SkyTeam777

I, too, booked a Best Western in Germany using Orbitz; I added my number at the property and received points and stay credit. It seems this can depend upon the property? I am making another booking (not prepaid) through booking.com where they take your credit card at the property itself, has anyone else gotten credit when using non prepaid rates via booking.com?

jm1991

I have but only partial points. Booked through Expedia (pay at hotel) rate. Received my 500 points and another 500 elite points. 1000 total. Rate was no much better than booking on BW so i just lost a bunch of points and what i assume a less desirable room. When i inquired about a better room they said they all been given out to Elites who were pre-blocked to them as they had their # on the reservations. Though to be fair i did arrive after 10pm and provided the number at check in.

akr1970akr

We booked a BW stay through the UR portal, and despite inputting our BW number, it didn't upload to the BW site for tracking future stays.

Calling the front desk, BW help desk, or the UR portal admin were never able to add the number successfully.

Gave number upon arrival, that didn't work either.

So I wouldn't expect any points/stay credit with a UR portal booking.....

dhlee528

I book using hotels.com

gave my number to front desk when i arrived, I got upgrade to a suite, and got 500 points.

flyupfrnt

Our Business travel portal is 3rd party and I always get points, bonuses and elite recognition plus the occasional upgrade

sdsearch

Many hotel programs have exceptions for business portals, so just because you earn using a business portal doesn't prove you can earn using a consumer third-party booking site.

The reason is presumably that many people at businesses are forced to book using a business portal, while few people are "forced" to use a consumer third-party booking site.

SkyTeam777

I booked via Orbitz last year and got points/stay credit at a BW in Germany. Was that a fluke? I want to take advantage of the current 10x Chase Ultimate Rewards hotel booking bonus, but don't want to miss out on points with the hotel program either. How consistent is BW with OTAs and awarding credit?

Brendan

SkyTeam, either you got lucky last time, or that hotel (or maybe also others in Germany) ignore the policy consisently to the customers' benefit!

sdsearch

As they always say: "Every Best Western property is independently owned and independently operated."

Translation: All sorts of things about Best Western stays tends to be more inconsistent from hotel to hotel than in other programs.

But you can't tell ahead of time which hotel will be inconsistent on what in which way.

I wouldn't be surprised if the percentage of hotels who gives points/stay credit on OTA bookings is about the same as the number who:

Points continually not deducted

but that's just a wild guess. (Since in either case it might be because the hotel doesn't understand how to implement the BW program properly.)

jm1991

I would honestly just do some math and compare the value of the BW points you would be getting by booking direct to the value you will be getting through Chase. Orbitz and other 3rd party only award you 500 points regardless of the length of stay. Also the current stay 2 times and earn a free night voucher may be something to consider as well, which 3rd party reservations do not count towards.

dewilliam

Have you any other Tour?

Dav77

akr1970akr

I think its totally YMMV. We generally book direct (now) because I find I can get govt rates. None of our 3rd OTA bookings ever credited. i could not even get them to show up on the web site. The program overall is pretty lame, but we've stay at a few hotels that we love that are wearing their flag.

LarryT

I just stayed at a Best Western in Fishers Indiana for the eclipse. When I was checking in the woman tells me oh it is too bad you didn’t reserve through us so you will not get your points. I said well fix it give me a refund and recharge my card do whatever you need to in order to fix this mistake because the only reason we always use best western is to get our points. She would not do anything to help fix the issue which made me very angry. Not only did I not get my points the price of the room was insanely inflated because of the eclipse weekend. This was one of the worst hotels I had ever stayed at. The lobby was old and falling apart and the rooms were the same. My bed was a very old pull out couch with a mattress I wouldn’t suggest anyone sleep on. I’ve been home for two days and my back still hurts. No heater in the bathroom and the toilet was insanely low to the ground my knees were in my chest when I had to use it. They didn’t even give me sheets and a blanket I had to call and have them brought to my room and the blankets even on the main bed were the thinnest oldest things I ever seen covered in bleach stains. Best westerns were always good to me in the past but I think it’s time to start trying other companies for sure. I stayed in a la quinta at the Dells a few months ago and that place was not only cheap but everything was brand new and super nice and their breakfast blew away the crap best western had served us. They didn’t even have fake scrambled eggs at best western just hard boiled and some really nasty sausages. Some things were just better years ago but you have to let go of the past and move on.

Dracarys

You always take a chance of not getting points when you book through a 3rd party. I have learned the hard way to always book directly with the company to avoid issues like this.