Best Western Rewards 3x points Sep 23–Nov 18, 2012

Best Western Rewards next month offers up the kind of hotel loyalty promotion I really dislike with Fall12 for double or triple points. Triple points is a great offer of 30 points per $1 in hotel spend for a stay at a Best Western hotel booked online at BestWestern.com. The part I dislike is the bonus points are only earned for every other stay.

Fall12 Terms and Conditions

• Triple points (30 points/$1 including base points) for a stay booked online at BestWestern.com.
• Double points (20 points/$1 including base points) for a stay booked through other BestWestern channels.
• Stay between September 23 and November 18, 2012. A stay that overlaps these dates will earn the bonus points of rthe entire stay. Example: November 15-20 will earn bonus points for the entire stay (if it is otherwise eligible).
• Best Western Rewards non-elite members may earn the Fall12 bonus points on 2nd and 4th stays.
• Best Western Rewards elite members may earn the Fall12 bonus points on 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th stays.
• Earn a one time 1,000 bonus points if first two stays are paid using Best Western Rewards MasterCard.

Registering for the Fall12 Offer

• Apparently there will be a website bestwestern.com/fall for this promotion offer. The link is not currently active. This offer is open to residents of countries other than USA, but the T&C state the list of countries is on the webpage bestwestern.com/fall.
• I signed up for this offer by logging into my account on BestWestern.com and clicking Special Offers Sign-Up link.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

The problem with promotion bonuses for alternating stays is two different members spending exactly the same amount for hotels can end up with vastly different bonuses.

I will give an extreme example of members who both spend $1,752 at Best Western hotels for two stays during this promotion.

Guest #1 non-elite Best Western Rewards member:

Hotel stay #1 = One night booked online at Best Western Ramona Inn, Monterey, California = $70 rate.

• Hotel stay earns 700 base points.
• 0 bonus points for FALL12 promotion on Stay #1.
• Stay #1 = 700 Best Western points.

Hotel Stay #2 = Eight nights booked online at Best Western Plus Victorian Inn Monterey (8 nights) = $1,682 total base rate before taxes.

• Hotel stay earns 16,820 base points.
• 33,640 bonus points for FALL12 triple points promotion on Stay #2.
• Stay #2 = 50,460 Best Western points.

Guest #1 earns 51,160 total points for these two stays after $1,752 in hotel spend.

Guest #2 non-elite Best Western Rewards member:

Hotel stay #1 = Eight nights booked online at Best Western Plus Victorian Inn Monterey (8 nights) = $1,682 total base rate before taxes.

• Hotel stay earns 16,820 base points.
• 0 bonus points for FALL12 promotion on Stay #1.
• Stay #1 = 16,820 Best Western points.

Hotel Stay #2 = One night booked online at Best Western Ramona Inn, Monterey, California = $70 rate.

• Hotel stay earns 700 base points.
• 1,400 bonus points for FALL12 triple points promotion on Stay #2.
• Stay #2 = 2,100 Best Western points.

Guest #2 earns 18,920 total points for these two stays after $1,752 in hotel spend.

Two guests who stay in the same hotels with the same total hotel spend with this Best Western promotion earn vastly different bonuses.

Guest #1 earns 32,240 more points than Guest #2 by having the higher spend stay second, despite both Best Western Rewards members spending the same amount for stays at these two hotels.

This is an extreme example to illustrate why I think it is a poor promotion practice to only offer bonus points on every other stay.

Loyalty Traveler post link: http://loyaltytraveler.boardingarea.com/2012/08/29/best-western-rewards-3x-points-sep-23nov-18-2012/

Ric Garrido, writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. You can follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.