WorldHotels Rewards is your ticket to points and perks at a range of hotels around the world. While its footprint isn’t colossal, the chain’s partnership with Best Western gives the scheme a helpful boost.
With WorldHotels also running a status match deal, here’s how to make the program work for you, and how to get straight to an elite tier.
How do I join WorldHotels Rewards?
It’s easy and free to sign up to WorldHotels Rewards. Just follow the steps below.
- Venture to the ‘Join WorldHotels Rewards‘ page on the chain’s website.
- Enter your details, and create a password for your account. You’ll use your email address and that password to log in.
- Complete the sign-up form, hit ‘join’, and you’re all set!
- Make things easier for your upcoming journeys by making a note of your WorldHotels Rewards membership number. You’ll receive this number after you join, and again by email for safe keeping.
What are the WorldHotels brands?
WorldHotels works a little differently to other major programs. Rather than having anchor brands on a global scale, it’s instead primarily a collection of more local and bespoke hotels. It’s fair to say you probably wouldn’t recognise the individual names unless you were a frequent guest.
For instance, in Singapore, there’s the Goodwood Park Hotel – and in London, you could book the Royal Garden Hotel. There’s a full list of properties participating in WorldHotels Rewards on the chain’s website.
These properties are divided into the WorldHotels Luxury, WorldHotels Elite, WorldHotels Distinctive and WorldHotels Crafted Collections categories.
But WorldHotels is also now affiliated with Best Western. As such, WorldHotels Rewards works in all the same places as Best Western Rewards. So you can earn and spend points at properties like BW Premier Collection, BW Signature Collection, and of course, regular Best Western.
How do I earn reward points at WorldHotels?
Earning WorldHotels Rewards points on stays
For every US$1 spent on your room and folio charges, you’ll take home at least 10 WorldHotels Rewards points. Those with elite membership in the program also qualify for a 10-50% boost.
That’s reason enough to make sure any extra charges during your stay are charged to your room account. That way, you’ll earn WorldHotels Rewards points too, in addition to any other points you may receive from a rewarding credit card.
Whether your balance is large or small, those points never expire. You can even pool them with family members living at the same address, to keep your points in a single account.
Earning airline miles on stays via WorldHotels Rewards
When booking direct at participating WorldHotels Rewards properties, you may be able to earn frequent flyer points. Do note, these usually come at the expense of points in the WorldHotels Rewards program, so it’s a choice of one or the other.
Exactly how many points you’ll earn does vary. But you’ll usually see those details when booking an eligible rate.
Here are the frequent flyer programs you can choose from:
- Air China Phoenix Miles
- Air France/KLM Flying Blue
- ANA Mileage Club
- Asiana Club
- Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles
- Delta SkyMiles
- Lufthansa Miles & More
- Malaysia Airlines’ Enrich
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- SAS EuroBonus
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- United MilegePlus
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
How do I use points at WorldHotels?
Using WorldHotels Rewards points for stays
When you’ve amassed enough WorldHotels Rewards points, you’ll be able to book a free night at participating hotels.
Unfortunately, the chain doesn’t issue a public ‘reward chart’. Instead, members have to fill in an online form to ‘request a free night redemption‘. This is manually reviewed by an agent, with options provided within 48 hours of submitting it.
That might suit regular WorldHotels guests, but it’s not for your irregular traveller.
Using points at the Redemption Mall
A more transparent way to spend your WorldHotels Rewards points is through the Redemption Mall.
This allows you to swap those hard-earned points for a gift card that can be spent on future travel with WorldHotels. At the time of writing, these options were available to members based in Australia:
- AU$75 gift card for 16,000 points
- AU$150 gift card for 32,000 points
- AU$300 gift card for 64,000 points
As you can see, there’s no advantage in banking up your points for a more significant redemption. As soon as you have enough points for a gift card, you might as well spend them.
This method of spending rewards gives each point a value of 0.46 cents (AUD). Given members earn at least 10 points per US$1 (AU$1.34) spent, that’s about 3.43% back in rewards value under current exchange rates.
In practical terms, for every AU$1,000 you spend, that’s about AU$34.30 back in value. Again, that’s based on current USD/AUD exchange rates, given that earning points is based around US dollars, but spending them can be based on Australian dollars.
What are the WorldHotels elite status levels?
Including the entry-level, WorldHotels Rewards has five tier levels. These are:
- Red
- Gold
- Platinum
- Diamond
- Diamond Select
Interestingly, once you’ve earned Platinum status, you’ve unlocked all the perks you can access. Above that, you’ll simply earn more points with every stay. Here’s an overview of those benefits.
WorldHotels Rewards Red
Requirement: just enrol in the program
- Exclusive member rates
- Priority check-in
- Late check-out, subject to availability
- Earn 10 points per US$1 spent
- Points never expire
WorldHotels Rewards Gold
2022 requirement: 3 stays, 5 nights, or 5,000 base points
In addition to Red benefits, you’ll get:
- Complimentary Wi-Fi
- 10% bonus points per stay
WorldHotels Rewards Platinum
2022 requirement: 5 stays, 7 nights, or 7,500 base points
In addition to Gold benefits, you’ll get:
- Room upgrades, where available
- 15% bonus points per stay
WorldHotels Rewards Diamond
2022 requirement: 10 stays, 15 nights, or 15,000 base points
In addition to Platinum benefits, you’ll receive:
- 30% bonus points per stay
WorldHotels Rewards Diamond Select
2022 requirement: 20 stays, 25 nights, or 25,000 base points
In addition to Diamond benefits, you’ll pocket:
- 50% bonus points per stay
Do note, the bonus figures above aren’t cumulative. A Platinum member doesn’t earn a 15% points bonus as Platinum in addition to the 10% bonus for Gold. They instead receive the standard 10 points per US$1 spent, plus the 15% bonus, for 11.5 points per US$1 spent.
How do I get free WorldHotels status?
If you already have elite status with another hotel loyalty program, WorldHotels will match it to an equivalent tier. It’s Status Match, No Catch‘ promotion is open to travellers from all over the world with an elite tier in any rival program.
Of course, the main benefits of elite WorldHotels status include free Wi-Fi (from Gold) and room upgrades (from Platinum). While it isn’t much, if you’re going to stay with a WorldHotels property anyway, you may as well maximise your perks!
How do I contact WorldHotels Rewards?
If you need to get in touch with WorldHotels Rewards, call 1800 317 370 within Australia. Or browse the WorldHotels website for a list of contact numbers when dialling from another country.
You can also send an email to [email protected].
Summing up
WorldHotels Rewards clearly isn’t in the same league as the likes of Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy, or even World of Hyatt. But if you plan to stay at hotels under the WorldHotels umbrella, you may as well participate in the program.
Given its simple ‘earn and burn’ structure and standard set of benefits, it’s an easy-enough program to understand. Whether it’s rewarding enough to change your travel habits, though, is another question.
Frequently asked questions
When redeemed for gift cards, 1,000 WorldHotels Rewards points are worth around AU$4.68 in value. That’s based on the current exchange rate between USD and AUD and assumes you’re spending at least 16,000 points.
The WorldHotels Rewards program is heavily geared around using your hotel points on hotel stays. If you’ve banked up quite a balance, it may be worth enquiring how many points you’d need for a particular stay. It could well be better value to use those points for a free night redemption, rather than redeeming for gift cards. But this will vary from stay to stay, so check which provides the best value for your own plane before booking.
Feature image courtesy Caravelle Hotel Saigon, a WorldHotels Elite property. Adapted by Brandon Loo.
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