FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Hotel chains that award points & status for third party bookings?
Old Jun 14, 2018, 1:07 pm
  #9  
Tino
Original Member
 
Join Date: May 1998
Location: St Petersburg, FL, USA
Posts: 2,252
Here is Hilton's excuse to get you to pay a premium on their site:
"Certain types of prices will not qualify for the Best Price Guarantee if they have other restrictions or limitations on how they are displayed or booked. For example, prices do not qualify if they are on websites that don't disclose the brand or hotel until the reservation is made (like Hotwire and Priceline), or are on auction websites, or are for the hotel component of a package booking, or are for bookings that don't provide an immediate confirmation, or are not available to the general public (like member rates, negotiated rates and team member rates), or require a login, credit card number or a code to see, or if they are on websites that don't have the ability to book a reservation, or are for reservations that are not authorized to be transferred (like a guest "reselling" a confirmed reservation), or are on websites or Apps that are in an unsupported language, or are applicable to only a portion of your entire stay, or are for reservations made within 24 hours of the hotel's standard check-in time on your day of arrival."

Per their T&C, major chains will not price match AAA (member rates), ID90Travel (requires a login), or Priceline Express ("opaque", but you can determine the hotel with almost 100% accuracy). Except for award and overseas stays, I very rarely book directly from a major chain, because I can almost always save at least a double digit percentage below their rate using these three sites. When I was traveling for work, I was about maximizing points, regardless of rate (sorry, clients!). Now that I travel 100% for leisure, I am brand agnostic and saving cash greatly trumps accumulating points.
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