Well said, Mr Starwood Lurker. If only the BRG department staff members would follow this practice... Fact is, that they often do not follow this rule!

I have right now a case open which I will submit to you. The hotel ignores my BRG claim and does not care at all about it!

The most ridiculous thing which I got to hear, almost as ridiculous as Hilton (where I involved already several times my legal costs insurance in order to have Hilton to approve my BRG cases!).

Here an example from SPG:



Hotel: Mr. Nissan,

Thank you for your interest in the xxx hotel. Unfortunately, all of your claims are not valid at this time due to yyy.com charge 100% as penalty on early departures; but our charges only $50 for early-departures.

Our “Best Rate Guarantee” policy does not apply to package or any offer that has different rate limitations, such as cancellation policy. Therefore, we are not able to match this package rate on this claim. Please feel free to contact us if you need further assistance for your future reservations.


Nissan: Second, xx's T&Cs say that a competing website must be "...rate limitations that are substantially similar to the rate limitations of the rate that can be booked on the xxx hotel website.

Besides, there is no early departure fee for a one night stay? One may cancel up to two days prior to arrival or one will have to pay the whole stay (which consist of one night).

Therefore, the two rates are not only "substantially similar" but identical!

Following to that, I kindly ask you to honor my BRG claim for 09/25/2009 with the ID h9yza6cf9 and to approve the lower rate plus 2'000 SPG points.


Hotel: Good evening!

We are unable to approve your claim because yyy.com is offering added value. According to the BRG Terms and Conditions:

* The Best Rate Guarantee does not apply to packaged rates. Packaged rates include Hotel accommodations sold with value added amenities, including, but not limited to free breakfast and hotel parking.

yyy.com is offering discounted meals at select restaurants.


Nissan: The "added value" which you mentioned is nothing more than this booklet which EVERY guest gets at the check-in - http://www....


Hotel: The link you have provided is for the xxx Club. These offers are not included if you book directly with the Hotel. These offers are not given to every guest that checks in as you stated. They are only given IF you go to the xxx desk and sign up for a club card. These offers have nothing to do with Hotel reservations and are not included in any of our packages.

We are not being dishonest. The stipulations are clearly stated in the BRG Terms and Conditions and we have to make sure that they are all met in order to approve a claim. We also have the sole right and discretion to determine the validity of any claim.

Here is the link to the BRG Terms and Conditions for your review.

http://www.xxx

If you want to meet me halfway, I will honor the $xx rate but I will not take off an additional 13% from that. Also, I will not offer the added value.

Please let me know what you would like to do as soon as possible as rates and availability may change at anytime.


3rd party website: Dear Nissan

We thank you for your interest in yyy.com.

In response to your query all promotional booklets are supplied by the hotel.

For more information and to make a reservation on-line please visit us at www.yyy.com or for further assistance please contact Booking.com on the telephone numbers listed below.

Please ensure that you have a credit card which is valid for the dates of your stay before calling to make a reservation.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

AB
Reservation Team



Summa sumarum: It's a pain and it is cheating what the hotel does and SPG should not allow a hotel to act in such a manner. Neither should SPG's own BRG department make such stories!