Your Guide to Booking Award Nights With Best Western

Lissa Poirot
By Lissa Poirot 
Published
Edited by Mary M. Flory

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Best Western is known for its generally budget-friendly collection of properties, with 13 hotel brands and more than 4,500 hotels worldwide. Here's what to know about earning and redeeming award nights through Best Western Rewards.

How many points are needed for a free night?

Best Western doesn’t publish an award chart, and redemption rates vary by hotel. There are no blackout dates, and points don't expire.

Best Western doesn’t organize its properties into categories for award-redemption purposes, which can be frustrating. You can search by brands, however. The Best Western brand generally offers the best redemption rates, but the amount of points you'll need to book a given room will vary based on location and dates.

Best Western's portfolio includes budget properties as well as midscale, upscale and boutique hotels:

  • Best Western.

  • Best Western Plus.

  • Best Western Premier.

  • Vīb.

  • Glō.

  • Executive Residency by Best Western.

  • BW Signature Collection.

  • BW Premier Collection.

  • Sadie.

  • Aiden.

  • SureStay.

  • SureStay Plus.

  • SureStay Collection.

How many Best Western Rewards points will I earn on hotel stays, and how can I use them?

Best Western members earn 10 points per $1 spent at hotels, and free nights range from 8,000 to 36,000 points per night.

NerdWallet values Best Western points at 0.7 cent each. This is a baseline value, drawn from real-world data, not a maximized value. In other words, you should aim for award redemptions that offer 0.7 cent or more in value from your Best Western points.

Redemption rates vary by hotel, location and date. For example, 28,000 points can get you a free night at the Best Western Plus Bayside Inn, in the heart of San Diego.

But head to San Francisco, and you’ll pay 36,000 points per night at the BW Premier Collection Cartwright Hotel - Union Square.

Don’t be fooled: Those points are not a brand category price point. In Paris, where there are far more properties and brands to select from, Best Western’s Gaillon Opera and Best Western Premier’s Opera Opal locations both require 36,000 points, while the Best Western Plus Opera Batignolles can be redeemed for 32,000 points.

Best Western says free nights can be booked for as low as 8,000 points, but the lowest price point we found in multiple searches was 16,000 points.

Need more points? Loyalty is rewarded

Best Western rewards its most loyal travelers with extra points and also offers status-matching opportunities; simply complete a form proving your elite status with another hotel loyalty program and you'll be matched, Best Western says. When you reach elite status, you can earn bonus points when staying at Best Western properties:

  • Gold elites earn 10% bonus points.

  • Platinum elites earn 15% bonus points.

  • Diamond elites earn 30% bonus points.

  • Diamond Select elites earn 50% bonus points.

Elite status can be achieved by nights, stays or points accumulated in a calendar year:

Gold: 10 nights, 7 stays, 10,000 points.

Platinum: 15 nights, 10 stays, 15,000 points.

Diamond: 30 nights, 20 stays, 30,000 points.

Diamond Select: 50 nights, 40 stays, 50,000 points.

Earn more points with the Best Western credit card

Best Western Rewards has two co-branded credit cards. The Best Western Rewards® Mastercard® has $0 annual fee and comes with automatic gold elite status. The card also earns with 3 points per $1 spent Best Western hotels.

There's a welcome bonus offer available, which the issuer phrases this way: "Earn 60,000 bonus points for up to 3 free nights- 40,000 points when you spend $1,000 in the first 3 billing cycles after the account is opened and 20,000 points when you spend $5,000 every 12 billing cycles.."

Another option is the Best Western Rewards® Premium Mastercard®, which earns 10 points per $1 spent at Best Western. This card has an annual fee of $89, as well as instant elite status.

The issuer phrases the welcome bonus offer this way: "Earn 120,000 bonus points for up to 7 free nights- 80,000 points when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 billing cycles after the account is opened and 40,000 points when you spend $5,000 every 12 billing cycles."

How else can you use Best Western Rewards points?

Best Western Rewards points don’t have to be used for hotel nights. You can elect to earn airline miles or spend your points in the program’s Redemption Mall on things like:

  • Merchandise rewards, such as Black & Decker tools, Calphalon cookware, Weber grills and more.

  • Gift cards for nationwide retailers, such as TJ Maxx stores, Sephora and Bed Bath & Beyond.

  • Gift cards for restaurants such as Subway, Carrabba's and Starbucks.

  • Donations to nonprofits (500 points per $2) like the Make-a-Wish Foundation, American Red Cross and Best Friends Animal Society.


How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2024, including those best for:

Hotel Cards from Our Partners
IHG® One Rewards Premier Credit Card

on Chase's website

IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
5.0
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

1x-26x

Earn up to 26 total points per $1 spent when you stay at IHG Hotels & Resorts. Earn 5 points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, at gas stations, and restaurants. Earn 3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases.

Points

Intro offer

165,000

Earn 165,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Points
World Of Hyatt Credit Card

on Chase's website

World of Hyatt Credit Card
5.0
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

1x-9x

Earn up to 9 points total per $1 spent at Hyatt – 4 Bonus Points per $1 when you use your card at Hyatt hotels & 5 Base Points per $1 you can earn as a World of Hyatt member. Earn 2 Bonus Points per $1 spent at restaurants, on airlines tickets purchased directly from the airlines, on local transit and commuting and on fitness club and gym memberships.

Points

Intro offer

30,000

Earn 30,000 Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Plus, up to 30,000 More Bonus Points by earning 2 Bonus Points total per $1 spent in the first 6 months from account opening on purchases that normally earn 1 Bonus Point, on up to $15,000 spent.

Points
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