I recently wrote about a major change in the Best Western Rewards program. The highest redemption level went from 36,000 up to 70,000 points. Yikes. But after an initial search of various destinations I clung to the hope that redemption opportunities at the lower levels would perhaps be more readily available after the adjustment. Although I did find a few interesting options, I certainly wish there were a lot more. Not only that, several of the options I did find a few days ago have since vanished.
Best Western 10,000 Point Promotion
Another bit of Best Western news is a new promotion similar to the last two years’ winter promos offering a special redemption rate of 10,000 points on weeknights from December 2, 2019 to February 2, 2020 in North America. Unfortunately, it’s not so good this time because only a very small number of hotels are participating and the low rate appears only sporadically at those.
Here are a few examples I found from a brief search:
10,000 Point Winter Promo
Best Western River North Hotel, Chicago
December 15, 2019
Best Western Plus Dartmouth Hotel & Suites
December 22, 2019
Best Western Ville-Marie Montreal Hotel & Suites
December 22, 2019
Best Western Cabrillo Garden Inn, San Diego
January 26, 2020
Best Western Plus Cameron’s Inn, Half Moon Bay
January 26, 2020
New Reward Rates
I did not conduct an exhaustive search but I did spend some time looking for interesting redemption options. Often the lowest rate will appear on a Sunday. Although I’ve searched for low point rates on the Best Western website in the past, I don’t know if any of these rates are much different than they were before the change. The only low rate I recall was an 8000 point hotel in Nice during the winter months but that one no longer appears.
There are a large number of Best Westerns in the UK so the odds are a bit better of finding a low rate hotel in that part of the world.
5000 Points
I’ve before never seen redemption rates at the 5000 point level so this was a welcome development. Sadly, they are very hard to find. And when you do find one, it’s not likely to be available for more than a single night. Still, if it’s a two night stay and the other night is a high point level, the average can still come out to a very reasonable number.
Rogerthorpe Manor Hotel, Best Western Signature Collection
March 29, 2020
When I initially began searching, this West Yorkshire hotel showed up for 5000 points on multiple Sundays into May of 2020. But when I went back later to check again, most of those dates jumped to 32,000 points.
8000 Points
The 8000 point hotels are slightly easier to find but not by much. As with the 5000 point nights, if you can get an additional night at 12,000 points, an average of 10,000 points per night is still a super deal.
Sure Hotel Collection, The Jersey Arms Hotel
July 12, 2020
This hotel is in the vicinity of Oxford and the 8000 point night shows up on lots of Sundays. The preceding Saturday night is occasionally 12,000 points so a nice average rate is possible.
12,000 Points
The 12,000 point nights are easier to find, but as with many of these hotels, the rate may increase depending on the room type. Here’s an Australian example of that phenomenon. A double room is 12,000 points but a room with 2 single beds is 16,000. However, on nights where the redemption rate was 20,000, all available rooms on points were the same amount, so it’s not consistent.
Best Western Melbourne City
April 12, 2020
Reviews frequently mention the small rooms but the hotel is quite centrally located in the city.
Point Value
I don’t have a fixed value in mind for Best Western points but I would say that you should try to get at least $100 of value for 10,000 points. A good credit card sign-up bonus, in my opinion, should give the applicant at least $200 in value at minimum. The current sign-up bonus for the MBNA Best Western Mastercard is 20,000 points plus a $60 rebate for applying through Great Canadian Rebates.
Bottom Line
As I mentioned in the previous post, these redemption options aren’t likely to be found in the most sought after tourist destinations or at the most popular times of the year. But that doesn’t mean you won’t discover a place that sparks your interest or fits into your travel plans in some way. I just wish the hotels in the 5000 or 8000 point range weren’t quite so elusive.
Best Western Rewards is really veering toward a variable rate model and that makes it hard to plan. If you have some points I suggest checking the Best Western website regularly to see if you can score something good at a reasonable point level. Despite no flexible date calendar, at least it lets you search a radius of up to 161 km. Good luck!
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