In this case, you are right. In many other cases, when you compare this IHG program, this program wins.

Easy enough...

Dear Mr. Spankytoes,

Thank you for your call concerning out new low rate guarantee program,
Congratulations! You have been approved and your new rate for the Best
Western Ramona Inn for xx/xx/2012 is 69.99. You will receive your
Travel card for 100.00, two to three weeks after your stay

Last piece of the puzzle for my Pacific Coast Highway trip. Called at 11:00 PM CST on Thursday and had the adjustment email at 9:00 AM on Friday. Original price was $139.99.

One thing of note though. If you are using Kayak to compare prices, make sure that you go through Best Western's main site to book your room and not through the link on Kayak. Doing the latter will attach Kayak's name to the reservation and will invalidate the claim. I had to rebook through BW and get a new confirmation number while on the phone with the agent.

It's a shame that the programme is only for US residents :(

I submitted a claim online and met the terms as written but still got denied: "The claim has been denied for the following reason: The reservation was booked less than 48 hours from the arrival date."

Which isn't true or relevant, because the terms don't require 48 hours before arrival *date*, but 48 hours "before arrival," and arrival suggests agreed check-in time as determined by reservation on standard booking. I booked outside the 48-hour window, which isn't in dispute.

Customer service acknowledged "possibly misleading" terms, and one phone rep said I'd already been approved and "it's being processed," but I got denied in writing based on the *intention* of the terms rather than the language itself.

Then I got this email: "I have made my supervisor aware of the possible misinterpretation of the wording of the Low Rate Guarantee terms and conditions..."

Still no fulfillment. It's not just the amount that concerns me, but Best Western's unwillingness to meet its publicized offer.

You must mean that it's a shame ttat this verison is only for North America residents. As I detailed in another post above, there is another version for those in Europe and elsewhere:

Btw, please note that it depends on your stay cost/length which version is beter. The North American version is better for shorter stays at cheaper hotels, because it's a flat $100 gift card. The version for the rest of the world is better better for longer stays at more expensive hotels, since eventually the 10% will exceed $100 in value.

My recent experience:

I booked a room at $84.99 via bestwestern.com, then found a rate $10 lower on hotels.com, and submitted the BRG claim. It took them almost three days :eek::mad: to respond thus:

Hotels.com does not offer the lower rate that is bookable to the general public.

At first, I thought they had stalled long enough for the hotels.com rate to no longer be available, but it was, so I replied again with the full details, room type, etc. and this time it took only two hours for them to respond:

Upon further review, your Low Rate Guarantee Claim has been approved.
Your new nightly rate is $76.49 plus tax and you should be receiving a new confirmation email reflecting this shortly.

You will receive your $100 Travel Card in the mail approximately 2-3 weeks after your completed stay.

So I suppose the overall benefit is there, but the rate BW has now provided me is still higher than the hotels.com rate....

Interesting...would not have thought that would be an issue. Thx for that info.^

I had two BRG claims in mid-Feb. Got my $100 GC's today. I've read that some here don't like the BW BRG, but at least for my first two experiences, it was quite painless and they delivered as promised.

It took a very short itme to receive a reply to my claim. In fact, a rep from BW called and left a message on my answering machine within half an hour. I booked a king suite with full kitchen and 42-inch TV at the BW Premium Eden Resort in Lancaster, PA in Oct. (one of only two Premium BW properties in the U.S currently.). The Resort has its own website, as well as the BW site. On the Resort site my suite was $154.95 - Best Available rate. On the BW site the rate was $189.95 for the Best Available. Easy. Now the rate on the BW site has been lowered to $154.95 - the rate that I will pay.

Could have had a rate $20 or lower as a AAA member, but since I am using BW gift cards that I earned through the Canadian Air Miles Program, the suite, including dog fee, will be "free," and the $100 GC a pure bonus. Plus, we are coming off a dog show trip and I am looking forward to cooking us a great Sunday roast beef dinner with all the trimmings and watching Sunday Night Football in solitude and comfort. Nothing like a home-cooked meal on the road, along with local treats like farm-fresh apples and cheddar cheese. This is my first post:)

Welcome to FT. Congrats on your BRG.

When I asked about that very sentence, I got this answer when I had found a lower rate on hotels.com, but which required payment in advance, as compared to bestwestern.com non-prepaid rate ($10 more):

Sounds bogus to me! :mad:

I received another clarification from BW:

I have a distinct feeling they're really cracking down on this and not many BRG claims are being honored these days. At least what I'm seeing is that most BW hotels I look at have some "Internet Only" pre-paid rate that is a good 10-15% lower than even an AAA rate, say, and certainly lower than other travel websites.

Also, according to this manual, the hotel gets penalized quite heavily for having a cheaper rate available outside of bestwestern.com:

Ouch!!

I know nothing about running a hotel, but I would imagine there must be a very strong incentive to stick with the BW brand to put up with so many rules, regulations and especially, fees.

I did a match a week ago that involved an internet only rate. It worked OK.

I can't really blame BW for saying that their internet only rate is lower than a rate on another website. And honestly, some of their internet only rates can be cancelled up to a week prior, so it's not the most restrictive.

So far, I'm 4 for 4 on BW BRG's on locations where I needed a room. (I had one failure, but just switched to a nearby property.)

I was wondering if anyone completed a BRG with best western and got the gift card e-mailed or mailed to them how long did it take to arrive? They say 2 to 3 weeks but it this just the maximum time frame or does it really take this long to arrive?

I've done 3 of them now, and yes, they pretty much take 2-3 weeks.