The Offer
- FNBO Best Western Rewards Premium MasterCard is offering a bonus of 80,000 points after $3,000 in spending bonuses.
The Fine Print
- $89 annual fee, not waived first year
- 40,000 points when you spend $5,000 every 12 billing cycles
- Card earns 20 points per $1 spent at Best Western for a limited time (4/30/2021 then 10 points), 2 points on all other purchases
- Automatic Platinum Elite Status
- Early Check-In
- Late Check-Out
- No Foreign Transaction Fee
Our Verdict
Standard bonus is 50k points, but we sometimes see 80k points. This is an additional 20k points. I’d recommend having at least some idea on what you’d use the points on before applying. Free nights costs 5k – 70k points. It’s issued by FNBO, for more information on their cards read this linked post.
Hat tip to Cole S
View Comments (21)
Applications have been pulled. Customer service says they will continue serving accounts already open, but will not be accepting new apps. She didn’t know if it would be converted to something else, or stay BW.
This card has been discontinued. As of 8/18/2024.
I’m 2 nights into a road trip in the US. Both Best Westerns so far have charged $30 for “room revenue charge” even when you book with points.
that's pretty ridiculous.
are these hotels somewhat similar to comfort inn?
Anyone data points on whether they make you wait the full 12 months (plus another cycle or two) till you get those 40k bonus points?? This means that you need to spend at least 2 annual fees for the points, substantially reducing the quality of this deal.
anyone has the DP about the additional 40k bonus points? this promo is no longer available, the current promo is 80k +40k. i wonder if you need to pay 89x2 annual fee to get the additonal 40k at the 12th billing cycle.
Thanks.
Yes, it's the full 12 months. It was annoying.
No annual fee card has 50,000 point SUB for $1000 spend and gets gold status.
Seems like a potentially worthwhile deal for VERY frequent flyers. I like having points in as many programs as possible, since you never know which hotel chain redemption will be the best one in the location you're going to. BW seems best in some odd locations where there are no other hotel chain redemptions. And I like the ability to "recharge" my points balance with relatively modest spend. Wish there was a high category bonis on something other than BW (like grocery or gas) to buy some gift cards to meet the annual spend.
Agree about specific redemption. Going to Paris for Olympics in 2024 and the points value looks pretty good...most hotels pricing at less than 30K points a night for 2023 summer and it looks like the room values didnt fluctuate much from February 2023. Trust the cash value will be higher than $300 per night when its 2024.
The last 2 Best Westerns I have stayed at have literally been dumps.
I really liked the Best Western Plus Sunset Plaza Hotel in West Hollywood - Los Angeles, CA. The room it self was a bit dated but the pool area was gorgeous with the flowers everywhere... Was there a year ago. The problem with Best Western is the quality control of each individual hotel is very hit or miss.
Yeah, their nicer properties are really just boutique hotels. Still, as easy as it is to get top status and earn a bunch of points, it's tough to argue with the value.
There are some sweet spots. The Blake Hotel in New Orleans or Independence Park in Philly (Premier Collection) were both really classy, and their overseas properties like the Welcombe in England are a steal at their prices. This SUB could get you 2-3 nights in a $500+/night resort on a Greek island. Or like 20 nights in a roach motel in middle America.
I don’t understand what is meant by “every 12 billing cycles”. Does that mean if you spend $5000 in a calendar year, you’ll get the extra bonus, or $5000 every month for 12 months?
In my understanding, you could earn 40,000 every year when you meet spend requirement.
Thx. So $5000 spend in 12 months could get you 140,000 points, hence the title of the offer.
Right, so if I understand it correctly, if you get the card and put $5,000 spend on it in 12 months (with at least $3000 of that coming within the first 3 months), you'd wind up with 140,000 points (plus the modest additional points from the spend). I assume that's correct? Does anyone know when the additional 40,000 points would hit your account -- presumably when the bill closes with your $5K spend? And then you'd have to wait for the end of the original 12 month cycle to start qualifying for the next 40K for $5000 in spend? The problem is that the card doesn't have bonus categories (other than BW hotel spend0 so it might not be worth putting $5K on the card again to get the 40.000 points.
Correct, you would end up with 140,000 points in the situation you described. If the bonus is anything like FNBO's anniversary bonuses on the Evergreen business card, then the additional 40,000 pts should post within 1-2 billing cycles after the 12th month.
You’d get 100k first next statement after $3k spending. However, after spending additional $2k, the extra 40k points won’t post to your account until approximately a year later. It’s basically a way for them to incentivize you to keep your account open, instead of just collecting 140k points and dumping card right away.