Radisson Hotels has launched an early “Cyber Sale” (up to 30% off & bonus points)

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The dust hasn’t really yet settled on the sudden and brutal devaluation that hit Radisson Rewards last month and yet here we have Radisson launching what seems like a very early Cyber Monday sale that covers properties in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific.

We’re still over two weeks away from Cyber Monday and Radisson appears to be the first major hotelier to announce a promotion in honor of one of the holiest days for shopaholics in an ever-increasing number of countries.

Radisson’s 2023 Cyber Sale

• Book by 28 November 2022
• Stay between 5 December 2022 and 31 December 2023
• Valid only on select days of the week in most locations
• Non-members (of Radisson Rewards) can get up to 15% off
• Members of Radisson rewards can get up to 30% off + 2,000 bonus points per night

Thoughts

I’ve reproduced what I consider to be the key terms of this promotion in the paragraph below so make sure you read these carefully before booking.

On the whole, I’m hugely underwhelmed by this promotion.

After the catastrophic Radisson Rewards devaluation that we saw back in October, the value of Radisson points has been decimated so no one should be looking at the 2,000 bonus points on offer (per night) and thinking that they’re a good incentive to book. They’re not.

By Radisson’s own valuation (Radisson Rewards is now revenue-based), 2,000 points are worth between $3.00 and ~$5.50 and as at the lower end of that range your effective rebate won’t even buy you a coffee at a lot of establishments so it’s an irrelevance as far as this promotion goes.

As far as the rest of the “deal” goes, there’s a lot not to like.

Firstly, outside of the UK, the savings are only available for stays on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights in certain counties in the Middle East) and that doesn’t allow for much flexibility.

Secondly, bookings made in this sale have to be paid for upfront and are non-refundable. A single change of equal or higher value can be made to the reservation up to 7 days before arrival but once you’ve been parted with your money, there’s no getting it back.

Thirdly (and this is the big one!), the Cyber Sale rates are not necessarily the best rate available despite their inflexibility.

Here, for example, are two rates available in Dubai and as you can see, the Cyber Rate is the more expensive of the two.

Worse yet, there’s no major difference between the terms and conditions for the “Prepaid Members Only” rate and the Cyber Sale rate.

This may not be the case for all properties but the fact that it can be the case at all should give you some idea of how weak this promotion is. Thanks, Radisson, but I think I’ll pass.

Key terms

• An Eligible Night is defined as a night on Friday, Saturday or Sunday at any Participating Hotel in Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, except for hotels in Bahrain, Kuwait, KSA, Oman, Qatar, Egypt where the offer is valid on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.
• At a selection of hotels in the UK the Offer is valid every night of the week.
• Eligible Stays must be booked between 10 November 2022 to 28 November 2022, (“Booking Period”) and consumed on Eligible Nights between 5 December, 2022 and 31 December, 2023 (“Stay Period”) (together, the “Promotion Period”).
• The following properties in Croatia the offer will not be available in the date range stated below:
  • Park Plaza Histria Pula: 15.07.2023 – 25.08.2023
  • Park Plaza Arena Pula: 15.07.2023 – 25.08.2023
  • Park Plaza Verudela Pula: 15.07.2023 – 25.08.2023
  • Park Plaza Belvedere Medulin: 15.07.2023 -25.08.2023
• Between the 10th to 20th of November 2022, which we define as the Presale period, the offer will only be available to be booked by Radisson Rewards members. Starting with the 21st of November through the 28th of November, the offer will be available for both Radisson Rewards members as well as non-members.
• The Retail Rate is defined as the non-qualified retail rate loaded by Participating Hotels and generally publicly available for online booking by individual guests.
• Retail Rates vary by hotel, are subject to change, and may be different each night of the Eligible Stay.
• Retail Rates do not include promotional rates, non-public rates, rates that require membership, special access or unique codes that are offered by the Participating Hotel.
• The Retail Rate excludes incidental charges (e.g. resort fees, room service and room entertainment).
• Additional taxes and surcharges may apply. Total estimated Retail Rate is only available in the Participating Hotel’s local currency.
• Guests who book an Eligible Stay at the Retail Rate will receive, subject to availability, the following:
  • Non-Radisson Rewards members may receive an up to 15% discount on the Retail Rate at the Participating Hotels;
  • Radisson Rewards members may receive an extra discount of up to 15% off the Non-Radisson Rewards members Retail Rate.
• The specific discount may vary by Participating Hotel and may be applicable for a specific rate plan only.
• Members will earn the standard 20 points per U.S. dollar spent, in addition to any applicable elite tier status point bonus. Members may also benefit from additional Radisson Rewards promotions running in parallel to this offer unless exemptions are explicitly stated in the promotional terms and conditions.
• Members will earn 2,000 Radisson Rewards bonus points per night based on Eligible Nights at Participating Properties during the Promotion Period.
• The maximum number of bonus points a member can earn with the promotional offer is 100,000 bonus points.
• Bonus points are awarded for eligible stays in participating hotels and will be awarded within 60 days after checkout for individual accounts.
• The Offer is only valid at participating Radisson Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson RED, Radisson, Park Inn by Radisson, Country Inn & Suites, Park Plaza hotels, Prizeotel and Radisson Individuals in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Participating hotels are subject to change at any time without notice, and the number of rooms available for this offer may be limited and may vary by hotel.
• Only valid for individual bookings.
• Not valid on previous reservations.
• The reservation requires payment at the time of reservation with a valid credit card. The Prepaid Rate requires payment in full by credit card, e-wallet or Alipay for the entire stay at the time of booking.
• The name on the reservation must be the same as the credit cardholder’s name, and the same individual must check in for the stay.
• Reservations cannot be cancelled, amended, or adjusted after booking. If you do not arrive on the reservation date, your reservation will be cancelled without refund or credit. The cancellation policy follows the policy that the hotels have in place for the prepaid rates and will differ by hotel.
• The Prepaid Rate and Best Available Rate vary by hotel, are subject to change, and may be different each night of stay. The Prepaid Rate may be changed or discounted at any time.

Full terms and conditions can be found on the sale page.

Bottom line

Radisson has launched a Cyber Monday sale in which it’s offering up to 30% off weekend stays at properties in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. There may be one or two reasonable deals on offer in this sale if you look hard enough but on the whole, this isn’t a sale worth spending too much time exploring as other (and better) deals will almost certainly be offered in the coming weeks.