ryandk

I'm surprised at how painless it was to get Marriott to approve my LNF rate.

For the past two years, we've been focusing on Hyatt, as we had lounge access with our status. It was always a battle to get Hyatt to approve the Best Rate Guarantee claim, but I was always able to convince them on the phone. Now that Hyatt's BRG is almost worthless, we're going to focus on Marriott, as we have Marriott Gold status with our Amex Platinum.

I submitted a claim for the Marriott Marquis in New York City, which is always outrageously expensive, for a week during spring break. Marriott's average nightly rate is $377.75, and an OTA (found with Trivago) had it for around $250 per night (prepaid). I booked the lowest refundable rate with Marriott, with a note asking them to change it to prepaid if the LFN claim is approved.

When I woke up the next morning, Marriott had responded, adjusting the rate to just over $190 per night! We still have to pay the ridiculous 'destination fee' of $25 per night, but it's still a pretty good rate for something central in New York.