okazon69

I don't think this one has been mentioned here before, but there is a promo going on until end of August: get 500 Aeroplan points per $50 spent on a BW gift card, up to $750 per card, unlimited cards. Now I realize many people here would look waaaay down at Best Western from the lofty perches of Fairmont and others, but personally I like them quite a bit, and stay there most of the time. So this essentially means tons of "free" Aeroplan points. I recently bought $1500 worth of cards giving me a free short-haul flight. ^ And of course, I can use those cards myself; they are not only intended as "gifts".

I am not quite sure how the economics of this promo work, but won't complain either.

Here is the link to the promo.

ALW

Good find, I don't recall it being posted before.

In fact you earned 16500 AE points once you include the ones from the credit card (though I'd probably take the Petro Points ).

=aw

okazon69

15,000 Aeroplan plus 2250 British Airways points from RBC Avion at 50% bonus time.

superdawg

Also available for AAdvantage members (I know there aren't many here though!)

https://travelcard.bestwestern.com/t...canBonus07.jsp

ALW

The BW site says,

so actually you can get C$, U$, and a bunch of others.

They don't seem to explain "loading it with units" (nor do I see the option), has anyone tried that and why is it better than straight cash?

Also, they say you get a "virtual card" faster but don't explain how it would work vs. a plastic card. I assume they email a code for the virtual card but has anyone tried to use it?

=aw

okazon69

Only the C$ card is valid in this case; the other currencies will say something like "not eligible for promotion".

You select the amount you want, the number of cards, up to $750 total. If you want more, you have to go through the process again. The "virtual card" is just that - they email you a long numeric code. They also call you to verify that you are who you say you are and that you actually made the purchase, and then they activate the code. All in all very professionally done.

ALW

Thanks, do you know how it works to use the C$ card in the US?

=aw

okazon69

They will apply their own - probably slightly ridiculous - exchange rate at the time you use the card.... But I would recommend calling BW Gold Crown Club to see how that works. I do believe any card is usable at any BW, but am not 100% certain of that either!

ESPECIALROB

Thanks to you and the OP for these tips! While I don't do too much flying on AC these days, I was checking out this forum and the Best Western card promo caught my eye for my Aeroplan account, but after finding your post I'd rather buy for my Aadvantage account. I have some travel planned staying at a Best Western.

Threads and posts like this make FT membership all the more worthwhile! Again, thanks.^

superdawg

If you get the one with units (not sure how) you cannot collect the actual miles or GCCI points for the stay whereas the $C/$US gift cards will earn the miles or points for your actual stay on top of the bonuses you get for the promos for this thread

AgonyWagon

I actually don't mind Best Westerns. I'm sitting in one right now in lovely Edson Alberta. Plus I have reservations in Davos and Istanbul. They have never lost a reservation, and I have booked in Stockholm, Innsbruck, Budapest, etc. Most have been really nice; the one in Innsbruck was built in circa 1350 and was really quite cool. But I digress.

Has anyone gotten their aeroplan points yet? I bought a $500 card in May and used it up, but no points yet. I bought a $700 two days ago and will be using up the better part of it this week. I also inquired about the previous card. I also have plans for two more $500.

Smoking deal if it all pans out. $500 works out to 6625 points (5000 bonus points + 625 (Amex aeroplan platinum 1.25/$) + 5850 or so BW points ( with diamond elite bonus; 5000 = 1000 aeroplan points). Four of these = 26500 points. Suddenly being on the road for a few weeks isn't so bad.

okazon69

I sent them an email via the website to inquire about the points posting, and they called me back today. Apparently some of the "virtual cards" did not post properly, but if you give them the card number they will post the points to AE on the following Monday; they then say it takes 2-3 weeks for them to appear in the AE account.

As far as BW is concerned, you don't have to have AE as your selection, and can have BW GCC points instead, but you do have to tell them where to send the points. Of course, you do get GCC points when you use the card to pay for stays, so the calculations shown in a previous post are correct.

So my 15,000 points are on their way. I think I'll buy a few more cards.

Also, I happened to use a USD card in Canada the other day, and the exchange they applied was 1.077, which seemed quite reasonable to me. The hotel itself was applying 1.000 for cash transactions (!).

okazon69

If you click on the promotion link today, August 31, you get the message:

This promotion expired on August 31, 2007 00:00 at 00:00 and it's no longer available.

Don't promotions usually end at the end of a given day, or is this another example of AE programming at its best? The equivalent AA promo works fine.

ALW

I believe it was originally indicated as ending on Aug 30 on the AC site, and Aug 31 on the BW site. For the AA promo, Aug 31 on both.

If you have the AC bonus page on the BW site, it might still work. Whether AC would honour it is another question entirely.

=aw

okazon69

I don't think it's up to AC to honour it, as it is BW who "posts" the points, i.e. buys them. I don't think AC cares very much, as long as they're selling the points lucratively. I received my 15,000 points about a week after BW took care of the paperwork. Very good deal for $1500 I would have spent anyway.