If you are planning a trip to the “Golden Triangle” of national parks and monuments in the Southwestern U.S., you are bound to come across some Best Western Hotels in scenic locations.
Would four free nights at a Best Western enhance your travels, whether to the Southwest, or elsewhere?
If so, the latest offering from Barclaycard may be of interest, because it boosts the sign-up bonus for the Best Western credit card from 16,000 points to a whopping 64,000 points — enough for four free nights at mid-range Best Western hotels.
This is a no annual fee credit card; the full complement of points are awarded after spending $1000 within 90 days.
Best Western’s are not just located in the American West — 4,000 independently owned hotels all over the world operate under the Best Western banner. You might be surprised how many Best Western’s there are in Paris!
The points required for a free night redemption range from 8,000 to 36,000 depending upon the location. 16,000 points is enough for a free night at the Best Western Plus Ruby’s Inn outside Bryce Canyon National Park or the Best Western Town & Country Inn in Cedar City — near the Cedar Breaks National Monument. If you want to stay at the Best Western in Springdale, Utah outside Zion National Park it will cost you 24,000 points.
I can vouch for the Best Western Town and Country Inn in Cedar City because I have stayed there several times on a Priceline rate of $38 – $48 per night. I like it because it is located right in downtown Cedar City. When we visited Bryce, we stayed in one of the historic rental cabins in the National Park — which was exceedingly lovely. We woke at daybreak and ran to the canyon’s rim to see the sun rise. Anyplace in Springdale is beautiful. We stayed at the Majestic Lodge, a bit outside of town, but on the bus route that takes you to the park entrance.
The 64,000 point offer for the Best Western Credit Card is the best offer in recent memory. There are more lucrative rewards credit card offers out there, but up to four free nights is an attractive incentive.
Be sure to read the Terms and Conditions carefully — that is where you will find the details on interest rates and the bonus offer. I always make a screen shot of the key features of the T & C:
- Get 16,000 bonus points after your first eligible purchase or balance transfer
- Spend $1,000 within 90 days and earn an additional 48,000 bonus points
- Earn 15 points per $1 spent at Best Western® branded hotels and 1 point per $1 spent everywhere else
- No annual fee
- Upgrade to Gold Elite status after your first eligible purchase, and Diamond status if you spend $10,000 within one calendar year
Hat tip to Flyer Talk.
How many Barclays cards do you have? I ended up signing up for the US Airways card for the signup bonus and am looking to sign up for the arrival card, though I am not really regularly spending on the US Airways. I am afraid they will reject the approval for the arrival unless I spend more regularly on the US Airways. do you have any personal experience with this?
I have the Arrival card (no-fee version) and have not put much spending on it after getting the initial bonus points. I subsequently got the US Airways card, which provided 35K points after first use of the card. My US Airways card has an $89 annual fee after the first year, along with a 10K mile annual bonus.. Others have reporting getting generous incentives to put spend on the US Airways card, but I have not received any such offers. The Barclaycard Arrival current offer is great because of the 40,000 points, 10 percent points back, 2x points on all spend, and $89 annual fee waived the first year. It is hard to argue against 2 percent back on everything — but remember, you will only get the full value if you use the points for statement credits against your travel charges.
@Voyaging Doc – Barclays has gotten much tougher in the past year by all accounts including my own experience. Last year I got 5 of their cards over two churns (1 the first, 4 the second), this year they have not approved any for me (Arrival and Lufthansa), each time reconsideration said they wanted more history and more spending on the cards before they would consider new approvals. Generally with them you should wait at least six months from your first account with them to try for a second and actually use the card during that time, and even then may get a denial. Reconsideration with them is often not productive however there are always reports of exceptions.