Best Western Rewards launched a new spring travel promotion today. Jump Start for Summer Travel is an offer to earn a $50 Best Western Travel Card after completing two stays from April 6 to May 25, 2015. Travel card will be an email coupon code sent to the Bet Western account email on file. Only one $50 BW Travel Card per member may be earned with this offer.
Offer Details: Register now and get a $50 USD Best Western Travel Card® by email when you stay 2 separate times between April 6 and May 25, 2015, at Best Western® branded hotels.*
*Travel Card expires 9/7/15. Other restrictions apply.
Pay Cash or Points at Best Western?
Over the Easter weekend I searched more than 50 Best Western hotels to compare published room rates with reward rates. I was looking for a hotel where I could get value from the Daily Getaways offer for 10,000 Best Western Rewards points for $55.00. Amazingly, I could not find a hotel where there was much more than a 10% difference in savings buying points.
For example:
Best Western Premier Alsterkrug Hotel, Hamburg, Germany
139 EUR or 24,000 points
139 EUR = $153.20 USD.
Daily Getaways will sell you 30,000 Best Western Rewards points for $155 which makes this a $132 room redemption using 24,000 points with 6,000 leftover points. I’d be paying more for points than the cost of the room.
$132 room rate when buying points is about a 15% savings on the published rate, but that is negated if my account is left with 6,000 orphan points.
Out of all the hotels I checked, the Hamburg property was one of the best savings I found. I simply can’t justify buying Best Western Rewards points at $55 per 10,000 points when there are so few hotels where points for a reward stay will be a good deal.
There are several Best Western Hotels in British Columbia I have considered for a low cost stay on my trip to Vancouver and Victoria in two weeks.
A reward night at Best Western Capilano Inn & Suites in North Vancouver for 12,000 points looks like a decent deal compared to $85.
But, that is $85 Canadian Dollars = $68.31 USD. The lowest AAA rate is $66.53 USD after tax.
I can book a suite at this hotel for $103.50 CAD all-in using the AAA rate for $83.18 USD.
Buying 12,000 points in Daily Getaways will cost $110 USD for 20,000 points and I’d be left with 8,000 points. There is simply not sufficient savings to buy points for reward nights.
Especially since this $50 gift card promotion is available for paid nights in April and May 2015.
Assume I book two stays using AAA rate in Canada for about $135 all-in after tax. The $50 gift card rebate reduces my net spend to $85 for two hotel nights at $42.50 each.
Of course, that also means using the Best Western Travel Card for another Best Western hotel stay before it expires September 7, 2015 to get any rebate value at all.
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