The best hotel loyalty plan you might not be using

When it comes to hotel frequent guest programs, research indicates that their biggest attraction are the free room nights they can earn. But do you know which one has the quickest and easiest path to free nights?

When business travelers contemplate the biggest lodging chains, they might not think of Best Western, even though it has more than 4,100 properties under its brand, located in more than 100 countries and divided into seven brands targeting the needs of specific market segments.

Best Western Rewards is currently (through November 30) offering double points on every stay, and from November 1 through January 31, it has a special offer of free nights for just 10,000 points each at any of its North American properties– including some of the nicest hotels in the chain (see post).

While a US News & World Report study shows that Best Western Rewards has the lowest redemption rate threshold in the industry, it discovered in a recent consumer survey that ease of redemption is also very important to customers. And among survey respondents who belong to several hotel loyalty programs, 74 percent said it was easier to redeem Best Western points than other programs’, vs. 68 percent for Marriott Rewards and 67 percent for Hilton Honors.

That survey found that travelers’ biggest complaint about hotel loyalty program is expiring points. Not only do points never expire in Best Western Rewards, but there are no blackout dates for free night redemptions. What’s more, members of Best Western Rewards are entitled to rate discounts of at least 10 percent when booking paid rooms, and elite-level members (Platinum and above) get a 10 percent point discount when booking reward nights.

Speaking of elite status, elite-level members of other hotel companies’ programs can get their status matched instantly thanks to Best Western’s quick and easy “Status Match…No Catch” feature.

All these factors explain why Best Western Rewards ranked near the top of the 12 loyalty plans ranked in WalletHub’s 2016 study of best hotel rewards programs. The program got even better recently when Best Western introduced a new digital membership card that gives participants easy access to their membership number, point balance, tier level and exclusive deals.

Click here to find out more about Best Western Rewards.

Are you a member of Best Western Rewards yet? If not, why not? Please leave your comments below. 

This post is sponsored by Best Western Hotels & Resorts and originally appeared on its YouMustBeTrippin.com blog

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