If you travel, and if you use miles and points to book travel, the Best Western loyalty program might be a good fit.

You can’t go wrong with a cache of Best Western Rewards. Award flights don’t always leave or arrive at convenient times, and connections don’t always line up perfectly. When an overnight stay close to an airport is needed, Best Western can be a useful part of your miles-and-points portfolio.

But, those aren’t the only times when Best Western Rewards can be useful.  

Is Best Western Rewards for you?

If you fall into one or more of these categories, Best Western’s loyalty program is worth a close look:

• You don’t live close to your departure airport, and sometimes need overnight accommodation at the beginning or end of a trip. There’s a Best Western property near the airport.
• Your closest airport isn’t a major hub. Finding connections through the nearest hub occasionally involves an overnight stay. There’s a Best Western property close to the hub.
• You’re managing several reward programs and book positioning flights. A positioning flight gets you to a hub served by a redemption partner of one of your other programs. It’s wise to have a healthy cushion of time to connect, and an overnight stay might be just the insurance you need. Or, you like the idea of extending your stay at the hub into a ‘free stopover.’ 
• You value price over luxury, and an affordable hotel meets your needs.
• You enjoy discovering attractive properties offering decent value in interesting locations around the globe.
• Your road trips, for work or leisure, take you to smaller towns.
• You’d like to build a getaway around the attractive 10,000-points-per-night redemption promotion.

10 reasons the Best Western loyalty program is good for travellers

1. Best Western Rewards never expire

Monitoring points in several loyalty programs takes work. Keeping them from expiring can be a hassle. When a program doesn’t have a convenient way to keep points active, it’s heartbreaking to see points or free nights evaporate. With Best Western Rewards, expiry dates are non-existent. It’s one less thing to worry about.

2. Points can be transferred between accounts that share the same physical address

If you’re short on points to redeem for a hotel stay, combining points from different accounts is a handy feature to have. It sets Best Western apart from many major hotel loyalty programs.

3. Best Western has a co-branded credit card

With the loss of the Chase-Marriott and Capital One-IHG cards, co-branded hotel credit cards are a rarity in Canada. Along with the AMEX Marriott Bonvoy cards, the MBNA Best Western MasterCard is an appreciated exception.

USA residents have more choices.

For the ‘Canadian card,’ there’s no specified minimum income requirement, and no annual fee. To earn the usual sign-up bonus, there’s no minimum spend requirement (other than the first purchase). Occasional promotions offer a higher sign-up bonus with a higher minimum spend requirement (MSR).

4. It’s relatively easy to earn points with the MBNA MasterCard

• The usual sign-up bonus of 20,000 points converts, on average, to a one-night stay in Canada. The bonus is awarded on the first eligible purchase.
• There are occasional promotions for an increased sign-up bonus. I’ve seen a 60,000 bonus with an increased MSR. I’ve also used a promotional link for a 40,000 sign-up bonus awarded on the first purchase. 
• For active miles-and-points enthusiasts, the MBNA card is churnable. It’s possible to obtain a sign-up/welcome bonus more than once. Although, compared to other credit card issuers, MBNA is more likely to deny applications on the basis of “excessive credit inquires.” To avoid this outcome, one approach is to product switch to one of MBNA’s no-fee cards from and to successive Best Western MasterCards. 
• Supplementary cards are free. But, if the supplementary cardholder is eligible, it makes more sense for that person to apply for a card. Remember, points can be transferred between accounts that share the same physical address.
• The card has a x5 multiplier on spending at Best Western properties. This includes the room rate, taxes, incidentals, food, and drinks.
• Great Canadian Rebates currently offers a $60 rebate on the standard sign-up bonus of 20,000 points. In effect, being paid $60 to apply for a no-fee card increases its value.

5. Best Western has regular promotions

Regular promotions offer increased bonuses for hotel stays, or stays requiring fewer points.

The very popular 10,000-points-per-night redemption promotion (“Rewards Rush”) applies to any Best Western hotel in North America. They’re usually during winter (e.g., November 15, 2018, to January 15, 2019) for stays between Sunday and Thursday inclusive. While Best Western is best known for its family-friendly value hotels, its stable of properties includes midscale and premium brands. If you can snag a Manhattan hotel that’s typically redeemable for 36,000 points, a 10,000-point redemption represents incredible value.

If you’re short on points, U.S. and Canadian residents can buy 1,000 points for $10 USD, to a maximum of 20,000 points per transaction. This option is usually not available during 10,000-points-per-night promotions.

As a general rule, it’s not a good idea to make speculative purchases of points. However, it could be if you have your sights set on a particular destination during the next 10,000-point promotion.

6. Best Western has partnerships with other programs

With so many airline and car rental partners, members can designate their earning preference. A preference can be changed at any time. It’s especially helpful if earning points/miles in a particular program is a priority. Or, perhaps a points-earning promotion for one program is superior to that of another.

If your earning preference is set to Best Western Rewards, you’ll earn 10 points on every U.S. Dollar (or its equivalent currency) spent on your qualifying room rate. In some countries outside the USA, this includes taxes. As is the case with most hotel loyalty programs, rooms booked through an online travel agency such as Expedia or booking.com don’t qualify as points-earning stays. Also, members with elite status earn bonus points ranging from 10% to 50%.  

Members of the automobile associations (AAA and CAA) have access to discounted rates and special promotions. A partnership exists with AARP (formerly American Association of Retired Persons), and discounts are available to seniors, government workers and military personnel.

7. Points can be transferred to airline loyalty programs

It’s possible to transfer Best Western Rewards to, say, Aeroplan at a ratio of 5:1. However, better value can usually be achieved by leaving them intact and redeeming them for Best Western hotel stays.

8. Elite status is automatic

With the MBNA Best Western MasterCard comes automatic elevation, after the first purchase, to Gold Status. Gold Status is the second tier of Best Western’s elite status program. Status upgrades become effective 4 to 6 weeks after the first eligible transaction.

Best Western has five levels of elite status: Blue, Gold, Platinum, Diamond and Diamond Select. With the exception of Blue, elite status entitles a member to a welcome gift or points on arrival, and the possibility of a room upgrade. 

Diamond Elite Status is available after spending $10,000 in a calendar year. However, I wouldn’t recommend using the MBNA Best Western MasterCard for any purchases other than those at a Best Western. Only 1 point per dollar for “other” purchases is poor value. There are other cards on the market with superior earning and redemption values.

Best Western’s Status Match…No Catch^® program offers free status matches with other hotel loyalty programs. For example, if you’ve obtained Marriott Gold Elite status (e.g., through an AMEX credit card), apply for a status match to BW Diamond Select. It can be useful when requesting upgrades, and it earns bonus points (50%) on eligible stays.

9. Best Western hotels are in convenient locations

• Best Western boasts over 4,100 hotels in more than 100 countries. They’re beside beaches, national parks, airports, and amusement parks. If you’re looking for a downtown location, chances are you’ll find a Best Western.
• Many airport area hotels offer complimentary or reasonably priced airport shuttle service.
• They’re often conveniently located close to exits beside towns and cities along well-travelled highways.
• Best Western’s reach extends to smaller towns. On a trip to cycle P’tit Train du Nord north of Montreal, I was surprised to find Best Western hotels at the beginning and end of the trail in Mont-Laurier and St-Jérôme.

10. Best Western offers value

• Best Western isn’t the most glamorous hotel chain. It’s that unpretentious cousin that doesn’t charge its guests for basic services. Complimentary Wi-Fi, breakfast, local phone calls and free parking are standard features at most properties in North America.
• If you need to pay cash (as opposed to using points), many Best Western hotels are relatively inexpensive compared to some hotel chains. This is handy if your preferred hotel loyalty program doesn’t have a property where you need to stay, or you don’t have enough points for a free stay. Or, sometimes it makes more sense to save your points for a better deal. 
• Free-night redemptions range from 8,000 to 36,000 points, depending on the property type, location and dates. Redemption levels increase or decrease in 4,000-point increments. North American properties tend to start at 20,000 points. For stays in Asia, it’s common to see hotels redeemable for 8,000 points.

• It’s possible to stay in the beautiful city of Kraków, in the Old Town, for 12,000 points.

• This gem by the beach near Barcelona can be redeemed for 16,000 points.

• The app, Best Western to Go allows you to search and reserve properties worldwide. It helps you find nearby amenities, and manage your Best Western Rewards account.

For more information, consult Best Western Rewards FAQs at bestwesternrewards.com.

I love the anticipatory buzz of staying at a luxury hotel on loyalty points. But, let’s face it. There are times when what’s needed is a safe, clean and comfortable hotel. That’s when Best Western is a welcome port of call, and Best Western Rewards is a useful part of a miles-and-points portfolio.

Would you like to join the conversation? What’s your experience in using Best Western Rewards? Is there a specific Best Western hotel you’d like to recommend?

 

Might you be interested in my other miles-and-points posts?

• Is a no-FOREX-fee credit card always the best choice for international travel?
• Travel the world on miles and points by meeting Minimum Spend Requirements
• Is the TD Rewards program worth it when travelling the world on miles and points?
• What’s the best use of Scene+ (formerly Scotia Rewards) for travelling the world on miles and points?
• Is the BMO Air Miles World Elite MasterCard a good deal?
• What is the best credit card for trip cancellation, trip interruption and flight delay insurance for trips on points?
• Finding Aeroplan flights: a step-by-step guide
• Lounge and flight review of United Airlines’ Polaris experience

 

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