tangey

I had a claim accepted about a month back for a Nov stay in the palazzo.

tobegold

Anybody dealt with www.booknow.bh?

okiedokie123

Any recommended sites for euro or yen currency standard?

Teechop

I have now confirmation for a September weekend night (Sat - Sun) in the Venetian.

SirAlfonso

Just had a positive response after 18 hours

Titan

If I found it a case can be a approved ?

Room on IHG average nightly is 100 USD and 130 USD include all tax and fee

but on other agent average nightly is 100 USD and 129 USD include all tax and fee

FlyingHigh20

No. The total with taxes and fees on the other site would have to be $128.70 or less (1% difference)

Titan

must compare all tax and fee ?

not a compare average nightly before tax and fee ?

-------------------

IHG BRG terms by at least 1% or $1 USD

6. c. Matching Prices - Price Variance. The nightly room price and the nightly total room cost (for one night stays) or the average nightly room price and the average nightly total room cost (for multi-night stays) must each be lower than the IHG room price and the IHG total room cost, respectively, by at least 1% or $1 USD (or the equivalent in the hotel’s currency) (whichever is higher). Coupons or vouchers may not be utilized to lower published room prices for the purposes of making a claim. The Guarantee does not include extra fees such as extra person charges, except as stated in paragraph 6.d. and 6.e.

jms_uk

Both, as it says in the rules you quoted.

Titan

IHG told me not match guarantee because room price before tax equivalent on ihg website but I found it other agent total room cost with tax and fee low rates than IHG

How can I do ?

trouble747

Thought I would share my experience with IHG's so-called "Best Price Guarantee."

Booked a room yesterday (about 10:30 AM) for a stay that night at IHG's Crowne Plaza Dallas Market Center. Price before taxes was $124.00 for the "King Leisure" room.

At the time of booking, the exact same room was advertised on hotels.com for $93.00 before taxes (the regular $124 price was struck through). I immediately (again, before 11 AM) filled out the "Best Price Guarantee" form on IHG's website (and yes, took several screen caps of the hotels.com webpage). A hour or so after this, the prices on IHG's website increased and the prices on hotels.com increased (yet stayed discounted from IHG's price).

I did not receive a response to my best price claim until 4:15 AM today, July 30. The email goes on about "Terms and Conditions" and "sole discretion," but the main takeaway was this:

That's exactly what the email said, grammatical errors and all. Essentially, IHG waited over twelve hours to consider the claim and then denied it because the rates were no longer available (it being the day after the stay in question).

My call to customer service was interesting. The first guest services rep I spoke with immediately offered that she agreed with me, didn't care for their review system, and thought it was unfair. She said the terms are intentionally very "strict" because 3rd party websites have agreed with IHG not to offer lower prices (one of many times in the conversation[s] with guest services when I had to politely point out that, as a customer, this was not really my concern). This rep said she was putting me on hold for a few minutes to see what she could do. The call was then immediately picked up by a completely different rep, who seemed completely unfazed by the fact that I had just been put on hold by someone else, and sought to have me relate the entire complaint again. After asking several times, she acknowledged she had no way of finding out who I had spoken with (that person never attempted to contact me). I was told guest services has no control over "Best Price Guarantee" and that department doesn't take phone calls. I asked to be escalated to a supervisor. After noting the supervisor would not be any help, the call was escalated.

Somewhat bizarrely, this supervisor insisted that what I was doing (calling guest services of IHG to complain about a response to a best price claim) was no different than "Calling Walmart to complain about Target." After I pointed out that she, in fact, works for the exact same company, she persisted with this analogy. She refused to forward me to anyone at or above the 'other department' in question, and said she would request for someone there to contact me. That, of course, did not happen. Nor did anyone respond to my request to be contacted that I sent by email.

The worst part is that at no point did IHG even offer to MATCH the lower price! The very least they could do, and not a mention of it. Their website claims "We're so sure the best prices for our hotels are found on our websites that we were the first to offer the most powerful price guarantee ever by a global travel company." While this may occasionally work out for some, I think this is a pretty empty guarantee. IHG states that consumers can exercise the guarantee by booking the higher price (directly with IHG) and then filing a claim. In reality, IHG allows itself the discretion to analyze these claims whenever they feel like it, including after the date of the booking.

My partner is a platinum elite member, an Intercontinental Ambassador member, a IHG credit card holder, etc. etc. (I prefer starwood). We simply won't mess with IHG any longer, and that will be that.

scubaccr

You are being very unrealistic.

Since IHG moved from phone-line supported BG clearing to contactless, 24 hour (supposedly) BRG review it is pretty obvious that filing a BRG claim 11am with checkins at say 12 noon 1hour later and by implication rooms are no reservable after 11pm 12hours later you knew already this would happen.

Previously with phonein brg validation system one could book this late and still score a brg. To be honest I am a little suprised IHG don't limit BRG claims to bookings at least 48hours before stay commences.

Some other obvious pitfalls exist too, leading to HG being unable to compare OTA + IHG room rates, eg booking last room available at a hotel for a night.

trouble747

I had zero experience with IHG's Best Price Guarantee prior to yesterday. There's nothing about the fine print or terms and conditions that suggests the guarantee isn't actually valid (or "realistic") if the claim is made the morning of, due to a lengthy review period. Indeed, the first CSR I spoke with said she personally viewed this as a big problem and didn't know why they moved away from phone validation (but again, I had no idea that they even previously had phone validation). I had no concept of how the system worked, and I don't think the way it functions is at all obvious or predictable. This was necessary travel for one night that happened to coincide with an instance of a 3rd party site showing a lower rate. I wasn't trolling for bargain. I'd be happy if they just matched the lower rate.

I mean, taking over 15 hours to "validate" a claim is such an enormous gap in the guarantee's coverage that the way it is advertised is incredibly deceptive. Hotel rates change constantly online. Indeed, even if this were processed in time they probably would have denied the claim because IHG itself raised the rate on the room after I booked, causing the 3rd party sites to follow suit (and thus to display a higher rate when ultimately "verified"). That's not really a best price guarantee, as I think most would understand the term.

shuom

I 100% agree with this.

I like IHG's program. I enjoy the fairly consist plat benefits from the IHG card. I would not trust IHG's BRG at all though. It's utter crap. As some others have suggested in a previous thread, book and claim against fully cancellable rates. There's no reason to run the risk of a shoddy rejection by IHG without any recourse.

patgarrett

Anyone else getting denials this week because they claim the 3rd party rate is "no longer available upon our verification"? This despite the fact I can still see the lower rate on two separate computers and an iPad over 48 hrs after I submitted the claim.