The Complete Guide to Radisson Rewards Americas Elite Status

Editor's note: Radisson is now part of the Choice Privileges loyalty program. This content is being updated to reflect this change. In the meantime, read more about this news here.

With more than 1,700 hotels worldwide at a variety of categories and price points, Radisson Hotel Group is a growing brand. And if you stay at these hotels frequently, you should consider working toward earning elite status through Radisson Rewards. Among the perks you can expect are things like free breakfast, room upgrades and late checkout, depending on your Radisson elite status.

Whether you travel for work or pleasure, it’s nice to be rewarded by the brands where you stay most. Radisson Rewards elite status can help you take advantage of plentiful perks to make your hotel stay even better.

In 2021, the Radisson Rewards program split into two separate programs: Radisson Rewards and Radisson Rewards Americas.

This actually can be confusing, as each program has completely separate earnings structures and tiers. This guide focuses on earning points and attaining elite status in the Radisson Rewards Americas program.

You'll want to sign up for the program that best serves the region you travel most often. Those that travel most within North America and the Caribbean, for example, should sign up for Radisson Rewards Americas, while those with mostly overseas travel can sign up for Radisson Rewards. Then again, you can also join both.

But to make things even more confusing — no matter which program you join — Radisson will match your elite tier across either. The good news is that it means you can take advantage of the perks of Radisson elite status wherever you stay in the world.

» Learn more: Radisson Rewards award optimization for beginners

There are three elite levels in the Radisson Rewards Americas program: Silver, Gold and Platinum.

There's also Club status — the base level everyone receives when signing up. The main benefit for this entry-level tier is a 5% food and beverage discount at participating hotel restaurants, which is better than nothing.

With each tier, the perks get better the higher Radisson elite status you have. Here's an overview of all the Radisson Rewards elite status levels, how to earn them and some of their benefit highlights:

Radisson Rewards Silver status

• How to earn: Stay at least nine qualifying nights or make six qualifying stays per calendar year.

• Points earned on hotel purchases (including room rates and other incidental charges): 22 points per $1 spent.

• Best benefits: Early check-in or late checkout, complimentary water, room upgrades and a 10% food and beverage discount.

Radisson Rewards Gold status

• How to earn: Stay at least 30 qualifying nights or make 20 qualifying stays per calendar year.

• Points earned on hotel purchases (including room rates and other incidental charges): 25 points per $1 spent.

• Best benefits: All of the benefits of Silver status, plus a 15% food and beverage discount, an in-room welcome gift and a 72-hour room availability guarantee for eligible stays.

Radisson Rewards Platinum status

• How to earn: Stay at least 60 qualifying nights or make 30 qualifying stays per calendar year.

• Points earned on hotel purchases (including room rates and other incidental charges): 35 points per $1 spent.

• Best benefits: All of the benefits of Gold status, plus a 20% food and beverage discount, free breakfast and a 48-hour room availability guarantee for eligible stays.

» Learn more: Why Radisson’s Rewards program is underrated

The only way to earn Radisson Rewards elite status is by staying at Radisson Hotel Group properties and collecting enough eligible nights or qualifying stays. All co-branded Radisson Rewards credit cards have been discontinued, along with their elite status benefits.

Eligible nights or stays

Members earn elite status by staying the required number of qualifying nights or stays in a calendar year. It doesn’t matter which property you stay at — from a high-end Radisson Collection property to a more budget-focused Prizeotel — all nights count the same.

Here’s the breakdown.

To earn a qualifying night or stay, guests must make an eligible booking through a Radisson channel (the company website or directly with the hotel, for example) or most corporate travel services.

Third-party online travel agencies, like Expedia or Orbitz, are not eligible for points earning. This is true of most hotel loyalty programs, but it can trip up travelers who are unaware.

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Here’s a comparison table looking at some of the best benefits you get from each Radisson elite status level:

» Learn more: Reasons to rack up Radisson Rewards

Lesser-known Radisson Rewards perks explained

Radisson Rewards elite status members have a few extra perks worth exploring. Member-only rates can help to save up to 10% off the cost of a room, but this is not limited to elite status members — it’s available to everyone that joins the program.

Here are helpful explanations of some of the other perks available to members.

Discounts on food and beverages

Radisson elite members receive a discount when charging food or drinks to their room bill at participating hotel restaurants and bars. The discount varies depending on the elite status tier, but it’s worth noting that even entry-level Club members earn a 5% discount.

This could make it worth signing up for the program if you plan to eat at the hotel. The discount is not eligible on room service or alcohol, however.

Room availability guarantee

Gold and Platinum elite status members are guaranteed to find a room at a hotel if they contact elite member services before a stay. Gold members must make a request at least 72 hours before a stay; Platinum members are guaranteed to find a room if they make a request at least 48 hours before arrival.

The guarantee is only for paid nights (not Points + Cash or award redemptions), and it does not apply if an internationally recognized event is taking place within 50 miles of the hotel.

Rollover nights

The program allows members to roll over elite-qualifying nights that are over the threshold of the current status they have, so they can get a head start on next year’s status. For example, if you earned 35 nights in a calendar year, you would have reached Gold status, which requires 30 nights.

The additional five nights you earned above the threshold would carry over to the next calendar year, giving you a faster path to status. It’s a clever way to encourage additional business even after having surpassed an elite status qualification.

» Learn more: Questions to ask before joining a hotel loyalty program

To determine the value of Radisson Rewards status (and compare them to other hotel programs), NerdWallet conducted a comprehensive analysis of the perks offered at each elite level and their net value. The “value” of each tier comes down to the benefits it offers as well as the cost of earning it. This is what leads to the “elite earning rate” calculation, which looks at the return in value based on the spending required.

Here's what Radisson Rewards elite status is worth coupled with the cost to earn it, broken down by tier:

For our analysis, we assumed that the number of nights stayed is equal to the number of nights required to earn each status level. This is what led to the monetary valuation. If you have Platinum status, we calculated the value of 60 free breakfasts into the tally since that is one of the top benefits for that tier.

Note that the value you get from elite status will depend on many factors, including how much you use it (by staying at Radisson properties) and how often you take advantage of the perks, such as free breakfast and rollover nights.

If you stay at many Radisson hotels, earning elite status can improve your stay by offering a better room — even a suite if you have Platinum status. Platinum elite status members also receive free breakfast. All elite status members can earn extra points by charging food and drinks to their room (the higher your elite status, the more you earn) and receive discounts at participating restaurants (the higher your elite status, the bigger the discount).

Radisson Silver, while not worth much on its own, ranks as the overall best entry-level elite status program in NerdWallet's ranking of the best hotel elite status programs. Given how easy it is to earn (compared to all the other hotel elite status programs), the nominal $30 value is worthwhile. After all, Radisson Silver members still receive notable perks like food and beverage discounts. Plus, the ample points earned mean that joining the program can immediately prove fruitful, especially if you attain higher levels of status. See just how much better Radisson is than the other entry-level elite status tiers:

If you’re a frequent traveler, be sure to compare multiple hotel elite levels to decide which one is right for you. If you’re Radisson-bound, then this program is worth joining and climbing the elite status ladder.