Had a BRG claim denied yesterday for a January 2013 stay although Priceline.com displayed a lower daily rate than Hyatt.com for same room type, etc.
Priceline.com displayed $183 per night (4 night stay) including breakfast while Hyatt.com was $239 including breakfast. Turns out the Priceline rate was actually Hyatt's "free time" promotion (code FRTIME) pro-rated to include the one free night and displayed as a nightly rate. Problem was the FRTIME promo wasn't available on Hyatt.com because the promo ends on Dec 30, 2012. So how was Priceline selling it?
I booked the higher Hyatt.com rate then called in the BRG. The rep told me she could match the Priceline rate since it's Hyatt's own FRTIME promo. I told her FRTIME doesn't display on Hyatt.com due to being past the expiration date, however the rep could see in her system that the promo had been extended into Feb 2013. So she said she could match the rate, but not honor the BRG (20% reduction) since they offer the same price. My argument back was that the public Hyatt.com website doesn't offer FRTIME for my travel dates so how would anyone know it's been extended? We went back and forth quite a few times, but she wouldn't budge.
I've had a few successful BRGs with Hyatt in the past, but my BRG allegiance continues to be with Marriott's program!