Best Western Rewards Premium Card: Big Rewards, Free Anniversary Night
The Bottom Line
3.9
Those beholden to the Best Western brand can get a lot of value from the card, especially from the free night award, which can outweigh the annual fee by itself.
Annual fee
$89
Rewards rate
2x-10x
Bonus offer
Bonus points offer of 20,000 to 80,000 points with qualifying spend. You’ll see your bonus points offer before you apply.
Intro APR
N/A
Ongoing APR
APR: 25.99%-29.99% Variable
Cash Advance APR: 25.99%-29.99%, Variable
Balance transfer fee
Either 4% or $5, whichever is greater.
Foreign transaction fee
None
- Earn up to 80,000 bonus points with qualifying spend.
- Earn 10 points per $1 on Best Western stays and purchases.
- Earn 4 points per $1 on gas station and grocery store purchases.
- Earn 2 points per $1 on all other purchases.
- Earn up to two Free Night Awards each account anniversary: One Free Night Award after your cardmember anniversary and payment of your annual fee, and an additional Free Night Award after cardmember anniversary when you spend $10,000 that cardmember year.
- Automatic Platinum Elite Status.
Pros and Cons
Pros
High rewards rate
New cardholder bonus offer
Luxury perks
Cons
Has annual fee
Rewards have limited flexibility
Detailed Review
If Best Western is or could be your hotel bestie — which isn't too difficult, given the chain's 4,300 properties in over 100 countries — the Best Western Rewards® Premium Visa Signature® Card deserves a look.
The card, issued by First Bank & Trust, delivers rich rewards on purchases — plus perks such as discounts, automatic platinum elite status and a free anniversary night, all for a reasonable annual fee of $89.
Another co-branded Best Western card is the $0-annual-fee Best Western Rewards® Visa Signature® Card, which offers less robust rewards and perks. See a full review of that card here. Both cards are issued by First Bank & Trust.
Best Western Rewards® Premium Visa Signature® Card: Basics
Card type: Hotel.
Annual fee: $89.
Sign-up bonus: Bonus points offer of 20,000 to 80,000 points with qualifying spend. You’ll see your bonus points offer before you apply.
Rewards:
Unlimited 20x per $1 spent on Best Western stays (10 points as a Best Western Rewards member and 10 points for using the Best Western Rewards Premium Mastercard).
Unlimited 4x points on gas station and grocery store purchases.
Unlimited 2x points on all other purchases.
NerdWallet values Best Western points at 0.6 cent each. In other words, you should aim for award redemptions that offer 0.6 cent or more in value from your Best Western points.
In general, redeeming points for free nights at Best Western will represent the best value. Other redemption options include gift cards, merchandise, charitable donations and more, but point values vary depending on the redemption option. For instance, transferring Best Western points to an eligible airline partner is typically not a good value.
APR: The ongoing APR is 25.99%-29.99%, Variable.
Foreign transaction fees: $0.
Other benefits:
Automatic Platinum Elite status in the Best Western Rewards loyalty program, which gives you exclusive member rates, among other perks.
Free anniversary night, plus a chance to earn a second one. Terms apply, see more below.
Trip cancellation insurance.
Cell phone insurance.
Trip delay reimbursement.
Compare to Other Cards
Benefits and Perks
Elevated rewards on everything
Some travel credit cards only offer bonus rewards in certain categories. Not so with the Best Western Rewards® Premium Visa Signature® Card. You'll get the most points back, of course, for spending directly with the brand: 10 points per dollar spent on Best Western stays, on top of the 10 base points you get as a Best Western Rewards program member. (The Best Western Rewards loyalty program is free to join.) But you'll also get 4 points per $1 on gas and groceries, and 2 points per $1 on everything else, making it a strong candidate for everyday use, too.
Points never expire.
Up to two free nights
Cardholders can get up to two free nights per year, a benefit that more than makes up for the card’s annual fee. Every card anniversary, you’ll get one free night — but you can earn one more by spending at least $10,000 in the previous 12-month period. Two caveats, though: The free night is only redeemable at hotels in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean Islands. And, you won’t get any free nights if you haven’t paid the annual fee.
Valuable sign-up bonus
The card offers the following incentive for new cardholders: Bonus points offer of 20,000 to 80,000 points with qualifying spend. You’ll see your bonus points offer before you apply.
If you were to qualify for the high end of that bonus range and later redeemed those rewards for a room that cost 16,000 points, that would cover five nights. Note, however, that the hotel chain says redemptions may range from 5,000 to 70,000 points per night. So the actual number of free nights you can get may vary depending on the hotel property you choose.
Automatic Platinum status and other perks
As a cardholder, you don’t have to work your way up to earning Platinum status; it’s automatic. This grants you 15% more bonus points for qualifying nights, no blackout dates and other benefits.
Trip protection and insurance
Best Western Rewards® Premium Visa Signature® Card holders get access to some valuable trip protections, plus cell phone insurance.
The credit card offers:
Up to $2,000 per insurance person if a trip is interrupted or canceled for a qualifying reason.
Up to $300 for reasonable expenses if a trip is delayed more than 12 hours.
Up to $800 per cell phone claim and $1,600 per 12-month period. A $100 deductible per claim applies.
To qualify for these perks, you must pay for your travel expenses and cell phone bill with your Best Western Rewards® Premium Visa Signature® Card.
Drawbacks and Considerations
There's an annual fee
The $89 annual fee is relatively low for this kind of card, but it could still be a roadblock for some. If you're a Best Western loyalist but are dead-set against paying an annual fee, consider this card's sibling, the $0-annual-fee Best Western Rewards® Visa Signature® Card.
Here’s how they compare:
Best Western Rewards® Visa Signature® Card | Best Western Rewards® Premium Visa Signature® Card | |
|---|---|---|
Annual fee | $0. | $89. |
Bonus offers | Bonus points offer of 10,000 to 40,000 points with qualifying spend. You’ll see your bonus points offer before you apply. | Bonus points offer of 20,000 to 80,000 points with qualifying spend. You’ll see your bonus points offer before you apply. |
Rewards |
|
|
Elite status | Automatic Gold status, which includes:
| Automatic Platinum status, which includes:
|
Other benefits |
|
|
General travel cards offer more value, flexibility
If you want to be able to use your rewards on more than just hotel stays with one brand, a general travel card is a better fit. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns bonus rewards in a variety of popular spending categories, including dining and travel. Crucially, unlike the Best Western Rewards® Premium Visa Signature® Card, points are generally worth at least a full cent each — and, even better, you can redeem them on travel bookings through Chase at 1.25 cents apiece. What's more, this card has a fairer 1:1 exchange ratio when transferring points to eligible airlines and hotel loyalty programs. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a $95 annual fee.
How To Decide If It's Right For You
If you frequently stay at Best Western properties, the Best Western Rewards® Premium Visa Signature® Card can be a rewarding companion, especially considering that the annual free night award you'll get can offset the card's yearly fee.
But for the flexibility to hunt for the best travel deals regardless of brand, a general travel credit card can reward you more generously.
Earn bonus rewards in a variety of popular spending categories, including dining and travel. Points are worth 25% more when redeemed for travel booked through Chase — including for hotel stays — or you can transfer your points to more than a dozen airline or hotel programs. There's an awesome sign-up bonus, too. All for a reasonable annual fee.
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Methodology
NerdWallet reviews credit cards with an eye toward both the quantitative and qualitative features of a card. Quantitative features are those that boil down to dollars and cents, such as fees, interest rates, rewards (including earning rates and redemption values) and the cash value of benefits and perks. Qualitative factors are those that affect how easy or difficult it is for a typical cardholder to get good value from the card. They include such things as the ease of application, simplicity of the rewards structure, the likelihood of using certain features, and whether a card is well-suited to everyday use or is best reserved for specific purchases. Our star ratings serve as a general gauge of how each card compares with others in its class, but star ratings are intended to be just one consideration when a consumer is choosing a credit card. Learn how NerdWallet rates credit cards.
About the author
Melissa Lambarena
Senior Writer & Content Strategist
