Members of Best Western's global loyalty program are now able to earn bonus rewards points redeemable for travel, gift cards, merchandise and more just for using popular social media channels thanks to the brand's partnership with the social media platform Topguest.

Integrating with the Topguest platform allows guests at more than 4,000 Best Western hotels worldwide to instantly earn Best Westerns Rewards points by "checking-in" via location based social media services such as Facebook Places, Gowalla and Foursquare. Rewards members can also earn additional points through Topguest by sharing pictures through the online photo app Instagram and tweeting about their Best Western stay and experience via Twitter as well. 

To instantly earn 50 bonus Rewards points, active Best Western Rewards members connect their existing social media accounts through Topguest.com and then share their Best Western experience via their mobile device. Guests who are not yet Rewards members can also accumulate points via Topguest, which they can then cash in upon joining the free Best Western Rewards program.

"We want to creatively engage Best Western Rewards members who we know are active on a wide range of social media services, from Facebook to Gowalla,  and help them earn that free night even faster," said Tammy Lucas, managing director of marketing programs for Best Western. "Our integration with the Topguest technology platform enables us to measure, encourage, and reward engagement across the entire social web."

The Topguest integration is the latest example of Best Western helping travelers take advantage of one of the most valuable and accessible loyalty programs in the industry. The brand's innovative and award winning "Status Match...No Catch®" program, which allows members of competing loyalty programs to transfer their elite status to Best Western Rewards for free, continues to attract frequent travelers to The World's Biggest Hotel Family(sm).

The first widely promoted and packaged programs of its kind in the industry, "Status Match...No Catch" led more than 2,400 travelers to join Best Western Rewards in the two months following last year's launch and to date has generated close to 5,000 new Best Western Rewards members.

Best Western is also currently offering Rewards members the chance to win 6.5 million points, one of the industry's largest ever stand-alone points prizes, as part of the brand's "Jump Start to Summer" promotion. Rewards members can also earn a $50 gift card or 6,500 bonus points as part of the promotion, which runs through June 5th.