Continuing the strange trend of bonuses for paying with particular credit cards, Best Western is offering bonus points for paying with Diners Club.
- Gold Crown Club International (GCCI) members who will be staying at Best Western hotels between July 15 and Sept. 30 would be well advised to pay for those stays with a Diners Club card.
In addition to the regular points earned for the stay, members who charge the bill to their Diners Club card will earn a bonus for their first three qualified stays. The first stay will net 100 bonus points, the second will earn another 100 points, and the third stay entitles members to yet another 200 points — for a grand total of 400 bonus points. Free night awards can be had for as low as 800 points.
Now, as far as bonus promotions go, this one is good, but it’s not necessarily anything to write home about.
So why are we writing about it?
This is an interesting bonus in that, Best Western GCCI offers its own MasterCard-branded affinity credit card, yet has decided to reward its members for using a different (Diners Club) card.
As the piece observes, Diners Club and MasterCard plan to link up in 2005 to allow Diners Club acceptance at businesses which take MasterCard.
However, a promotion like this isn’t so out of the ordinary. The recent bonus American Airlines miles offered by Starwood required paying for hotel stays with a MasterCard, even though Starwood partners with American Express for its co-branded credit card (and, as I understand it, the recent Starwood online booking bonus was co-sponsored with American Express).
It does continue the trend of offering bonuses tied to payment with specific credit cards. Hyatt’s Faster Free Nights promotion requires payment with Mastercard, Marriott has a promotion to award $100 future stay credit when paying with Visa, and several airlines offer double miles for ticket purchases with their own co-branded credit card.
It’s becoming more and more important in the miles and points game to carry a diversified set of credit cards — an Amex, a Visa, a MasterCard, and in my own view even a Diners Club card.
