Best Western Brings Travel Card to CVS/Pharmacy
MAY 25, 2007. Best Western International announced today that it is continuing to expand the retail presence of its popular gift card, introducing it at all CVS/pharmacy stores across the country.
Through an agreement with InComm, a leading technology provider and distributor of prepaid products, the $50 Best Western Travel Card is now being sold at approximately 6,200 CVS outlets in 43 states. The chain joins U.S. discount giant Wal-Mart and The Kroger Co. -- specifically Western-based Ralphs, Food 4 Less, Smith's and Fry's grocery stores -- in carrying the card. Since last fall, it has also been available at Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix stores throughout Canada. U.S.-based Walgreens was the first retail outlet to offer the Best Western Travel Card beginning in November 2005.
"Whether looking for an appropriate gift that fits friends and family of all ages, or for a quick and easy way to manage your hotel expenses while on the road for business, the Best Western Travel Card provides a convenient solution," said Dorothy Dowling, senior vice president of marketing and sales for the hotel chain. "By expanding the availability of our gift card to retail outlets such as CVS, we further enhance the convenience factor."
The Best Western Travel Card is used by guests to pay for both accommodations and related incidentals, such as room service, at 4,200 Best Western hotels worldwide. Until fall 2005, the card had been offered only through corporate incentive programs, at Best Western member hotels, online at www.travelcard.bestwestern.com or by calling Best Western Travel Card Customer Care at 1-877-CARD-2TVL (227-3288) in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Available in U.S. dollars, Canadian dollars and euros, as well as a variety of other currencies, the card can be purchased through these channels in any denomination between $25 and $1,000 U.S./euro (or equivalent in other currencies).
A recent survey of U.S. adults by Comdata Corporation found that a growing number of consumers are enjoying the one-stop shopping convenience of gift card malls - a centralized location in outlets including drug and grocery stores that offers cards from a variety of major retailers. During the 2006 holiday season, 22 percent of respondents indicated they had purchased cards at such a mall, up from 14 percent the year before.
Best Western will continue to develop its retail travel card business, with additional merchants to be announced later this year.
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