The Deal Mommy

This is a series of posts designed to help you maximize loyalty programs.  Others in the series include The Deal Mommy Guide to Car Rentals, The Deal Mommy’s Guide to Disney, Collecting Frequent Flyer miles #2, and The Deal Mommy guide to collecting Frequent Flyer Miles.

I’m writing this post from my room at the Radisson Lord Baltimore Hotel, where I have taken the Deal Kids for what is known as a “mattress run”.  A mattress run is generally defined as a trip you wouldn’t have taken except  for the fact that you get bonus points (see also “mileage run”).  I like Baltimore, and would have taken the kids to the Aquarium as a daytrip, but wouldn’t have planned a hotel stay in the immediate future.  Before you tune me out, follow my math and see how such a trip might work for you.

This room costs me $112, including tax and parking.  I would have paid for parking anyway ($16 a day), so the net cost is $96.  With this stay I will earn 2000 points in the Club Carlson program (20 per dollar on $99 room rate), and an additional 50,000 by registering for the Radisson promotion I mentioned last month.

Before deciding to take the trip, I thought about The Deal Family’s next year’s travel schedule.  Club Carlson points don’t expire for at least three years, but I tend to only think a year ahead.  This summer I know Deal Dad is visiting his family in small towns in the Midwest, which have limited hotel coverage.

I have learned that small towns often have the worst hotel rates because they have no competition and know no one is planning a trip to a small town based on price!  Conversely, they also have lower point redemption rates than hotels in the big cities as no one is going there on a purely leisure vacation.  With this in mind, I searched the towns he needs to visit and lo and behold, there are Park Inns (in the Carlson brand) at 9000 and 15000 points a night that go for  $92 and $149 for the nights he will need them next summer.

So here’s the math: $92 +$149=$242-$96 (spent)=$146 net gain for spending tonight in a hotel.  That’s not to mention that I’ll still have 28,000 points left over for future trips!

As Deal Kids jump on the bed and relish the novelty of an instant vacation, I reflect on how this would work for pretty much any situation.  Most people have at least one hotel stay (a wedding, graduation, etc) they know they’ll be doing in the next year, and I’m just encouraging you to take a second look at the promotions you see.  I’ll be sure to keep sending them your way!

(And as a visual reminder, here’s a snapshot from the “miracle on 34th street” here in Baltimore, which I would have totally missed were it not for this trip.)

"Miracle on 34th Street" in Baltimore, thanks to Radisson!