What is the amount of the Third-Party Internet Booking Fee per booking for a Best Western franchise?
Best_Western Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
ter as is practicable and upon reasonable notice to the Membership, each Property's Best Western Rewards rates shall be:
- (i) The BWR Flexible Rate shall be at least 7% off RACK.
- (ii) AAA/CAA and AARP rates shall be at least 5% off RACK.
- (iii) Relative to RACK, the discount for the BWR Flexible Rate shall be at least 2% greater than the discount for AAA/CAA and AARP (e.g., if the AARP discount is 5% off RACK, then the BWR Flexible Rate discount shall be at least 7% off RACK).
In addition, the BWR Flexible Rate shall be equal to or less than any OTA loyalty program rate.
Pay for Points
Approved November 17, 2021 – Effective January 1, 2022, or as soon afterwards as is practicable and upon reasonable notice to the Membership, participation in Pay with Points (FX2) shall be required for all Best Western Properties on a non-Last Room Availability ("non-LRA") basis.
Booking.com Agreement
Approved May 2015 – Effective as soon as practicable upon the execution of a brand-level corporate lodging agreement ("Agreement") with Booking.com B.V. ("Booking.com"):
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- All Best Western branded hotels in North America (each a "Hotel"; collectively, "Hotels") shall conduct business with Booking.com, subject to the terms and conditions of the Agreement, unless a Hotel's contracted commercial term is more favorable to the Hotel, in which case the Hotel's more favorable contracted commercial term shall apply.
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- Hotels shall compensate Booking.com for bookings made by Booking.com customers on publicly available rates in an amount equal to fifteen percent (15%) of the net room revenue under the standard program and eighteen percent (18%) of the net room revenue under the preferred program. Payments will be made in the form of commissions, with commissions paid via the rules established for the BestCheque commission payment system (or its successor). Participation in the preferred program is by Booking.com's invitation only and is subject to Booking.com's preferred program requirements.
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- Hotels shall provide to Booking.com Last Room Availability ("LRA") access to Hotel inventory in the Best Western LYNX system and through the Best Western connection with Booking.com.
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- Hotels' connections to Booking.com shall be facilitated through the brand's connection (a transaction fee will apply).
- A Hotel's publicly available rates and rate plans provided to Booking.com shall be equal to the Hotel's publicly available rates and rate plans made available through any Hotel, Best Western, or third-party booking or distribution channel, and shall be subject to contractual consequences for a violation (e.g., honoring the lower publicly available rate). This limitation does not apply to Best Western Rewards® rates, qualified rates through a partner membership program (e.g., AAA/CAA, AARP, etc.), or corporate negotiated rates.
Chain and Consortia Marketing Program
Approved November 27, 2013 – The Chain and Consortia Marketing Program is amended such that each Property shall pay to Best Western a cost recovery fee for each net room night reservation received under the Chain and Consortia Marketing Program (the "Fee"). For fiscal year 2014, the Fee shall be $2.25 per net room night. The Board of Directors (the "Board") shall establish the Fee for each subsequent fiscal year based on a pass-through cost analysis. The Board-established Fee shall not exceed three percent (3%) of the previous fiscal year's Best Western reservations systems brand average daily rate. All other terms and conditions of the Chain and Consortia Marketing Program remain unchanged.
Approved December 2006 – All North American Properties shall participate in the Best Western Chain and Consortia Marketing Program, administered in accordance with the Chain and Consortia Marketing Program Terms and Conditions, and Compliance Rules.
NOTE: The Program Terms and Conditions set forth in the Ballot's Proposal are as follows:
Chain & Consortia Marketing Program Terms and Conditions:
- No Chain & Consortia Partner will be eligible to participate in the Program unless it has generated at least $1 million dollars in net reservations value for the Properties during the previous year, as calculated based on the reservations value of net bookings received by the Properties through the Best Western LYNX central reservation system.
- For AMERICAN EXPRESS and CARLSON WAGONLIT TRAVEL, as Chain & Consortia Partners participating in the Program, the Properties shall pay a fee of USD $1.00 for each net room night reservation received, commencing January 1, 2007. This fee shall replace any other participation fee(s) previously paid by the Properties or BWI for participation in the AMERICAN EXPRESS and CARLSON WAGONLIT TRAVEL programs.
Source: Item 23 — Receipts (FDD pages 108–413)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
Based on the 2025 Best Western Franchise Disclosure Document, the fees associated with third-party internet bookings vary depending on the specific program and partner involved. For bookings made through Booking.com, Best Western hotels compensate Booking.com with a commission equal to 15% of the net room revenue under the standard program, or 18% of the net room revenue under the preferred program. Participation in the preferred program is by invitation only from Booking.com and is subject to their requirements.
For the Chain and Consortia Marketing Program, Best Western properties pay a cost recovery fee for each net room night reservation. For fiscal year 2014, this fee was $2.25 per net room night. The Board of Directors establishes the fee for each subsequent fiscal year, based on a pass-through cost analysis, but it cannot exceed 3% of the previous fiscal year's Best Western reservations systems brand average daily rate. For American Express and Carlson Wagonlit Travel, as Chain & Consortia Partners, properties pay $1.00 for each net room night reservation received, starting January 1, 2007. For other Chain & Consortia Partners, properties pay a maximum fee of $1.00 for each net room night reservation received.
Additionally, hotels that opt-out of Expedia's Last Room Availability (LRA) are required to establish a package and an opaque net rate plan, which shall be non-LRA. These net rates are provided to Expedia at a 25% discount. Hotels are also assessed an annual marketing investment fee of $250 for the brand to invest in Expedia Media Solutions. These fees and commission structures are subject to change and are influenced by negotiations and agreements between Best Western and its third-party partners. A prospective franchisee should carefully review the current terms and conditions of each program to understand the full financial implications.