Best Western Rewards - Value of a BW Point?

It appears the value of a BW point redeemed in North America is around two-thirds of a cent - not too impressive, especially since points seem relatively hard to get, with slim point bonuses compared to other chains. I base my value on the approximately 30K points required for a free night in Alaska that would otherwise cost $200 with tax.

At that value, you wouldn't want to use the BW Mastercard for any purchases except at BW, since you can get at least 2 cents value per dollar spent using the SPG card or airline cards.

You also wouldn't want to buy points at 1,000 for $10, billed as a special elite benefit. You'd be paying them for this "special offer."

Thoughts? Can anyone document a better value for North American redemptions, if the member qualifies for AAA and government discounts on a paid rate?

I think you've made it abundantly clear elsewhere that BW is not for you. ;) :)

I agree besides the first purchase bonus the BW card is not a good deal. Even with the bonus you receive from the best western mastercard staying at a BW property, the Hilton Am Ex or the Southwest VISA are more rewarding from a BW stay than the BW mastercard.

I have used the Hilton Am Ex card for all my purchases this year with the exception of th vendors that won't take Am Ex, and then I use my Southwest visa. Once I have $40K on my hilton Am Ex charged this year I will have diamond status at hilton (if you charge $20K in a year you could gold status and I can meet the stay requirements with no problems for gold anyway and $40K gets you diamond) then I will switch all my purchases the remainder of the year to my SW visa.


My BW MC wasn't worth using after the first purchase bonus even before the changes in the MC program. After the first purchase the card went in a drawer and needs to get cancelled

That Alaska deal is one of the better ones. Most room redemptions that I've seen are barely half a US cent per point :( ! Plus, the points price of rooms often varies seasonally just as the $ price does to keep this ratio.

My BW MC wasn't worth using after the first purchase bonus even before the changes in the MC program. After the first purchase the card went in a drawer and needs to get cancelled
Keep in mind though that some promos require the use of the BW MC card (for all or part of the promo). For example, the current $50 gift card promo gets you 250 bonus points (for 2 stays) if you book at bestwestern.com (not exiting, but not hard to do either), and in addition can get you 1000 bonus points (for those same 2 stays) if you pay for both stays with your BW MC.

Let's say the hotels are $75 a night all-in, and you do one-night stays. The hotel will thus earn you 1500 points (if you're not elite at all), 1750 if you book online. The card will earn you 750 points for being used on a BW purchase. And then having using the card for the stay will earn you 1000 points. The card in this case is thus worth 1750 points or $150 of charges.

In my case, I keep having SW awards expire (or having to pay $50 to extend them) because I don't get enough time to use them all (for trips of enough length that award makes more sense than paying money). So in my case, it would be false logic to compare SW value to BW value, because I have less use for excess SW credits than I do for those hard-to-get BW points. If BW points were easier to get another way, I might look at the BW card differently (I don't both with the Priority Club card, for example, because Priority Club points are so much easier to get other ways). But given that BW points are hard to get otherwise, while I won't use the BW card any more for non-BW purchases, I think it might merit keeping around for at least these kinds of promos that make using it multiple the bonus points (even if you keep it in a drawer the rest of the time).