Best Western points up to 58% more value for stays to 6 Feb 2022

Best Western has brought back another variation of their discount award rates for hotel stays in USA and Canada using points that offers up to a 58% discount on the standard number of points per hotel reward night from December 6 to February 6, 2022. Best Western Rewards promotion link.

This promotional offer divides hotels into 3 categories for discounts. Hotels priced at standard reward rates from 12,000 to 24,000 points are discounted as low as 10,000 points. Hotels at 28,000 to 40,000 points are as low as 20,000 points. Hotels at 56,000 to 70,000 points are as low as 40,000 points. The good news is there are many hotels at the 24,000 points level with room rates over $150 per night that are reduced to 10,000 points per night over the next two months.

Historical note: BWR reward rates increased significantly for some hotels since I last used BWR points in 2018 when the highest reward rate was 36,000 points.

Unlike similar points discount promotions from 2016-2018 when reward nights were dropped to a uniform 10,000 points per night across the US for any property, this promotion has variable discount rates depending on hotel and date. There appears to be a lot of variability in reward night pricing for some hotels in popular vacation locations. Carmel, California, for example, is a year-round popular weekend destination. Rates at Carmel’s Town House Lodge for a midweek 2-night stay January 11-13 are 10,000 points per night, but price at 20,000 points per night for the Fri-Sat weekend nights January 14-16. Rates in February, after this promotion ends, show 24,000 points for weekday nights and 40,000 points for weekend nights, so this corresponds to the discount rate I am finding for stays during this promotion.

The real deal here are hotels regularly priced at 24,000 points per night available for 10,000 points per night, a 58% discount. Finding hotel deals on points offering substantial savings is generally a tough proposition in California. I was able to locate many room rate deals in California with this promotion. 

Best Western Plus Island Palms Hotel & Marina

10,000 points buys this $161 per night Best Western hotel room in San Diego. Another key detail I found for some hotels is the availability of reward nights for upgraded category rooms, excluding suites. I found many similar value discounts for San Francisco Bay area hotels.

Best Western Rewards increased reward rates since 2018.

Purchasing points is one of my major strategies for discount hotel stays with Best Western, Choice Hotels and IHG. During the recent October 2021 Daily Getaways sale there was a Best Western Rewards offer at $55 per 10,000 points sale price with a maximum 50,000 points purchase allowed per member. I purchased 50,000 points as an investment since there are some places I find a Best Western Hotel is one of the better deals for a discount reward night using points.

I substantially reduced my years of accumulated points in Best Western Rewards during 2018 with winter stays in Key West, Florida, summer stays in Rome, Italy and an autumn vacation in Anaheim for a multi-day trip to Disneyland. My Key West and Anaheim stays were during Best Western Rewards 10,000 points per night promotions.

Since I had not really examined Best Western Rewards closely over the past three years, I am surprised to see the extensive devaluation for reward nights at higher end hotels. The top end hotels were 36,000 points in 2018 when I burned through about 200,000 points. Now I find Best Western Hibiscus Hotel in Key West, Florida (my 2018 review) priced at 70,000 points per night. I booked that Key West hotel for an extended stay in January 2018 at 10,000 points per night during a previous version of winter Best Western Rewards discount points rates. The discount rate is now 40,000 points until February 6, if you can find any availability. I did not find any available reward nights for dates I checked.

While I did not have a specific purpose in mind when I purchased 50,000 BWR points in October during Daily Getaways, I see great value for these points now with this promotional offer. As long as you have some BWR points, you can purchase more points at $10 per 1,000 points to complete a reservation. This option might still offer hotel rate discounts in some places.