club Carlson card.
I’ve had great luck getting upgraded to Bus class rooms – with both the Nespresso and free breakfast 😉 – when staying at Rad Blu properties abroad.
Like you, I never use the card abroad. Seems odd they don’t eliminate FTFs – so many of the other cards have.
The real pity would be if a late payment shows up on your credit report. I don’t know what effect that would have, except I am pretty sure it would not be good.
agreed.
Got 2500 points, thank you Kathy!