Originally Posted by
redbirdsj
Following up on this post since I received further correspondence from a "Subject Matter Expert." The person did indeed confirm that the terms had to match exactly:
I tried to point out the mixed marketing message being sent here: we want you to book on our site, but if you find better terms elsewhere, we won't give our BRG. It was lost on them and this is the third level of escalation that's confirmed that this is their (apparently new) policy.
Which hotel are you trying to BRG? What some don't realize here (or many don't) is that different hotels are now being held to different policies for BRG by the BRG team. An example are all intercontinental alliance hotels follow the rules exactly as written (which explains denials like yours), most likely due to pushback from them on the program. It seems they have more flexibility with fully controlled IHG hotels/brands.