jamesteroh

There may be promos that are only for higher level elites. If that is the case that could be an advantage as well if you stay at BW's a lot.

I was talking about with other hotel chains. BW will upgrade me at the hotel I stay at a lot if there is an upgrade available regardless of if I have no status or am diamond just because I am a frequent guest at that property and they know me. I became diamond last year due to a status match and found no difference in how I was treated (outside of the bonus points) than from when I was Gold.

At Hilton, the difference in treatment between a silver (equavalent to BW's gold) and diamond is like night and day. While thanks to NOR-1 the upgrades aren't what they used to be, I still get upgraded a lot or at least get better rooms and get breakfast and access to the Exec Lounge always if there is one. As has been noted here before, it appears diamond doesn't mean much to BW for upgrades in the US. I get free internet access if the property charges being a hilton diamond (silver pays). I can almost always get a 4 p.m. check out with hilton and access to the exec lounge all day (with silver it is usually 1 or 2 p.m. at the latest and no lounge access unless you are on that floor).

The really nice thing with being diamond with hilton (and I think a couple other chains offer this) is the diamond force. If you need a room and you give at least 48 hours notice, the diamond desk at hilton will usually get you into that hotel (even though you do pay rack rates). I have found this benefit very useful on reward stays. I stayed at the double tree in times square using points this past new years thanks to the diamond desk and the rack rate for new years was over $5k. I am going to miami next month and the property I want is over $600 a night and the diamond desk got me in using a certificate one night and 100K points for the other two nights, which was a great use of points.

I just don't see what BW offers in Diamond that would make it worth doing a matress run if you were only a couple nights away from that level.

sdsearch

Well, yes, at Hilton. But not all other hotel chains. And I don't just mean lower-end hotel chains (I find similar treatment at Choice despite Diamond there, and WyndhamRewards doesn't even have an elite level).

Priority Club is very hit or miss about upgrades and such, even for Platinums (PC's topmost tier other than at ICs). Only a fraction of their properties give a Platinum perk, and at many of those it's simply a welcome gift not unlike the one that BW is supposed to be giving now (though in actuality BW's welcome gift is very hit or miss too so far!).

Indeed, although it was nice to be status-matched to it, I'd not work for anything above Platinum at BW, given that other than those points bonuses the benefits of Platinum and Diamond seem to be very similar. I might, however, work to get to Platinum rather than just Gold, if promos do turn out to be richer for Platinum than Gold.

(I was, as a matter of fact, Platinum at least once before this status match, tho I had let it lapse. But in the past, I only achieved Platinum due to a bug they had for a long time where they credited each stay as two stays, if you earned a bonus that posted on another day.)

jamesteroh

I agre eit was nice beiong made diamond via the status match for the bonus points but it is something I would never go out of my way to get like with Hilton.

I only stay at an actual Wyndham property once or twice a year but have to say I love how they treat me as a by-request member, especially since I have two stays max a year with them. Much better than any other chain does. I always get free internet and my room always has 2 diet cokes (sometimes there are 2 airline bottles of wine or baileys) and a plate with fruit and cheese. I could see it for a guest that would stay there as much as a hilton or marriott diamond with actual stays, but that it is really going out of there way for an infrequent guest.

sdsearch

But that's a special case: Wyndham By-Request (which only works at Wyndham proper), not WyndhamRewards, which was what I was talking about. WyndhamRewards is a points program that works across all the brands in their family (like HHonors works across all the brands in the Hilton Worldwide family), but what you're talking about doesn't work at any of the brands in WyndhamRewards except Wyndham itself.

Not that the average Super 8, Days Inn, Travelodge, etc, has any rooms to upgrade to anyway!

I take it a lot of your hotel stays are business travel paid for by your employer? You seem to keep comparing BW (which on average is more in the "budget" space) with full-price hotels while not mentioning the big price differences. As someone who pays for all my hotel stays on my own dime, I don't care that a Hampton next door would treat me better than the BW, when the BW is $72+ I can afford that, when the Hampton next door is $126+, I just can't afford/justify that. A few bucks more, sure, but when it's that huge a difference, forget it.

And while it sure may be nice to be pampered with a suite on a one-night stay when you're traveling by yourself, it's not that I really can make that much use of it in that circumstance. Most if not all of the value of the suite is "wasted" on me.

What I do value about HHonors Gold or above is the free breakfast and free internet. But then most BWs have a free breakfast and free internet anyway!
So I don't see much that BW could offer me in at-hotel perks as a Diamond at the kinds of BW properties I can afford to stay at.

Now, when I travel to Europe, the BWs there tend to be more traditional "hotels" (as opposed to motels in the US), and the rooms tend to be smaller, so that's where upgrades would be nice. Supposedly one should be able to get them once in a while as a BW elite, but reports in this forum make it seem like it works "miss & miss" (ie, never a "hit"!).

(But, like I said, I have the same problem with Priority Club. And at some overseas locations, people in the HHonors forum report having a similar problem with HHonors even!)

CMK10

That's a good summary. However, plenty of the Best Westerns I stay at do NOT have a free breakfast. One thing they could offer me as a Diamond is that breakfast for free.

CMK10

After almost two years as Best Western Diamond they dropped me to Platinum. I don't mind, it's not like I get upgrades anyway and I only stayed about 5 nights last year. Oh well.

NWbySW

I mailed a copy of my PriorityClub Platinum card to request a status match, just logged into my BW Rewards and saw that I am now Diamond Elite! (Of course, I rarely ever stay at BW...so don't know if I'll really benefit from this or not.)

divmember

I sent in a screen shot of my Hilton Gold status last week and received a letter a few days later letting me know they were status matching me to Diamond Elite! I got my new card in the mail today. If nothing else it's a free way to grab the 30% bonus points on stays, any maybe an early check in/late check out once in a while.

bearvest

Same here. Received Diamond Elite as a status match for Priority Club platinum.

Have a long stay at a Best Western and enjoy the 30% bonus.

Otherwise, no perks or upgrades.

mandc2000

Within 24 hours of faxing Hilton Diamond got BW status - was in Berlin and hotel gave me free breakfast and food discount and coupons

CreditMadeEZ

If you don't get your elite benefits, go to http://www.bwrewards4me.com/ and let them know. Looks like it only is guaranteed for North American properties.

DavesInn

I'm PC Plat and and have been pretty loyal to both them and Wyndham (UK) properties. However, I've a BW stay coming up and thought I should knuckle-down and join (I've 'wasted' a couple of stays in the past).

Joining was easy and the 'gold' card arrived through the post within about 10 days

Anyway, as PC Plat I thought I would try for a status match. I printed the form, scanned it, and eMailed to the rewards...com address as the rear of the form states...Non-delivery receipt received.

Then looked at the site which gives a rewards...co.uk address. Fowarded PC eMail statement with scanned .pdf of status match form attached. 2 weeks later nothing heard and website still shows gold.

Tried again yesterday. Delivery receipt received but with message "the server does not give read receipts". I'll give it one more week.

I've no access to a fax machine these days, which I realise may be the best way to send the form off. But I have to say I'm unimpressed so far; Having sufferred IHGs IT over the last couple of years, can any fellow FTs assure me that BW(UK) are in fact a slick operation and I have been unlucky?

DavesInn

Further to previous post, another fortnight passed since second eMail to the .co.uk address (delivery receipt received). Nothing heard. So yesterday I hunted out a fax machine and faxed. Voila - was Diamond today.

I was waiting for the status match before making a particular booking after an experience with Priority Club/IHG when I was only Gold. I made a booking way in advance and became Plat in the meantime before the stay. On arrival, I was asked to sign-in as gold and received no Plat benefits (such as they are).

As a result of that experience I was holding off making a particular BW booking until the status match was granted....but after the months delay the hotel is now full for the nights I want!

Anyway, I now believe eMailing Best Western will be pointless as they are stuck in some early 1990s timewarp where the fax machine still rules..

iamife

More info about status match here:
https://goldcrownclub.bestwestern.co...tatusmatch.asp

jefi99

Emailed my status match request form + copies of Hilton Gold and Accor Platinum cards, and less than 24h later, I was matched to BW Diamond!
I have a 2 nights stay next week, booked in the lowest room category, so we'll see what it brings!