ChoiceHotels BRG is a scam
Sep 1, 2013, 6:42 am
#16
Original Member, Moderator: Hotel Deals and MilesBuzz
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 14,257
I just secured a free night in Portland, OR. I submitted the info via their website and within 48 hours got the confirmation that my one-night stay was gratis. NO hassles here at all.
Sep 2, 2013, 2:56 am
#17
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: CPH
Programs: UAMP S, TK M&S E (*G), Marriott LTP, IHG P, SK EBG
Posts: 11,095
It's far different to have a claim refused because of something that is public knowledge (no "vouchers" on non-North-American stays) than to have Choice change the reason 5 times about why your claim is invalid.
The Choice scenario the OP here described seems a real scam to me. The Marriott "voucher" situations for non-North-American stays is an annoying rule, but I think it's excessive to call that a "scam", just because you haven't yet figured out how to make it work. Other people clearly have figured out how to make it work. You simply haven't done enough research into how to use Marriott LNF properly!
People are obviously getting successful LNFs at non-North-American locations like Singapore, Rome, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Berlin, Lima, Moscow, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Cologne, Phuket, Paris, Hamburg, Istanbul, etc, etc, etc. You might try searching in that thread for Zurich or Basel (or whatever city you're interested in), then politely (without talking about "scams"!!!!) PM the people who made those posts and ask them if they could tell you which website they used. (Yes, a number of people in that thread do report success with LNFs in Zurich, as recently as this April! And there are multiple success reports for Basel there too!)
The Choice scenario the OP here described seems a real scam to me. The Marriott "voucher" situations for non-North-American stays is an annoying rule, but I think it's excessive to call that a "scam", just because you haven't yet figured out how to make it work. Other people clearly have figured out how to make it work. You simply haven't done enough research into how to use Marriott LNF properly!
People are obviously getting successful LNFs at non-North-American locations like Singapore, Rome, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Berlin, Lima, Moscow, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Cologne, Phuket, Paris, Hamburg, Istanbul, etc, etc, etc. You might try searching in that thread for Zurich or Basel (or whatever city you're interested in), then politely (without talking about "scams"!!!!) PM the people who made those posts and ask them if they could tell you which website they used. (Yes, a number of people in that thread do report success with LNFs in Zurich, as recently as this April! And there are multiple success reports for Basel there too!)
As you may know I started the LNF for newbies thread - I spent sometimes days to score a LNF. I agree, finding a non-voucher site is difficult, but it's not impossible. You can't expect people to spoon-fed you the sites, since we are not bloggers.
Anyway back to OT, the Choice BRG is hopeless - I have had success twice more than a year ago. What OT wrote sounded like a scam to me, have you tried posting that on FB page? I saw someone did it and he got his approved!
Sep 20, 2013, 6:52 am
#18
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Metro DC
Programs: UA Plat, SPG Gold, HH Gold, Priority Club Platinum, Hertz #1 Gold Club
Posts: 291
I was approved for a Choice BRG in Seattle in November took 3 times to get through book it was more operator error than there fault average response time was 8 hours.