MileageAddict

I recently booked the Crowne Plaza Ligovsky in St. Petersburg, Russia and then found an identical rate on Booking.com for about $15 less.

I must confess, I had to work for the BRG as the phone conversation took 52 minutes and the IHG agent asked me a bazillion questions and asked me to email screen shots and then debated with me about the rate I found not being in local currency. I sent additional screen shots showing that the currency can be changed to whatever you prefer and he accepted that.

The reservation with the BRG did not get adjusted right away as the IHG agent needed to correspond with the hotel manager. It was 6 days before I received a revised BRG confirmation from IHG.

Bottom line, I got the first night of my stay for free, saved about $175 and the second night adjusted downward by $15 to match the Booking.com rate. The IHG website rate was adjusted downward by $15 within an hour or two of my phone call.

My reservation online no longer provides any rate details but when I call to check on the reservation, everything is in order. My stay is not for another month so I'll report back here if I encounter and issues upon check-in.