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How to Earn Best Western Reward Points

bestwesternWhereas some of the hotel rewards programs out there rely on the fact that there are lots of hotel partnerships tied in together to cover the globe adequately, other hotel chains are big enough all by themselves so as not to require partnerships with other hotel chains. With Best Western, there are so many hotels bearing the Best Western name that you should be able to find one just about anywhere you’ll go.

What’s more, Best Western has the added benefit of being a moderately-priced hotel chain – so it’s a good option if you’re forced to pick one rewards program and you don’t have a huge expense account to play with. The rewards program is called, simply, Best Western Rewards (it used to be Gold Crown Club International). Although they’re not as generous with the airline miles as some other rewards programs, they’re quite generous with the hotel points.

Here’s an overview of how to earn Best Western reward points – for more details about the Best Western Rewards program, be sure to check out the official website (linked below).

How to Earn Best Western Rewards Points

Hotel Stays
As mentioned, there isn’t a long list of other hotel chains with which you can earn points toward your Best Western Rewards membership – but with so many Best Western locations it shouldn’t be too tough to find a participating hotel. And you’ll earn a whopping 10 points for every $1 US spent on “qualified room rates” when you stay at Best Western properties, so earning enough points for an award is quicker than you might expect.

If you’d rather earn something other than hotel points for your money spent on hotel stays, then your other options for what you can get for a qualified stay are 20 AIR MILES reward miles, 1/2 Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards credit, or at least 250 air miles toward a number of different airlines that are partnered with Best Western.

(The AIR MILES program is a specific mileage-earning program based in Canada, and you can find out more about them here.)

Air Travel
Best Western is partnered with a variety of airlines toward which you can earn miles every time you stay at a Best Western hotel. In order to earn miles, however, you’ll need to have your Best Western Rewards profile set up with the frequent flyer number for the airline you want to earn miles with as well as show both your Best Western Rewards membership number and that airline’s frequent flyer number upon check-in.

For each qualified stay with Best Western, you can get one of the following:

  • 250 airline miles with one of the partner airlines
  • 0.5 Rapid Rewards Credits with Southwest Airlines
  • 500 Miles & More with Lufthansa
  • 20 reward miles with AIR MILES

Some of the airlines that partner with Best Western are:

  • Air Berlin
  • Air Canada
  • Air France
  • Alaska Airlines
  • Alitalia
  • American Airlines
  • China Southern
  • Continental Airlines
  • Delta
  • KLM
  • Lufthansa
  • Southwest Airlines
  • US Airways

Rental Cars
Just as there isn’t a long list of hotel names from which to choose in the Best Western Rewards program, there isn’t a long list of car rental companies to choose from, either. In fact, there’s just one – Avis.

Use your Best Western Rewards membership number when you book a rental car with Avis, and you’ll not only earn up to 1,500 hotel rewards points per rental, you’ll also save up to 25% off the regular rental rate.

Credit Cards
There’s a Best Western Rewards MasterCard for US residents and a separate one for Canadian residents. The one outlined below is the one for US residents – if you’re Canadian, check the official Best Western Rewards website (linked below) for more details.

With the Best Western Rewards MasterCard you’ll earn:

  • 10,000 bonus points with your first purchase on the card
  • up to 8,000 bonus points for transferring a balance from another card
  • 10 points for every $3 US in purchases at all Best Western locations
  • 10 points for every $5 US spent elsewhere

Shopping
Continuing the trend, there are only a few retail partners with which you can earn points on the Best Western Rewards program – but if you’re keen on earning as many points as possible, then these are the merchants to make note of.

  • FTD Floral Delivery – Earn 2,000 bonus points
  • Teleflora Flower Club – Earn 25 points for every $1 US spent
  • Vinesse Wine Club – Earn 2,000 bonus points

To learn more about the Best Western Rewards program, be sure to check out their official website.

photo by dave_mcmt