Originally Posted by
remymartin
Not in my experience. Is this a new condition?
Originally Posted by
Yul_voyager
IME, if the cheapest room on the 3rd party website is cheaper than the cheapest room on spg.com, they will approve the claim...
Originally Posted by
Starwood Lurker
I've made some corrections to the Wiki based upon input from the BRG team. If there are any questions after reviewing them, feel free to ask them and I'll see if I can clarify further.
If any changes are made to the Wiki going forward, the BRG team would appreciate the opportunity to vet them before they are made so you have the most accurate information possible. Feel free to send any of the Starwood Lurkers a Private Message here at Flyertalk or an email to the email address below if you anticipate adding anything to the Wiki and we'll pass it along to the BRG team for approval.
Best regards,
William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
[email protected]
Thanks, as always, for posting and staying in touch with your frequent guests.
I want to point out, however, that the following in the wiki is not at all reflective of my experience:
• If you find availability for the room type you want on a third party website/app but there is no availability for that room type or no availability for any room type on the Starwood Website, then this may be an approved claim if it meets all other terms and conditions. You will need to make sure that you specify the room type you actually want on the Starwood Website section and enter 0 in the rate and currency. This will ensure that the processing associates know that the room type you want is not available on the Starwood Website. You may also add additional comments near the end of the claim form indicating that there is no availability on the Starwood Website to help clarify.
I have been told several times in the last year that spg.com must show availability and for exactly the same room or the request will be denied. To boot, they use wording like "I must deny this claim as the spg.com site shows no availability for this type of room and no price comparison is possible." I was once advised to try the platinum guaranteed rack rate only later to find out that the hotel, the Sheraton Miyako Osaka, had imposed a two week stay minimum at the rack rate. When I questioned that it was dropped down to 5 or 7 nights, cannot remember, still beyond my needs.
Most of my stays at Crowne Plaza and Intercontinental are when I cannot book an spg property because spg.com does not have availability but third party sites do. Good news for me is that I am back to platinum with ihg because this occurs so much in China and Japan with spg hotels. I am actually starting to really like Crowne Plaza. Benefits are on par with spg platinum.