Originally Posted by
jayer
One rule of thumb is if you are immediately paying a third party, which sounds like what is happening in the examples, its probably not eligible. If they are instead just making you a reservation and you pay upon arrival, it probably is.
Not fullyagree with your statement. The key behind BRGs is to compare the very same things with each other (e.g. "Deluxe room prepaid" against "Deluxe room prepaid" or "Junior Suite incl. breakfast cancellable" versus "Junior Suite incl. breakfast cancellable").
Please bear in mind that if you have a "better room" at the third party website (e.g. "Deluxe room with 14 days free parking") against a "worse room" on the hotels website (e.g. "Deluxe room") it is not a valid BRG.
Also, bear in mind that the cancellation policies have to be the very same.
Finally, it is to say that some BRG programs are well run (e.g. SPG) versus some very badly run programs (e.g. Hilton or Marriott for non-US hotels).
If you really compare same with same, escalate your case up to the top management and also don't forget to involve the BBB. Good luck with your BRG claims ^