Originally Posted by travelswithmyself

Well, I wouldn't say that the 3rd party exists to offer lower rates - they exist because they want to make money selling tours hotels and flights to us!

And yes, that's why SPG and the others started the BRG programmes. To bring the $$$ back to themselves, and penalise the hotels for selling cheap rates to the 3rd parties.

Do the 3rd parties provide competition? Not really. I think the real competition still comes from other chains and hotels. If prices are low it's because another hotel is offering relatively the same product at a better price, not because a 3rd party is selling it for less. Your own experience in JP/KR shows how hard it is to BRG properties there. But the SPG hotel prices remain comparable to similar non-SPG properties, even though there is no "competition from 3rd parties".

Wishful thinking to hope that rates will not eventually be in line across the board, IMO.