Fairmont best rate guarantee policy?
 

I scanned the website, googled, searched the Luxury forum, PM'd a couple people to no avail.

Will Fairmont match another site's rate?

I don't know what the official policy is, but my experience is that if you find a cheaper rate elsewhere after you have made a reservation, a call to FPC or the hotel often results in a match. YMMV.

I also do not know if they have an official policy, but at the time of booking, I have called and stated that I found a cheaper rate (expedia, kayak, etc..), they have gone online, verified, checked with a manager, and matched it. Successful 4 out of 4 times.

Thanks for the info. :) Not quite sure yet what my plans are for Labor Day, but I noticed Orb. has Seattle at 50%.

Fairmont hasnt launched a formal policy yet but if you find a better rate online from a major website, just call reservations. They should match it for you and wont give you a much better cancelation policy.

That would not be good for me. If I find a lower rate I want to have some compensation for the work, e.g. a reduced rate. Otherwise, I can book with the 3rd party website.

The compensation is having stay and nights credit for FPC status (and sometimes miles) - and any Premier / Plat benefit which applies...

One usually gets stay/night credit and status benefits with most 3rd party bookings (though the T&C are somewhat ambigious, which is why I usually recommend contacting the hotel to have the rate matched which makes for a more seamless experience).

In any case, I prefer a 3min call to Fairmont and talking to a competent, friendly agent and have the rate matched vs. spending an hour on the phone with an outsourced call center agent in SE Asia who barely speaks English just to have my BRG request declined (for no good reason).

Are they usually pretty good about matching rates? Have you ever tried to get them to match one of those travelzoo vouchers?

Yes, IME getting rates matched is rather easy, and I haven´t heard any reports of such requests getting declined. I know Travelzoo rates have been matched in the past when the rates were publically posted on the Travelzoo website, but am not familiar with the "Travelzoo vouchers" you mention, sorry.

There is still no official BRG policy?

No. And I wouldn´t expect a BRG policy anytime soon - it´s not something any luxury hotel chain offers afaik.

Hmmm? Kempinski do offer a BRG @:-)

Are you saying that Fairmont properties are above Intercontinental (IHG), St Regis (Starwood), Waldorf-Astoria (Hilton), JW Marriott (Marriott)? They all offer a formal BRG program and while some are much better than others, without the games, etc. Fairmont seems to be sticking its head in the sand on this issue.

Just today I am once again looking at the ACA properties and on fairmont.com I am seeing rates of over 2K MXN when on expedia.mx they are offering 1K MXN (98 USD roughly). Last year, I had to call and call back and it took 24 hours for them to come through with a match - which they did, but still, quite the hassle.

While I will jump thru some hoops to requalify for Platinum again next year, it could be a bit more streamlined. ;)

Funny, I was just looking at, and wondering the same thing. I have to be in MEX early in January, and was going to bring my family with me and go to Acapulco for a week. Expedia has the properties for almost half the price as fairmont.com.

My dilemmma is: book through Fairmont directly and qualify for Platinum (thanks to the Canadian Amex PLAT5 promo) straight-away; or book through Expedia and save a significant amount (2 rooms x 6 nights), since I understand that bookings made through Expedia do not qualify for Amex's PLAT5.

I'm going to call Fairmont tonight to see if they'll match the Expedia rates.