Use Radisson Rewards Now
Did you know that for now, you can exchange Choice Privilege Rewards to Radisson Rewards at a 1:2 ratio? Those rewards can be used for Radisson Rewards Americas (or Radisson Rewards after 1:1 conversion)? The winners in that are those acquiring Radisson Rewards from Choice Hotels points, in my opinion, & not the other way around.
Here's why:
During Recent Optimal Bargains, Radisson Rewards Points Cost 67% (instead of 50%) v Choice Privilege Rewards
The lowest $ price for Radisson Rewards in recent history has been .35 cents each.
The lowest $ price for Choice Rewards in recent history has been .52 cents each.
With that being said, it would take you .7 cents if purchased with Radisson Rewards to accomplish what could have been done for .52 cents if purchased with Choice Rewards.
That means if you converted .52 cents worth of purchased Radisson Rewards to Choice points, instead of getting 1 Choice point, you'd only get .74 Choice points (.52/(.35*2))
Conversely, if you converted .52 cents worth of purchased Choice points to Radisson Rewards, you'd get your 2 full Radisson Rewards
Choice Hotel Rewards Are Easier to Acquire
Radisson Rewards are no longer available for acquisition for US based customers via credit card spending effectively since their credit cards were phased out and converted forcibly to other cards (including my Radisson Rewards Business Card). The best way to get Radisson Rewards now are from Choice Hotels conversions, especially if you're sitting on a number of them.
Comparing TPG Valuations of a 2:3 ratio (instead of 1:2)
The Radisson Rewards TPG valuation for a long time has been .4
The Choice Privileges Rewards valuation for a long time has been .6
Use These Primarily on Radisson Rewards Americas, not in the Eastern Hemisphere
Since the massive recent Radisson Rewards devaluation to dynamic pricing, Radisson points haven't been worth nearly as much in the Eastern Hemisphere, but a similar devaluation didn't happen in Radisson Rewards Americas which are not priced dynamically.
Radisson Rewards Can be Used for Non-Family Members - Choice Can't
Choice Hotels restricts who can use your points to family members. Radisson Rewards doesn't impose restrictions like that.
If you bought Choice Hotels points at a rate of .52 cents each, here's an example where you can convert Choice Hotels Rewards to Radisson Rewards Americas & get approximately 3x your value, during the Annapolis Boat Show running from October 12-15th:
If purchased directly in $, those dates would be $1047.51.
Image courtesy Radisson Hotels Americas
If you used points, that same booking would be 135k points, and if those points were purchased via Choice at .52 cents each and then converted to Radisson Rewards, the cost would be (.0052/2)*135000=$351
$351/$1047.51=33.5%
Image courtesy Radisson Hotels Americas
We don't yet have a date on when the 2 programs will be merged, but when they are, your Radisson Rewards Americas points will be driven to Choice Hotels Rewards at a 2:1 ratio. Book Radisson now while you can. If you are done with all your Radisson Points, consider converting some Choice Hotels Rewards to Radisson & booking more Radisson Rewards Americas.