Will your travel plans take you past a Best Western, Aiden by Best Western, GLō or BW Premier Collection hotel? Then make the most of that journey with a Best Western Rewards status match.
That’s your ticket to perks like early check-in, late check-out and bonus points on every stay, covering these brands and more. You don’t lose your existing hotel status by matching it to Best Western Rewards. So what are you waiting for?
How to request your Best Western status match
Unlocking elite status in Best Western Rewards is easy when you’re already an elite guest of another hotel chain.
Here’s what you need to do:
- If you’re not already a member, sign up to Best Western Rewards. Joining is free, and easy too.
- Then, draft an email to [email protected].
- In that email, include your full name, postal address, email address and phone number.
- You’ll also want to mention your Best Western Rewards membership number. If you’re an existing member, you don’t need to sign up again.
- Finally, attach proof of your existing elite status with any competing hotel chain. That proof can be either a copy of your current elite membership card or a recent account statement.
It doesn’t matter which hotel loyalty program your status comes from: Best Western will match it.
Matching to elite Best Western status
Here’s the tricky part. Best Western doesn’t maintain a list of which competing tiers align with its own. For instance, you’re not guaranteed a match to Best Western’s Diamond Elite purely because you have a current ‘Diamond’ card elsewhere.
Instead, the company considers the merits of your current elite tier, and endeavours to match to the equivalent level in Best Western Rewards. It does this by reviewing ‘the number of nights, stays, and/or points required to meet the comparable elite tier/status level.’
With four elite levels in Best Western Rewards – Gold, Platinum, Diamond and Diamond Select – here’s how travellers would normally earn each one.
| Earned by nights | Earned by stays | Unlocked via Best Western Rewards Points | |
| Gold Elite | 10 nights | 7 stays | 10,000 points |
| Platinum Elite | 15 nights | 10 stays | 15,000 points |
| Diamond Elite | 30 nights | 20 stays | 30,000 points |
| Diamond Select Elite | 50 nights | 40 stays | 50,000 points |
Already have more than one elite hotel membership?
If you have elite status with two or more chains, it pays to consider which is the hardest to earn. For instance, Gold with one chain could get you a better match than from Platinum status with another.
It all comes down to how much travel is needed to net each one.
For example, Accor Live Limitless Gold status is normally earned after 30 nights. This would likely see an ALL Gold member matched to Best Western’s Diamond Elite tier – not to Best Western’s Gold Elite level. That’s because Best Western’s Diamond Elite tier is normally earned in 30 nights: the same as ALL Gold.
In a similar token, a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite member would likely be matched to Best Western’s top-tier Diamond Select Elite level. Both are normally earned after 50 nights, so can be said to be on-par.
If you’ve done the sums and believe your existing status is worthy of a particular Best Western Rewards tier, it wouldn’t hurt to mention that in your email, either.
Summing up
If you plan to stay in any hotels affiliated with the Best Western Rewards program, taking advantage of this status match is a no-brainer. There’s no cost to join Best Western Rewards or to apply for the match – and you don’t lose your existing (competing) status in the process.
Even though it’s not always clear which tier you’ll be matched to, don’t be afraid to ask for a specific match if you feel your current card makes you worthy.
After all, the goal of status matches like this one is to get you staying with Best Western rather than another chain. You’re more likely to do that if your Best Western Rewards tier unlocks similar benefits to those you’re already enjoying elsewhere.
Feature image courtesy Pixabay/Pexels.
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