Originally Posted by Jasper2009

One usually gets stay/night credit and status benefits with most 3rd party bookings (though the T&C are somewhat ambigious, which is why I usually recommend contacting the hotel to have the rate matched which makes for a more seamless experience).

In any case, I prefer a 3min call to Fairmont and talking to a competent, friendly agent and have the rate matched vs. spending an hour on the phone with an outsourced call center agent in SE Asia who barely speaks English just to have my BRG request declined (for no good reason).