Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

According to The Gate, Doctor of Credit and Flyertalk, it looks like Best Western has sneakily devalued their loyalty program. Whereas the maximum for hotels used to be 36,000 points per night, now it appears that some hotels are at 40,000, 56,000 or even 70,000 points / night (!). Here’s one from London

a screenshot of a hotel room

and 2 from New Yorka screenshot of a hotel

They might need to adjust their FAQ, which still says 36,000!

a white background with black text

It appeared from my searching that the number of points depends on the season as I was seeing the same hotel cost different amounts for different dates.

No notice devaluations are the worst

While we all know that miles and points are a deflationary currency and that you shouldn’t “hold on” to your miles (earn em and burn em!), a no-notice devaluation is really craven and a horrible message to anyone who would think about participating in an airline or hotel’s loyalty program.

I’m not sure anything tops the no-notice Hertz devaluation back while they were ACTIVELY MARKETING THE PRE-DEVALUATION PRICES THROUGH DAILY GETAWAYS (though thankfully they adjusted their Daily Getaways promo after tons of feedback).

I understand that it is necessary (or at least customary) to adjust the prices and categories of award redemption as hotels become more or less popular, and I don’t have (too much of) a problem with it as long as it is done in a timely fashion with appropriate notice given to loyalty members. Doing it without notice is sneaky to the extreme!

The lesson as always – make sure and use your miles and points in a timely fashion!


Points With a Crew has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Points With a Crew and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers and that compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners and I do not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers and other offers and benefits listed on this page. Other links on this page may also pay me a commission - as always, thanks for your support if you use them

User Generated Content Disclosure: Points With a Crew encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.

BoardingArea