Best Western Rewards Has Less Than Two Months Left Under That Name

Best Western Rewards is being retired as a name. On January 5, 2027, it merges with WorldHotels Rewards into a single loyalty program of about 70 million members, Milesopedia reports. The change follows a corporate rebrand: parent company BWH Hotels became WorldHotels on October 27. The group spans more than 4,000 hotels across 18 brands in over 100 countries, and Best Western remains a flagship brand, so hotels keep their names and signage. Only the loyalty program and the company behind it are changing names.

The biggest structural change is to elite status. The merged program will have three status tiers instead of the five levels Best Western Rewards uses today, and details of those tiers are due on November 16. Members will move to the corresponding new tier, and they keep their current status and benefits until early January. Points carry over at the same value and continue to never expire. Existing bookings, whether paid with points or cash, will be honored, and the 16-digit member number remains valid.

What is still missing is the full picture on value. Award pricing in the new program has not been announced, and TheTravel notes that tier qualification thresholds and earning and redemption rates had not been published either. Status matching continues, and a match granted in 2026 lasts through December 2027. Members holding Marriott Bonvoy or Hilton Honors status can request a match by emailing proof to the program’s status match address, which may be worth doing before the tier structure changes.

For now, members do not need to take any action to protect their points or accounts. Milesopedia advises against booking extra nights purely to climb a tier until the new structure is published on November 16, since it is not yet clear how today’s levels will map onto the three new ones. Once details arrive, compare how your typical stays will earn under the new rules, and keep an eye out for the refreshed mobile app that is expected to arrive with the merged program.

Sources: Milesopedia, TheTravel