Originally Posted by
gborz
Turns out the same OTA shows different price for the US and the EU / UK customers, based on IP I guess. I submitted the EU rate, the BRG agent found the US rate, so my claim was denied.
So, after four unsuccessful rounds, I made a flexible booking with the european OTA at the competing rate - which the BRG agents were unable to verify before - and sent them the booking confirmation. They were able to check the details and based on that, finally accepted my claim. Right after that, I cancelled the flexible booking with the OTA.
Hotel Name: Element New York Times Square
Date of Stay: Nov 2019 (3 nights)
Number of Rooms: 1
Number of Guests: 2
Room Type: King Guest Room
Marriott Brand Website Rate: $954
Competing Rate: $886
Actual Approved Rate: $666
BRG Award: 25%
Still, I have no idea how would this work with a prepaid rate. I think all BRG agents should have VPN access to validate non-US rates, because the current situation feels like a bit discriminative.