Originally Posted by
wobbly wings
I assumed that being able to beat fully flexible rates on the same terms was going to be much harder. It'd be great if that were not the case. Sorry if that's been discussed earlier.
It's in the wiki at the top:
"
Cancellation policy has no bearing on a BRG claim with one exception if the rate difference is within 1%. "
In other words, always book a flexible rate when submitting a BRG. It is not taken into account.
Unless it just so happens that you found a flexible rate that is just slightly cheaper than a prepaid rate. Only in this special case will the BRG team take into account the flexible vs prepaid - normally if the competing rate is less than 1% cheaper, it will be denied. But if it happens to have flexible terms and the SPG rate is prepaid or has cancellation penalties, then they will allow the claim to be processed even if the difference is less than 1%.
"
Starwood may deny claims where the difference between the Competing Rate and the rate on the Starwood Website is less than one percent; provided that Starwood will not use the fact that the difference between the Competing Rate and the rate on the Starwood Website is less than one percent to deny such claims if the cancellation policy for the Competing Rate is more favorable to the guest than the cancellation policy for the rate on the Starwood Website."