My Excellent Experience with Radisson Rewards VIP Status

When was the last time you arrived at a hotel and were made to feel like you were the most important guest checking in that day?

That was exactly my experience when I checked into a Park Inn by Radisson hotel earlier this year as a Radisson Rewards VIP member.

The truth is, I hadn’t actually stayed at many Radisson hotels before. I got my “VIP” status through a status match promotion, and I really didn’t have high expectations. But since that first stay as a Radisson Rewards VIP member – the top level in the Radisson Rewards loyalty program – my expectations have been consistently exceeded. Overall, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how well Radisson has looked after me.

Given how easy it is to earn Radisson Rewards status – be it through a status match or even just through good old-fashioned nights – I think this would have to be one of the most underrated hotel status programs out there.

What you get with Radisson Rewards status

In addition to the basic Club membership, Radisson Rewards has two elite status tiers: Premium and VIP.

These are the qualification requirements and advertised benefits for each tier level:

Status tier	How to earn	Benefits
Club	Base level	10% discount on food & drinks Priority check-in & check-out line
Premium	5 nights or 3 stays in a calendar year	All Club benefits Earn 337% more points on stays Free room upgrade to the next category (subject to availability) Early check-in and late check-out Discount Booster Premium Contact Center access “My Favorite Hotel” benefits at a specific hotel of your choice (Priority waitlist, luggage storage and choose your favourite room)
VIP	30 nights or 20 stays in a calendar year	All Premium benefits Earn 450% more points on stays 15% discount on food & drinks Free breakfast for two Free upgrade to the best available category Access to “exclusive VIP areas” in selected hotels Free express ironing at selected brands VIP Contact Center access

Hotels that participate in Radisson Rewards

For those unfamiliar with the program, the following hotel chains are part of the Radisson Rewards program in Asia, Oceania, Africa, Europe and the Middle East:

Note that Radisson Rewards does not operate in the Americas. Several years ago, Radisson had to split its American operations into a different company to comply with US privacy laws, due to its Chinese ownership. This ultimately led to Radisson creating a separate loyalty program in 2022 called “Radisson Rewards Americas” which covered North, Central and South America. That program later merged with Choice Privileges.

My personal experience with Radisson Rewards VIP status

Admittedly, I mainly stay at IHG hotels, where I have held Diamond status for years and also get treated well. But after that first Radisson stay, I have booked a further three Radisson stays so far this year. For full transparency, I paid for all of these stays myself.

My first stay this year

That first stay was at Park Inn by Radisson in Riyadh. The receptionist at this hotel happily upgraded me to a suite twice the size of the room I actually booked, and all of the advertised benefits including free breakfast were honoured. In addition, the staff could not have been more helpful any time I needed something.

But what really blew me away was the late check-out offer. I mentioned that my flight out of Riyadh departed in the evening, and the receptionist asked if a late check-out until 8pm would be OK. I needed to leave earlier than that, so out of politeness I actually negotiated the check-out time down!

Of course, the generous late-checkout offer was way beyond what Radisson actually promises, and I would not expect that every time. But the receptionist clearly wanted me to make sure I was happy. That’s an attitude that I just don’t find that often at certain other hotel chains – especially at Marriott hotels, where even getting the advertised benefits of Marriott Bonvoy status can be a pleasant surprise at times.

Subsequent stays

My next stay was at Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa in Riga. Again, the staff at this hotel went out of their way to make me feel special and could not have been more helpful.

This hotel upgraded me to a suite with a balcony and a great view, and provided a thoughtful welcome amenity. When I enquired about using the spa, which usually costs extra, the receptionist waived the charge without a second thought on account of my VIP status. Late check-out (albeit until the standard time of 2pm) and free breakfast were proactively offered as well.

On another stay, the Park Inn by Radisson in Aberdeen let me check in early, check out late, provided a welcome amenity, upgraded my room and provided free breakfast. This hotel also had extremely helpful staff and nothing was a problem.

My fourth stay was at Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens in Melbourne. In this particular case, I’d actually booked through Qantas Hotels (during a promotion, of course!) and therefore wasn’t expecting to receive any special benefits.

Because I’d booked through a third party, indeed I could not add my Radisson Rewards membership number to the reservation prior to check-in. But when I arrived at the hotel, the staff were able to add my number into the booking. They told me I wouldn’t earn any Radisson points for the stay, but this turned out to be incorrect.

Although I don’t think I was technically entitled to any status benefits in this case, the receptionist still upgraded my room and gave me two breakfast vouchers. This is at odds with my experience with other hotel loyalty programs, which usually refuse to honour any loyalty program benefits if you don’t book direct. While I’m not sure that you could expect this at every Radisson hotel, I definitely appreciated it.

I do note that the Radisson Rewards FAQs specifically state that:

If you book through a third-party vendor, the nights and stays will be counted towards your next tier. To make sure your nights and stays are considered, please provide your Radisson Rewards number when checking in on your next stay.

How Radisson Rewards compares to other programs

Given the relative ease of earning Radisson Rewards status, I’d say that this program is very competitive.

Top-tier status is significantly easier to earn than with the likes of Marriott Bonvoy, Accor Live Limitless, IHG One Rewards, Hilton Honors or World of Hyatt. You only need to stay 30 nights or 20 times within a year to earn Radisson VIP status. That’s a lot less than with most other programs.

OK, it’s not quite as easy to earn Radisson status as it is with GHA Discovery, but it’s still good. Helpfully, Radisson reward nights do count towards status and excess nights roll over into the following membership year, as well.

Become a frequent flyer points expert!

Learn all the tricks to travel better, for less, with our Frequent Flyer Training courses. The first two courses are free for all AFF members.

View Courses

In terms of the points earned, you can earn quite a lot of points on stays if you have Premium or VIP status (up to 36 points per USD for VIP members). Those points are typically worth around 0.2-0.4 cents each (in AUD) when redeemed towards hotel nights, or you can transfer points to three airline programs:

• British Airways Club (10:1 conversion rate)
• Air France/KLM Flying Blue (10:1 conversion rate)
• SAS EuroBonus (7:1 conversion rate)

Premium and VIP members can opt to receive a discount on room rates, in exchange for earning points at a lower rate. That can actually be a decent deal.

Radisson’s hotel footprint

Admittedly, one of the reasons why Radisson needs to have a competitive loyalty program is that it simply has fewer hotels, in fewer places, compared to other major chains.

While I would have liked to use Radisson more for my travels this year, I regularly find that they just don’t have a hotel in the city I’m visiting. Or, they may only have one – and it’s not in a convenient location for me or at the price point I’m after. That is something to consider if you just want to use one hotel loyalty program exclusively.

Getting a Radisson Rewards status match

To get Radisson Rewards VIP status for a year, you might not even need to stay 20 times!

If you already have status with another hotel loyalty program, you can contact Radisson to request a status match. This is what the Radisson website FAQs say about this:

If you have Elite status with another hotel program, you can request a status match. Please contact Member Services with proof of your membership. Matches are valid for the current year and limited to one every five years.

Even if you don’t have status with another hotel chain, you might also be able to get a status match through Club Avolta. It’s relatively easy to get Club Avolta status through Statusmatch.com. And once you have Club Avolta Platinum status, Club Avolta advertises that you can get this matched to the Radisson Rewards VIP tier.