Best Western Rewards is the loyalty program of worldwide hotel group Best Western Hotels and Resorts. With 4,700 hotels, members can enjoy free nights throughout 80 countries. Free nights begin at just 5,000 Best Western Rewards points per night and go up from there, topping out at 70,000 Best Western points a night.
Best Western’s loyalty program isn’t for everyone, but for those who like to travel off the beaten path this option could be the one for you.
History
Best Western got its start in the mid-1940s but not in the way most businesses get going. The chain began when a man by the name of M.K. Guertin set up a referral system between independent properties located west of the Mississippi. These individual properties would direct customers to hotels within their referral network.
The network continued to grow and eventually incorporated Best Eastern, the properties located east of the Mississippi. In 1966, the brands were merged under one name—Best Western.
In 1975 Best Western became a global enterprise, first expanding into New Zealand and Australia and onward from there. Today, Best Western operates 4,700 properties throughout 80 countries.
Read More: 50 Best Destinations to Spend Your Points
Best Western Hotel Brands
Best Western includes three collections divided into several hotel brands.
World Hotels Collections is Best Western’s luxury line. It includes the following brands:
- WorldHotels Luxury
- WorldHotels Elite
- WorldHotels Distinctive
- WorldHotels Crafted
Best Western Hotels and Resorts is Best Western’s Upscale collection and includes the following brands:
- BW Signature Collection
- BW Premier Collection
- Best Western Premier
- Best Western Plus
- Best Western
- Glo
- Vīb
- Sadie by Best Western
- Aiden by Best Western
- Executive Residency by Best Western
Sure Stay Hotel Group is the economy collection of Best Western hotels. The following properties are included in its lineup:
- Surestay Signature Collection
- Surestay Plus
- Surestay Studio
- Surestay
How To Earn Points With Best Western Rewards
All members who enroll in Best Western’s loyalty program, Best Western Rewards, can earn Best Western Rewards points. Best Western allows members to earn points in several ways, including hotel stays, co-branded credit cards, shopping and more.
Through Hotel Stays
Staying at a Best Western property is the most obvious way to earn Best Western Rewards points. The earning structure is simple—all Best Western Rewards members earn a base rate of 10 Best Western Rewards points per dollar spent.
Earning Elite Status
Best Western Rewards members can unlock elite status and supercharge their Best Western Rewards points earnings. The more you stay with Best Western, the more you can build loyalty and unlock those elevated earning rates.
As an elite status member you will earn even more points. Your rate will depend on your status level. Status can be earned in one of three ways: through nights, stays or base points.
Note that for the entirety of 2022, elite tier qualifications have been lowered. Members who qualify for elite status in 2022 will keep their status through March 2023.
Blue
Requirements to earn: No nights or stays required.
Blue is Best Western’s base level and is automatically assigned to all new members. The following perks come with Blue:
- Earn 10 Best Western Rewards points per dollar spent.
- Exclusive member rates.
- Early check-in and late check-out.
- Access to an exclusive reservation line.
To put this into perspective, a Blue member paying $100 for a hotel room at a Best Western property would earn 1,000 Best Western Rewards points.
Gold
Requirements to earn: Three stays, five nights or 5,000 Best Western Points. Complimentary for Best Western Rewards Mastercard card holders.
Gold gives you all the benefits of Blue in addition to the following perks:
- 10% bonus Best Western Rewards points on eligible stays.
- Complimentary bottle of water.
If a Gold elite status holder paid $100 for a hotel room at a Best Western property, they would earn 1,100 Best Western Rewards points.
Platinum
Requirements to earn: Five stays, seven nights or 7,500 Best Western Points. Complimentary for Best Western Rewards Premium Mastercard card holders.
Platinum status includes all the benefits above in addition to the following:
- 15% bonus Best Western Rewards points on eligible stays.
Platinum members would earn 1,150 Best Western Rewards points for a $100 stay.
Diamond
Requirements to earn: 10 stays, 15 nights or 15,000 Best Western Points.
Diamond members get all the previous listed perks, in addition to the following:
- 30% bonus Best Western Rewards on eligible stays
If a Diamond elite paid $100 for a night, they would earn 1,300 Best Western Rewards points.
Diamond Select
Requirements to earn: 20 stays, 25 nights or 25,000 Best Western Points.
Diamond Select is Best Western’s top elite status. It includes all of the mentioned benefits plus:
- 50% bonus Best Western Rewards on eligible stays.
For a room rate of $100, a Diamond Select elite status holder would earn 1,500 Best Western Rewards.
Status Match…No Catch
Members of other loyalty programs are eligible to match their elite status to Best Western Rewards. To submit a request for an elite status match either complete the online form or
send an email to Best Western Rewards® Premium Mastercard*: Earn . Earn an additional 40,000 Best Western Rewards points when you spend $5,000 every 12 billing cycles––that’s 120,000 points annually. $89 annual Fee.
Read More: My Next Hotel Card Is a Best Western Card. Yes, Best Western.
Through Transfer Partners
You cannot transfer Best Western Rewards points from any of the major credit card programs such as Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, etc. However, holders of a rewards point earning Diners Club card can transfer their Club Points to Best Western Rewards at the following rate:
- Diners Club: 1 to 2.64
Shopping Portals
Best Western does not offer a traditional shopping portal like other loyalty programs such as Hilton or American Airlines. However, there are a handful of partners which allow you to earn Best Western Rewards each time you shop with them. Here are a few examples of what these companies may offer:
- Teleflora: Earn 1,250 Best Western Rewards points on every order.
- Vinesse: Earn up to 12,500 points and receive six wines for $41.94 with American Cellars Wine Club.
- Car Rental Partners: Best Western Rewards members can earn up to 3 points per dollar spent when renting a car from Alamo, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, National and Sixt.
Buying Best Western Rewards
To purchase Best Western Rewards points, you’ll have to call customer service. You can reach them at 1-800-894-4365. Points cost $10 per 1,000 points and you can buy up to 20,000 points per day.
Redeeming Best Western Rewards
Best Western Rewards gives you a lot of ways to use your points. Not only can you book free nights, you can also transfer your points to airlines, redeem for gift cards and even share your points with members of your household.
Award Nights
Award pricing with Best Western is not based on a fixed award chart and there are no hotel categories like you see with other programs. Instead, point costs will vary by hotel and demand. Pricing starts at 5,000 Best Western Rewards points per night and goes up to 70,000 points per night.
To book an award night, you’ll first need to set up a free Best Western Rewards account. Once you are enrolled, or if you already have an existing account, login and head over to the Best Western Rewards tab at the top of the page.
Next, enter your desired destination and dates into the open fields. Then select the “Find My Hotel” option.
You’ll be taken to a new page which will list all of your options and the number of points a night will cost. To see the cash rate, select the “Change Search” option in the top left corner and deselect “Use Rewards Points.”
After you have decided on the property and choose a room, you can continue with the booking process and reserve your room.
Pay With Points
Pay with Points is Best Western’s alternate option for booking a room when you are low on rewards points. This gives you the option to partially pay for your first night using points, which start at 5,000 Best Western Rewards points. You can then add more points in 1,000-point increments.
For every 1,000 Best Western Rewards points you redeem when using Pay with Points, you’ll get $5 off the rate of your room. You can use up to an additional 20,000 Best Western Rewards points per day via this route.
Additionally, when you Pay With Points, your stay will be treated as a cash stay and you will earn 10 Best Western Rewards points per dollar on your stay. If you pay with a Best Western co-branded credit card, you can earn even more. Finally, Pay with Points transactions are eligible for seasonal Best Western promotions.
Sometimes using Pay with Points may actually be an overall better option than paying with cash. Be sure to check the nightly rate and do the math first.
Redemption Mall
Best Western’s Redemption Mall is where you can redeem your Best Western Rewards points for things beyond free nights. You can use the redemption mall to transfer your points to airlines, redeem them for gift cards and even donate to various charities.
Airline Miles
Transferring your Best Western Rewards points to various airlines is another option for redeeming your points. While you’ll almost definitely get better value out of your points when redeeming for a free night, having the ability to transfer your points to airlines can be a useful backup option.
- Aeroplan: 5,000 Best Western Rewards to 1,000 Aeroplan miles
- Alaska Mileage Plan: 5,000 Best Western Rewards to 1,000 Mileage Plan miles
- Asia Miles: 5,000 Best Western Rewards to 1,000 Asia miles
- Asiana Club: 5,000 Best Western Rewards to 1,000 Asiana miles
- Flying Blue: 6,000 Best Western Rewards to 1,000 Flying Blue miles
- LifeMiles: 5,000 Best Western Rewards to 1,000 LifeMiles
- Rapid Rewards: 5,000 Best Western Rewards to 1,200 Rapid Rewards points
- Club Premier: 5,000 Best Western Rewards to 1,600 Club Premier Kilometers
- Aerclub: 5,000 Best Western Rewards to 1,000 Aeroclub Avios
- British Airways Avios: 5,000 Best Western Rewards to 1,000 British Airways Avios
- Iberia Avios: 5,000 Best Western Rewards to 1,000 Iberia Avios
- Millemiglia: 6,000 Best Western Rewards to 1,000 Millemiglia miles
- Vueling Club: 5,000 Best Western Rewards to 1,000 Vueling Club Avios
Gift Cards
Members can also redeem their Best Western Rewards points for select gift cards. The rate will vary from one option to the next.
- Best Western Virtual Travel Card: $10, $25, $50, $100 and $250 options available.
- Best Western e-voucher: $50, $100 and $200 options available.
- Amazon E-voucher: $50, $100 and $200 options available.
Fees
With Best Western you will not pay any fees for standard hotel nights. Additionally, reward bookings at resorts do not incur resort fees.
Expiration
Best Western Rewards never expire. As long as you keep your account open your awards will remain intact.
Family Pooling
Best Western does not offer family pooling, per se, but it does allow members living at the same address to transfer points to each other. To initiate a transfer, you’ll need to contact Best Western customer service.
Sweet Spots
Something to note about Best Western is its large footprint in popular destinations that are underserved in the hospitality sector. National Parks within the U.S., for example, are notoriously scarce in the free award night’s department. Fortunately, Best Western has a surprising number of options in these highly sought out places.
Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah is a great example of this. There are a handful of properties throughout the popular park but almost none of them are chain hotels. Best Western, however, happens to have two hotels right outside the park.
A night at the Best Western Plus Ruby’s Inn in Bryce Canyon City runs $224.96 per night during peak tourist season.
Or you could redeem 36,000 Best Western Rewards points for the stay.
While the value for your points in this case isn’t the most spectacular, it’s still nice to have the option. This is especially useful if you are a budget traveler looking to save as much cash as possible and have earned points for this specific purpose.
Bottom Line
If you enjoy visiting National Parks, exploring European cities or finding smaller, more off the beaten path destinations, Best Western is worth looking into. While you may not experience the glitz and glam of properties run by brands like Hyatt, Best Western makes up for it in variety. And while even Best Western’s properties may not be the most luxurious on the market, that doesn’t mean they don’t offer higher end accommodations. In fact, Best Western has some downright amazing properties, especially when you venture outside of the U.S.
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