Originally Posted by
DaveInLA
Yeah, I got that. But if they they don't honor the BRG submission, I'd be stuck with 4 nights at the higher IHG rate. So I figured I'd test it and only booked the first night. If they don't honor it, I'm only paying the higher rate for 1 night (non-refundable rate) and I can use the other website for the final 3 nights. What I'm worried about is that if they do honor it, do they make the 3rd party website raise their prices to match IHG? That would force me to pay higher prices for the remaining 3 nights.
When you guys (and gals) have a multi-night stay planned and find a potential BRG, do you book all the nights and submit the BRG? Or do you typically test it by booking 1 night only first?
Hotels don't like giving away rooms, and once they realise they are vulnerable to this happening they're likely to adjust availability/prices to agencies: that's the raison d'être of the whole shebang!
Just how quickly they carry out this rationalisation of prices has to be a gamble.
Trying to be too clever at gaming the system (AKA being greedy!) carries risks.
You don't seem very certain of the validity of your claim. The "rules" are pretty clear, but you could be playing in a fuzzy area of interpretation of the rules.
The only certainty seems to be the OTA rate is significantly better than the IHG one, and as points /qualifying stays don't seem important to you, go with the agency.