[EXPIRED] Best Rate Guarantee is offering free room again!
Mar 17, 2014, 2:24 am
#361
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 77
I have requested a list of competing web sites, that do not ask for prepayment, and have not received any reply yet
It is almost impossible to get refundable free room due to this prepayment condition. However even if you do book non refundable rate you may be rejected for another reason. Therefore I think Choice Best Rate Guarantee is currently dead.
Mar 20, 2014, 1:47 am
#362
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 77
Recently was rejected for the same reason, claim was against expedia.com.
I have requested a list of competing web sites, that do not ask for prepayment, and have not received any reply yet
It is almost impossible to get refundable free room due to this prepayment condition. However even if you do book non refundable rate you may be rejected for another reason. Therefore I think Choice Best Rate Guarantee is currently dead.
I have requested a list of competing web sites, that do not ask for prepayment, and have not received any reply yet
It is almost impossible to get refundable free room due to this prepayment condition. However even if you do book non refundable rate you may be rejected for another reason. Therefore I think Choice Best Rate Guarantee is currently dead.
Mar 20, 2014, 12:22 pm
#363
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 91
I'm not sure why you're having trouble. Since 3/14, I've gotten three rooms. Two for friends and one for myself. I used expedia.com and booking.com as my competing sites. They were all approved with no back and forth emailing. Also, to be safe, I always book the refundable rate in case I have to try again.
I have more trouble with the hotel than with the best rate guarantee people. The first stay was on 3/17, and the hotel called after the fact saying, "get us $185 by 6:00 pm or else." The reason they called is because the card declined. That's another thing I learned. I use those visa giftcards that I get rebates on as the credit card for incidentals when I check in. Had it not been for that, I'd have had to dispute a $185 charge that I learned about a week later.
On the 3/18 stay, the hotel said, "there's no reservation for you, if you want the room it'll be $239." Took three hours to check in, but we did get the room at the correct price.
Of course, knowing this, I make sure each person has the email proof in paper format before checking in. Everything did work out ok, but still, if you're someone that avoids confrontation, this "guarantee" is not for you.
I have more trouble with the hotel than with the best rate guarantee people. The first stay was on 3/17, and the hotel called after the fact saying, "get us $185 by 6:00 pm or else." The reason they called is because the card declined. That's another thing I learned. I use those visa giftcards that I get rebates on as the credit card for incidentals when I check in. Had it not been for that, I'd have had to dispute a $185 charge that I learned about a week later.
On the 3/18 stay, the hotel said, "there's no reservation for you, if you want the room it'll be $239." Took three hours to check in, but we did get the room at the correct price.
Of course, knowing this, I make sure each person has the email proof in paper format before checking in. Everything did work out ok, but still, if you're someone that avoids confrontation, this "guarantee" is not for you.
Last edited by chyvan; Mar 20, 2014 at 12:36 pm
Mar 20, 2014, 1:50 pm
#364
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Quebec and Ontario, Canada
Programs: AC*E50, SPG/Marriott Plat
Posts: 1,917
I have more trouble with the hotel than with the best rate guarantee people. The first stay was on 3/17, and the hotel called after the fact saying, "get us $185 by 6:00 pm or else." The reason they called is because the card declined. That's another thing I learned. I use those visa giftcards that I get rebates on as the credit card for incidentals when I check in. Had it not been for that, I'd have had to dispute a $185 charge that I learned about a week later.
I would think they will try to pre-authorize the amount to avoid this kind of situation...
Mar 20, 2014, 9:07 pm
#365
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 91
It wasn't empty. It had $6.95 on it. Besides that, at the time of checkin for that stay, everything was correct. The hotel must have thought it had to be a mistake much later and then tried to charge the $185.
Mar 21, 2014, 6:34 pm
#366
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: Hyatt Glob; AA ExPlat; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 317
Couldn't get Choice to BRG the GEM Chelsea NYC because vivastay described it as "Double Standard" and Choice has it as "1 Double Bed", claiming "Double Standard" can be double bed or queen bed, even though queen bed was more expensive.
Mar 26, 2014, 12:25 pm
#368
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 143
I am very new to all this BRG stuff - I have actually had one successful BRG with intercontinental - since I did that successful BRG, the OTA I used no longer has that particular hotel on their website!!
I came across this thread the other day - and since then I have been looking to "beat the system" - when I got my successful IHG BRG, I did actually book a non-refundable rate - but given all the rejections across all schemes, I'm not sure I want to take the risk again.
As it is - one of the cities I am staying in this summer does not have any Choice hotels at all - and the other city (for which I only need a hotel for the one night) has three Clarions - two are in a poor position and get poorish reviews - so that leaves me with one.
My initial searches simply showed that most OTAs I found were either more expensive or the same as Choice.
However, I have found a possible - but am unsure with the room descriptions.
The competing OTA clearly describes room as "Single Room, breakfast included" - and Choice describe the room as "1 single Bed, no Smoking" (Full Breakfast included) - Choice also show Max Room Occupancy of 1 person.
Strangely - the single room option on Choice is only available on the refundable rate - which is not available on the OTA - whereas the non-refundable rate on the OTA for a "single room" is cheaper than the available "non refundable" rate on choice.
Sorry - I'm starting to ramble here.
I checked the hotel website - rather than Choice's main site - and they do state they have single rooms - but there's little difference between a single room and a double room - I think there was a 1m squared difference - but both had double bed -
anyway - I'll repost when I find out a bit more info.
Thanks
Ok - it seems I can find cheaper non-refundable rates for a single room on OTA - but Choice does not seem to have single rooms avialable on non-refundable - I tried about 8 different dates - and everytime the single room was available on the higher (refundable) rate - but on none of the non-refundable rates.......
I'm starting to think this is going to be difficult to "beat".
Ok - a bit more info :
I found a refundable rate on an OTA - the room is described as:
Superior Double Room (1 adult) Breakfast included
This is a lower rate than the refundable rate on Choice described as :
1 Double Bed, No Smoking (no breakfast)
Would this be a possible win?
I came across this thread the other day - and since then I have been looking to "beat the system" - when I got my successful IHG BRG, I did actually book a non-refundable rate - but given all the rejections across all schemes, I'm not sure I want to take the risk again.
As it is - one of the cities I am staying in this summer does not have any Choice hotels at all - and the other city (for which I only need a hotel for the one night) has three Clarions - two are in a poor position and get poorish reviews - so that leaves me with one.
My initial searches simply showed that most OTAs I found were either more expensive or the same as Choice.
However, I have found a possible - but am unsure with the room descriptions.
The competing OTA clearly describes room as "Single Room, breakfast included" - and Choice describe the room as "1 single Bed, no Smoking" (Full Breakfast included) - Choice also show Max Room Occupancy of 1 person.
Strangely - the single room option on Choice is only available on the refundable rate - which is not available on the OTA - whereas the non-refundable rate on the OTA for a "single room" is cheaper than the available "non refundable" rate on choice.
Sorry - I'm starting to ramble here.
I checked the hotel website - rather than Choice's main site - and they do state they have single rooms - but there's little difference between a single room and a double room - I think there was a 1m squared difference - but both had double bed -
anyway - I'll repost when I find out a bit more info.
Thanks
Ok - it seems I can find cheaper non-refundable rates for a single room on OTA - but Choice does not seem to have single rooms avialable on non-refundable - I tried about 8 different dates - and everytime the single room was available on the higher (refundable) rate - but on none of the non-refundable rates.......
I'm starting to think this is going to be difficult to "beat".
Ok - a bit more info :
I found a refundable rate on an OTA - the room is described as:
Superior Double Room (1 adult) Breakfast included
This is a lower rate than the refundable rate on Choice described as :
1 Double Bed, No Smoking (no breakfast)
Would this be a possible win?
Last edited by barafear799; Mar 26, 2014 at 12:54 pm Reason: added info
Mar 26, 2014, 6:17 pm
#370
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: London
Programs: SK Gold, ITA Executive, Sixt Diamond, Hertz PC, Avis PC, IHG Platinum
Posts: 5,163
Apr 18, 2014, 2:20 pm
#375
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,677
Just as a side note -
In my experience the staff on the weekends don't know what they are doing and they deny BRG's for invalid reasons. I resubmitted the same claim during the week (cancelled, rebooked, filed claim) and I got the BRG no problem. So my advice is Monday through Friday is better. Saturday and Sunday be prepared to deal with incompetence.
In my experience the staff on the weekends don't know what they are doing and they deny BRG's for invalid reasons. I resubmitted the same claim during the week (cancelled, rebooked, filed claim) and I got the BRG no problem. So my advice is Monday through Friday is better. Saturday and Sunday be prepared to deal with incompetence.