Best Western Rewards
Is Best Western Rewards worth checking in for? The Loyalty Program Slam is unpacking the perks, points, and potential pitfalls of this hotel loyalty program. Buckle up for a bumpy ride or a smooth stay—we'll decide!
[MUSIC]
Hey everyone, welcome back to loyalty program slam.
I'm Amber Collins, senior marketing manager of the
Artianics Cloud, the comprehensive and
Azure staff solution for enterprise loyalty management.
As you know, the loyalty program slam is jammed back with real world commentary
on some of the world's most beloved loyalty programs.
So here's how it works.
Each slammer is going to have about two minutes to take their case on these
four areas.
Program to sign, value proposition, engagement and performance.
Lammers are going to get points for one liner to pumpkin or just generally
being
awesome.
Today's slammer are Alex head of strategy, thought director of product
solutions and
at least manager of digital design.
And together the four of us are going to examine today's program, which is
Best Western Rewards by Beth Wester.
And Beth Wester is obviously a hotel chain in hospitality industry.
They are a global hotel brand.
They have several actually within their portfolio catering to different budgets
and
travel style.
Beth Wester rewards is a free to join loyalty program.
They actually launched it in 1988.
And I think that that is one of the oldest programs that we will talk about.
So their points never expired.
They've got 45 hundred participating locations in a hundred countries.
And that equals out to 25 million members worldwide.
You would consider their competitors to be Mary up on boy, Hilton Honors,
Hyatt World, IHG Rewards Club.
Their program features are named points for every qualified stay.
You can redeem those for free nights, room upgrades, Best Western merchandise.
They are in a higher in a tier structure.
And then they can use some of those perks like a late checkout and room
upgrades, bonus
points, all of that.
They've got a status match and a fast track to accelerate those tier
qualifications.
Once you become a frequent traveler, they have a partnership with Triple A for
additional
benefits for their members.
So overall, it seems like a really well-rounded program in hospitality.
And like I said, one of the oldest ones that we've seen.
So without further ado, let's get into it.
This time we will start with Scott.
What do you think about their program?
And what's your case for Beth Wester?
So Best Western to me, I think, as a brand, is a company that identified really
quickly
who their target is.
My interpretation of what they're targeting is it's more of a yes there are
some individual
travelers, but it seems more like the budget vacation traveler because the
entry level
to move to the immediate next tier of the first tier level is five nights.
That's five weekdays.
So family traveling and making a make a journey of it on a budget, they're
hitting that next
level with probably their first vacation, their first trip.
The second level is at seven qualifying nights, so that's just two more nights.
That's an extra weekend on top of that.
So you can rapid fire to, you know, like that middle tier level with just a
single vacation
for a lot of families.
And that get a lot of accelerators.
I see that as being very easy for the average member to kind of get to that
point.
From there, it's just this huge, like steep climb as you go from seven to 15
and then 15
to 25.
So it's harder to kind of like make that leap.
So the business traveler or the, you know, the work day traveler might be
hitting some
of those, but the average family, you know, they'll get the free night there or
two nights,
you know, as a part of this.
So again, it's about enabling that target market.
And if it is what I believe to be that family on that budget vacation, giving
them that one
extra night or that, you know, mom and dad away, you know, one night makes it
very appealing
to that.
Overall, I think that they have some pretty cool bonuses like the spend 2000,
you know,
spend some points and get 2000 bonus points.
You're using your points to book and we're just going to give you 2000 more.
It's huge in that.
So it's very rewarding.
It's a very good, extremely good get back in my humble opinion, but they don't
really
have a lot of partnerships outside of their credit card.
So again, if they are focusing on that budget friendly travel demographic, I
think that
there's a lot of opportunities for some of those.
And maybe they're doing that on a per-site basis, like when you check in and
you've got
the little pamphlets over there.
Maybe there are some like individual location partnerships that they're doing,
but it isn't
a more of a global thing that they're offering outside of that credit card.
So to me, I feel like it is, it's great for that family, as I've mentioned a
couple times,
but I feel like that there's a lot of opportunity for them to kind of expand
beyond what they
seem to have just pigeonholed themselves into.
There are a lot of their competition once in that higher level who are doing
these kinds
of things that we're going to be recommending.
And they could be doing that at that same level that they're putting themselves
into.
And I feel like they could be giving so much more to those budget family
travelers that
it would just explode their use in the marketplace.
Yeah, I would say that it looks like they're counting on other clubs and
associations to
expand the partner ecosystem, like AAA or ARP, which AAA, I believe that you
pay for
membership there. ARP is free.
I mean, we already know that they have already negotiated a bunch of other sort
of things.
So is the best Western program bringing you the value of the partnership notes?
Kind of like they're using, you're using those satellite other memberships to
say, you
know, we're a part of it, but also like you could do here.
I love hospitality and loyalty because there's so many complimentary things
that go into
that experience.
I mean, you are touching so many different products, touching so many different
services
that the ecosystem and hospitality is easily a massive part of it.
So it's got, for your point, like I think hospitality is the easiest place to
build partnerships.
And if you're not doing it, you're missing the mark on experiencing the entire
customer
journey from planning, booking, coming, arriving, leaving, post.
Imagine all of those things that you touch, all those services, all the things
that you
have. That's what's certain could be negotiating on behalf of their members to
have this ideal
path of services through their membership.
And it's definitely not taking advantage of that spider web effect as much as
some of
their competitors exactly like you said Scott.
So you hit the nail on the head with that one, it's definitely something that's
new because
well, they're at least touching me about that's Western and what you think
about their
program overall.
Yeah, I mean, I think that like Scott said, you know, it's easy to move to
those first couple
tiers, but then I feel like, you know, once you're an elite member, it takes a
lot of points
to get to get the benefits that some other companies have so that that could be
something
that they can work on too.
But you know, they do have their redemption mall.
So you don't always have to put your points towards stays.
One thing I thought that was really interesting was that you can share your
points with all
the members of your household.
I don't know how typical that is, but I thought that was really interesting.
To the point, at least if I take like my own personal example, right, where I
do a lot
more of the work travel, but my wife is taking my daughter on like dance trips
and stuff
like that.
And she's more apt to be the one spending those points to take that.
And now I'm not going on a lot of those trips with them.
So she needs to be able to like log in and be able to use those points and
sharing them
across that or like an in law, you know, sharing them across makes it easier to
create that
ecosystem of we're helping you, you know, do more.
So I think that's what best Western enables is helping people do more, have
more experience
is in life to travel.
Yeah.
So I think that's great that they give you opportunities to use benefits like
that.
You know, in terms of their competitors, just in terms of numbers of hotels.
So they have what like 4,300 participating hotels versus, you know, Hilton that
has 7,400
and Mary App that has 8,700.
So in terms of just, you know, when you're planning vacation, there might be
less chance
that there is a best Western anywhere you want to go.
So that's something to consider.
I don't know if they're planning expansion, but that might also be a barrier
for people
to sign up for the program.
But overall, you know, I think they do give people a lot of opportunity to two
points and
share points and redeem points and earn extra stays.
And I think that, you know, they do a good job to the people that want to be
part of that
program.
And I think much of the householding is, you know, that's wonderful.
But my brings me to the question of, okay, what does the profile look like?
Then, you know, what do they know about that?
You know, as I've had it signed up myself, it was a very, very simple sign up
process that
didn't ask for much data.
And so as you redeem these points for different nights, do they know that it's
the wife that's
coming instead of the business traveler husband?
Do they know how to market to the wife and kids?
Is it rather than the business traveler or, you know, talking about Scott's
situation?
Do they know that you have kids when you get there?
You know, how are the associates gathering more information as you come there?
Or is it literally just identify yourself, wear your frame, how to climb back
to you?
And so then, at least to the question of, if that's all you know about me, how
can you
personalize it?
But if you are able to share the points in this householding structure, it's
like you
have the opportunity to know more about what the household looks like, about
what you're
traveling, and it's like, but I don't think that they're asking for it.
Or maybe they're not, I'm going to be there asking for it in different touch
points, you
know, when you actually come there, you know, when the associate checks you in
and there's
a, there's on their POS screen, it says, you know, there's a check box that
says, has kids,
check the has kids box.
Now you've got that data in the profile.
Now you know what's the market to next.
Those of you who have questions that come into my mind, when you talk about
that householding
in those profiles, and the fact that you can do that.
So that in minds and everything else that you have, Alex, what do you think
about Best Western?
Yeah, I think that they clearly understand their consumer.
So they have 54 million members globally under kind of a lot of news strategies
and approaches
that they were building out, you know, to kind of launch into 2022 and 2023.
You know, that the CEO was quoted in saying that, you know, he had a 10% lift
in revenue
from Best Western members in North America.
That's huge.
And on top of that, I think similar to what Scott was seeing and I agree with
is that they
can tell that the consumer is likely budget family.
They do have other products within their portfolio that are more premier, but I
think what's
also happening based on the way that they offer, you know, hey, if you redeem,
we give you
bonus points.
That's very budget in terms of in terms of the way the campaign's working.
But they also offer status match, which I think is interesting.
So if dad is traveling a lot or mom is traveling a lot for work, then wants to
do something with
the kids and maybe she's staying at it.
Maybe here she is staying at another, another product or another brand.
This is a great one to say, well, I'm going to get my status match from Hilton
or Marriott
with Best Western so that I get a higher, you know, level.
And then I do all of my budget travel here because I can earn fast for Dean
fast and it's,
you know, that it gives you some really great benefits.
So I think that makes a lot of sense.
Also points don't expire.
So very much as a leisure traveler, whereas both Hilton and Marriott, they
expire after 24
months of inactivity.
So I think they really know their consumer.
I think they've created some really smart design elements to engage that group.
And I think it's a great play if you are a business traveler, but, you know,
want to do something
with family and maybe one of their resorts or, you know, want to be a little
bit more
budget conscious if you're going to Anaheim or Disney World or, you know,
wherever.
I think it makes a lot of sense and it's actually reminding you a lot of
American Airlines.
American Airlines is now they put all of this effort and value into their
program.
They're the most valuable program against all of the other guys.
And it's funny where I'm like, well, I'm almost tempted to go there because the
program
has these nice little bells and whistles.
And the final thing I'll say is that Best Western got a number two in Newsweek
for Best
Loyalty Program from 2023.
So it's clearly a strong program.
It's clearly working, but I think they very did a very good job keying in on
their core
customer and developing really smart elements that they're positioning on the
website and
within the app that make me want to kind of say, oh, I'm not as well status
match and I'm
not as well, you know, maybe stay here a couple of times if I'm on a family
trip.
Yeah, I think that there's a lot to be said about the straight forwardness of
the program.
And the extension of it towards like, at least we'll say the reduction mall.
For me, it's still like, yes, it's great straight forward, but for me, it's
still like, okay,
how are we positioning the value problem?
Because look how much we have to do to get that information about the program.
That's like, you know, that was a week of the research.
And like it's a delicate, like it's great that it's straightforward.
But let's get into the scoring, right?
And let's talk about it.
Let's talk about the value proposition and the positioning of that value
proposition.
And you know, I know what my score is, is it, but let's hear from Scott.
Value profit gave it a five.
So a lot of the things that we mentioned, the value to a member is extremely
high, right?
Like you're, like Alex mentioned, they've done the research, they know who
their core demo is.
And they figured out that five to seven nights is like the magic numbers.
Maybe they can stretch just a little bit more, an extra weekend or something
like that,
in order to get you into that thing, into that next tier level.
And then you're getting all these other benefits, regardless of the credit card
The status matching, the, whatever, the value to the member is, they get there,
they're getting those free nights.
So they're getting those extra experiences almost right away, just for doing a
normal family trip.
We saved up for this family trip, where this is budget friendly, and
then we're also getting this thing, whereas it's much harder with a lot of
their competitors.
So the value to the member, I think, is extremely high.
We'll get into engagement and program design elements, which are not a five to
me,
but the actual value of the program as it is, I think is pretty high.
Now that is a high accolade.
That is actually the first five that Scott has ever given on this program.
So congratulations, plus Western.
Oh, no, maybe you'll get a hat.
So at least talk to me about program value proposition for you.
I agree with a lot of what Scott said.
I gave them a four though, just because you need a lot of points to redeem for
less benefits at the elite tiers than other programs.
I just felt that once you hit the elite tiers, it's harder to earn those
benefits.
So that's why I knocked them down one point.
Yeah, it makes me wonder how many members are in the elite tier.
And then if it's a small percentage, it might not be worth it for them to
really invest in making it easier for them to continue the game.
Because at what point are these elite members now a liability?
So all the points that they have are the hoarding, how often are they visiting?
How often are they getting rid of that point liability, which might be
part of the reason why they slow down the earning once you get to that tier?
All very interesting questions.
So Alex, what do you think about the value drop?
Yeah, I gave it a four.
I think from an entry level member with only a couple tiers,
it's definitely a five like Scott's saying because it's, you know,
all of these goodies and it's not that hard to move up.
I did notice like Elise said, it is a little bit higher to do the
redemptions where you'd expect that, okay, well, I'll get bonus points when I'm
in a
higher tier.
So I'll be able to redeem faster.
But the bonuses on the higher tier are not competitive with Hilton and
Marriott.
Marriott gives way more.
And again, I think this is why because they do that status match that's like
instant,
I think that's why they had to pull the lower tiers down because they're seeing
business travelers match, move up, but they can't give as much value back
because
you didn't really earn it.
You just took the status because of a match.
So I think that's the trick there is that if you're really, you know, a best
Western,
you know, die hard and you're naturally moving up, I don't think it's as
valuable as other
programs.
If you're just leisure budget family, really good program.
If you can leverage the status match, that's a really nice hack.
So I think there's, that's why I gave it a four.
Fair enough.
Very good site there.
Something to definitely think about when we talk about program design.
So got what do you think about the program design also gave it a four in that
one because
I feel like again, it's pretty clear like what you need to get the chart is
easy to follow.
I think that there are some opportunities within the design through
partnerships and
through just other experiences, you know, on site.
I think that the program design is, and we'll talk about this in engagement
elements.
It's missing non transactional non state based things.
So I think it's an overall for me, but I think that the best Western from like
the 80s and
90s when you know, traveling as a kid is like a budget friendly, you know,
place to stay.
There's that mentality is caring over for a lot of people that I talk to about
this.
So again, it's colored by my own experiences, but when I talk to them about
them, they're
not like super excited to stay at a best Western.
You know, you know, it's going to be good, but you're not excited to do it.
So I think that the program design could include more of these engagement
elements to show
some of the rebranding that they did over the last few years and to showcase
some of the
things that they are offering and kind of take people out of this, you know,
childhood
experience mentality to do that.
So I think that that hurdle is something that they are continuing to fight with
in my experience.
You know, that's a really interesting point as well.
The program started in 1988.
That's two generations.
So the kids that were going to the beach have vacation with the parents at West
Western
or now parents themselves and creating these memories.
And you're right, if you know, those childhood memories, you know, they do need
to be rebranded.
This is a really old program.
This is a really established brand.
It could have the potential to be generational and it makes you wonder with the
householding
stuff.
Then the points can be generational.
You know, if they don't expire and then it's like, you know, let your kid use
them, let's
blah, blah, blah, blah.
So that's a really, really interesting question about, you know, that
generational effect and
this program.
And but it also brings me back to what do you know about people?
If you have them in a program, if you have them in your program, when years,
what do you
know about them?
How are you using that information?
So at least what do you think about the programs you're buying?
I give them four.
And I just, I think a cool aspect of it that I'm not sure that other people are
doing is
the elite status matching.
It's well designed.
All right, Alex, what do you think about programs?
Yeah, I'm going to join the four club here.
I give it a four.
Again, I feel like there's these major course segments and it's hard to design
the program
perfectly for both.
But I do think that overarching, give it a four, love the status match,
interesting, you
know, concept of no expiry on the points, the different promos they have, the
benefits
on the card.
So I think it's a pretty solid design.
And like Scott was mentioning, I wish they had some more interaction based on
more emotional
connection because there's so many families, you know, why isn't there a
connection to social,
why isn't there benefits for sharing, you know, family photos, kind of that
excitement
and more emotional connection with the consumer, I think is missing.
Overall, very solid program.
Yeah, they're also pet friendly as well.
So that's more emotion.
People love pets.
People love pets.
Well, and collect, you know, collect the pets birthday, collect more info,
right?
Like, there's more celebratory things to think about as a family that they're
just, you
know, that they're not doing.
And again, partnerships, I think they're missing that too outside of the card.
Looking at the redemption mall and stuff like that, like, that's not
necessarily a true
partnership, right?
And it's not even really well positioned.
So that, you know, that's what, that's what I was saying earlier about, like,
these are
great benefits.
But I'm not sure that they are positioning them front and center.
So let's get into their engagement and how they are using their programs to
engage people,
how they're getting people to hide up.
Let's talk about it.
Scott, what do you feel about the program engagement?
We gave it a two.
I really thought about just giving it a one, but the engagement elements of,
like, status
matching and, you know, some of, you know, those lower level stuff brought it
up to
it too.
As I mentioned, there's no, we don't have any, like, take a picture of your
room, take a
picture of the pool, take a picture of the restaurant, you know, like, you know
, share
your family vacation photos, even if it's not at a on property, you know, like,
enabled
through this, you know, there's no talking about, they're not engaging really
with the
member.
They're providing opportunities to earn and they're providing opportunities to
have
more memories, but they're not doing anything about it.
And not really, like, grabbing onto that whole demographic that say, we are
enabling more
memories.
Yeah, that's a great kind of like.
Let's just do it.
Let's talk about it more and, you know, get more people to use us to do more
memories.
Yeah, they'll ask you things like, are you traveling for business or pleasure?
You know, they, I'm looking at the profile.
They have some, you know, interest and stuff, but there's no social will be
there.
There's no social connection and experiential.
You are, this is literally, literally an experience, you know, some brands are
just products, but
this is the next experience.
And today, Dan, you really have to, you know, get people to really buy in and
really, you
know, really see themselves in that experience and in that status and why I
want to be a member
and I think that they, you know, this is just a great industry to do that with.
I think of them.
I think of them, sorry, Alex, is they almost view themselves as the place to
stay while
you're on the experience?
You know, drop your luggage here while you're on the experience.
Yeah, go out and have the experience.
Where they should be including themselves in the overall experience.
I agree.
I agree.
Very good point there.
Alex, what do you think about the engagement?
Yeah, no, I mean, I like the riffing off.
Yeah, like even be able to like, there's like a connection or a partnership to
be able to
like get access to digital photos or print your photos from it like right away.
If you're a member, like, I use a lot of fun on site experiential things they
could be
doing for the families.
If they, because they clearly know that that's where their demographic is, at
least in North
America, I have state and best Westerns in Europe and they are a little bit
more elevated
and it's a different experience.
So I will say again, they just, they have such a wide range of portfolio and
product.
But I would say overall an engagement, I would, I would, I'd still give it a
four.
I think based on the data, the large increase in, in revenue that they've been
seeing and
the new engagement factors that they have, the differentiation with status
match points
and expire, like they are really trying to get this consumer to play and the
three free nights
if you take their card.
So I would say it is fairly engaging and again, 54 million worldwide.
I mean, clearly people are participating.
So that's a four.
So at least what do you think about the program engagement?
I'm right in between Scott and Alex.
I gave it a three.
I do think, you know, there is a lot of opportunity for them to create more
experiential, you know,
engagement, but you know, they do have the redemption mall and transfer to
household members and
they do have ways for, for their members to engage with the program itself.
It's, you know, but in terms of the experiential options, there's a lot of room
for growth there.
We'll take it.
We'll take it.
Two, three, four.
Okay.
Scott, how do you feel about the program performance?
I gave it a four for all of the reasons that Alex gave for engagement.
All of those I lumped into performance.
So that's why I think as a four, it's performing well.
It's getting that extra little stretch in my opinion.
It's got the members.
It's got, you know, people, it's making the numbers.
It's changing the minds of people.
So that to me is a performance.
I feel like it could be engaging, I mean, defining engagement may be a little
bit different,
but performance is a four for every reason that Alex mentioned.
So Alex, how to use that performance?
Yeah, I mean, between a four and a five, I mean, I would say a four.
I don't have all the details, but I would say four based on what I'm seeing.
And it is hard because I think, you know, engagement and performance kind of go
hand in hand.
It's like, are you engaged and are you doing something different that the
leadership is talking about?
Now that they are and they have made, you know, some improvements to the
program,
it just feels like it is clicking and working.
So yeah, four.
So Alex, at least what do you think about the performance?
I also get it for and pretty much for everything that everyone's been talking
about.
So I'm not going to, I'm not going to repeat it all, but yeah, I give it a four
All right, so this has definitely been a very interesting slam today.
You're coming in at 3.75, Alicia coming in at 3.75 overall and Alex, you're
four.
Those just been really, you know, for our tie numbers, it gives a average total
3.8,
which is very praiseworthy. So that's left.
And you are doing really well, but there's Jeff.