Warning to others. I'm on the phone with best western/mbna to activate the 40K best west card from the offer above, and they're trying to impose the following conditions: 20K pts on first purchase, and 20K pts after spending 1K and holding the account open for 150 days. I applied through the link in the header above and the terms are "Earn 40,000 Best Western RewardsŪ points†† on your first purchase – qualifying you for two free nights".

"†† To qualify for this offer, an applicant must be approved for the specific credit card account described in the offer. The account must be used for at least one eligible transaction that is not subsequently rescinded, the subject of a charge back request or otherwise disputed. Please allow 8–10 weeks from the transaction date for bonus points to be posted to your points account. Limit one-time bonus point offer (no cash value) per new account. This promotion is offered by MBNA and Best Western and may be amended or cancelled at any time without notice."

I even spelled out the application website URL to the CSR and she saw it said 40K on first purchase. They're saying I have a different card/application. We'll see how it turns out. It's being escalated to management and they are supposed to call back within a week with a resolution.

Update: After about 10 minutes I got a call back and it was confirmed that I get 40K after 1st spend which matches what was in the online application.