Starwood Preferred Guest - What constitues a best rate guarantee?

Is there a list of rates available to see if they can be comapared or not, against the BRG?

i.e. Can the "Expedia Special Rate" be guaranteed?

TIA

Good question. Never really tried to compare or in fact argue the matter. And what does happen if you can prove a better comparable rate?

http://promo.starwood.com/bestrate/terms.html

Thanks for providing the URL, Eugene.

I am told that Expedia Special Rates do qualify as a comparison for the Best Rate Guarantee.

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Starwood Lurker:
Thanks for providing the URL, Eugene.

I am told that Expedia Special Rates do qualify as a comparison for the Best Rate Guarantee.

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com </font>

Even the pre-paid rates at Expedia if the rate you book on spg.com is the Best Available rate and not pre-pay?



------------------
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Ben Franklin

I am not an expert in the field of the Best Rate Guarantee. If you wish to submit a rate for qualification purposes, please follow the directions at the URL provided by Eugene above.

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by tazi:
Even the pre-paid rates at Expedia if the rate you book on spg.com is the Best Available rate and not pre-pay?

</font>

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by tazi:
Even the pre-paid rates at Expedia if the rate you book on spg.com is the Best Available rate and not pre-pay?
</font>

Well, it says in that agreement:

The Best Rate Guarantee does not apply to a Competing Rate with Rate Limitations that are more onerous, in Starwood's sole discretion, than the Rate Limitations of a Starwood Rate.

I would take that to mean that the Expedia Rate, since it requires pre-payment and has more restrictions, would not be a comparable rate for the policy. YMMV, but that's my opinion. Never tried to use it, but I think that's what the second bullet is there to address. (Yes, I see Starwood Lurker's comment, but I believe the people that run the program would probably stop you from getting the match when it comes down to it.)

Hopefully William gets to reading this far down in a string (or someone else who can render some sage advice), even if he's "not an expert in the field of Best Rate Guarantee"

Booked a hotel stay for September, and saw a better price on another website. Faxed in the BRG form to Starwood, and got an e-mail back saying that my "Confirmed Lower Rate" was $XXX.XX. I was a happy camper.

Got a phone call just now (after a few days) from the hotel, informing me that "a complaint had been put in" about the rate. I discussed with the gentleman on the other end of the line about the Best Rate Guarantee, and he asked why I didn't book the room on the other site to begin with, and then he asked what I "would consider to be a reasonable rate". After that, he asked whether I was affiliated with any company (I'm going to a conference sponsored by a local area company), and I said "yes", and he said that sometimes they have special rates for those companies. He's going to call me back tomorrow after discussing someone else, so maybe I'll see what happens.

My question is: has anyone else ever gotten a phone call like this after faxing in the BRG form? The fellow on the other end of the line was pleasant enough, but playing a game of 20 questions in the middle of a workday was not exactly fun.

[This message has been edited by aaronma (edited 06-23-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">...he asked why I didn't book the room on the other site to begin with...</font>

Hopefully you told him because you could get it for 10% less. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I have no idea how to answer this. If it's important enough to pursue offline, send me an email with the details - including the name of the person with whom you spoke and what property he represents.

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Keep in mind that Starwood does not own these hotels (generally,) and the local owner may not have all of the information concerning this program. For example, I reserved the Sunnyvale Sheraton at $89 and found $69/ on WWTE (check the "Book Hotel" button on either aa.com or ual.com.) SPG matched plus 10% but I had to give a copy of the e-mail to the Sunnyvale Sheraton manager (Kenny-nice guy,) who made the correction and faxed it to me after the stay (his bookeeping dept gone for the weekend.\

Same thing at 4Pts Oakbrook, IL, with same result, credit back on the "non-cancellable rate" using a "pre-payment" required rate, as are most Orbitz/Expedia/WWTE sites.