Originally Posted by
Nick Art
That's the thing: I never use OTAs. I only use a "traditional" travel agent, (and not some cheap holiday package one), which I up to this point thought would be alright.
I hate to bring it up again: But that's where the fairmont program really shined. There were no such small print rules. If you stayed at the hotel you would be rewarded for your loayalty. No matter where you booked. No need to fight for points or nights...
Broadly speaking, "regular" travel agents can book the following types of rates:
(1) published rates: "best available rate", "advance purhase rate", AAA/CAA rate - generally any rate you could book directly via the hotel yourself
(2) consortia and similar rates such as Virtuoso, Travel Leaders Select, AMEX FHR etc.
(3) consolidator / bulk purchase rates
(4) OTA rates (some OTAs such as Expedia allow TAs to book their rates)
In addition, the two other major types of rates are:
(5) negotiated corporate rates (e.g. company X may have negotiated a $xxx/night rate at the Fairmont Montreal and a xx% discount at the Sofitel Montreal)
(6) restricted rates: employee rates, airline industry rates, travel industry rates, press and media rates etc.
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Rate types (1), (2) and (5) are considered "qualifying rates" for the purpose of earning stay/night credit and points accruel whereas all other rate types are generally considered non-qualifying.
At least for the last few years, Fairmont FPC had a similar policy, especially when it came to OTA rates, but may have been slightly more generous - or may have possibly just not been enforcing the T&C - when it came to select other rates.