sxc234

Doesn't take long for them to put a website on a no go list, I was able to get 2 successful BRG claims in recent weeks using getaroom.com.

peteropny

I've made this thread a wiki, perhaps people can put the sites and the date (accepted or denied), it would be helpful for other members to get an idea which sites may or may not work.

Flying Buccaneer

I just entered mine. Feel free to edit what I put there.

I was thinking about calling again to see if a different agent had a different list, if such a list really exists.

Gold Passport Concierge

Good Afternoon and thanks for pointing this out.

I understand exactly what you mean when it'd be nice to have a blacklist of sorts in place, but due to the nature of third party reservation sites, it may cause more harm than good when a site changes their terms to go from being eligible to ineligible (or vice versa). Human error does happen from time to time, but the BRG agents are supposed to be validating (or invalidating) everything on a case-by-case basis and reading the fine print on every reservation (hence why these calls take a bit longer than normal reservations).

The terms and conditions are transparent enough, but I fear are a bit vague at times. The best example of this are "membership sites". This includes free memberships that require no more personal info than an email account. A lot of the invalid sites we check that are invalidated based on this requirement are the ones that automatically enroll you and create a login with your provided details. To keep good terms between ourselves and the third parties I'm referring to, I won't cite any examples, but a lot of the people reading this thread have probably encountered this on at least one occasion. The third parties that are VERY opaque in their policy (to the point where it's not even in their T&C and you have to find out the hard way - booking a room) have to be periodically checked by management to see if they are still enrolling in a membership without consent. If it does not specify in their terms, the agent will go off of their most recent update from management. The others are supposed to be looked into by the BRG agent.

To sum up the T&C of Hyatt's BRG policy in laymans terms (please don't take it as gospel, but it is a good guideline), the agent is looking for:

Same Hyatt? (Physical address is a dead giveaway, we can't match "4 star hotel in downtown Chicago" that may or may not be our property)

Same room? (King vs Double vs Ocean View, etc.)

Same dates? (Priceline for tonight plus Priceline for tomorrow would be considered two claims; you can't just compare that with Hyatt.com's rate offered for today/tomorrow without splitting it identically on both sites)

Same price? If converted currency, is the rate within 1% to the point where the discrepancy is likely just due to currency conversion? Is there an extra adult fee? Hyatt almost always bakes the extra adult fees into the base rate, whereas some third parties like to tack it on in the taxes & fees section. For properties in tax-inclusive jurisdictions, we will be measuring tax-inclusive rates.

Membership required? See above.

Immediately Bookable? A lot of smaller third parties that can't book directly into our system can operate on a delay - so much so that they take your info, request the booking from us, and if it's still available our system returns a confirmation number. If not, they return to you with either the new availability or the lack thereof. This entire process, if not instant, is not considered immediately bookable. Example verbiage: "You will receive a confirmation within X hours/days".

Of course the BRG T&C is the thorough outline for the program, but this is how I mentally arrange it.

Thank you so much for helping us find these outlier rates. We'd obviously rather have your business directly and there's nothing wrong with you as guests demanding the best possible room rates from our website. Please bear in mind that like all of our T&C, this BRG policy is subject to change. This post may not be relevant eventually, so please trust the agent you're speaking with. We're not out to get you, promise!

Safe travels and happy hunting on those BRGs,

Evan V

baliktad

A site that creates a membership based on information supplied in a booking is not a "membership site" and Hyatt should stop treating it this way. This is the weaseliest excuse I have ever heard for denying a BRG.

Here's how you can identify a "membership site":
1) The general public is not allowed to make a reservation
2) Membership has some sort of qualification, like age, location, or shared interest
3) Membership costs something

A site which allows bookings by the general public and just happens to create a membership as a byproduct of making a booking is NOT a membership site in any sense of the word. Stop treating it as such.

Here's the best question to ask when evaluating whether a site is a membership site: What human (of legal age) would NOT be eligible to make a reservation here? If the answer is "no one," then there is no membership.

Gold Passport Concierge

I absolutely understand where you're coming from, but these sites have a different working relationship with Hyatt than the non-membership sites and these are our current policies towards it. With that being said, it's only toxic if I continue further and I apologize but I cannot bring any more to the table when it comes to discussing the "publicly available vs association vs membership" verbiage.

Warm regards,

Evan V

nycvisitor

With all due respect, having BRG program and making 90% of the third-party websites ineligible is a joke. You are not giving out free night, still 5% less discount than Marriott and agents/T&Cs are pain to work with. Good luck with that! It's time you either stop with the (borderline) false advertising completely (aka Hyatt BRG) or revise your T&Cs that make no sense at this time.

Gold Passport Concierge

Happy Saturday FlyerTalkers!

I just wanted to provide some additional clarification on Hyatt's Best Rate Guarantee policy.

At this time, any site that automatically creates a membership is an ineligible site. The site creates a membership, and requires signing in to review the booking or to create any new bookings. There are sites that will let you book as a guest, and those would still be eligible for a BRG.

We are constantly evaluating the process and we welcome your feedback.

If you have any questions regarding a site or BRG process, I am happy to discuss or provide assistance.

Safe travels,

Dana Mowrey
Guest Relations Manager

soonerfanatic

You need to evaluate pointshound.com again. They do not require a membership, and their terms do not specify anything about a membership requirement. I just made a refundable reservation as a test on poinsthound.com AND it did not require me to or automatically create a membership account for me as part of the booking process.

Get it right and educate your BRG agents.

Yul_voyager

First I have to said, the clarification of an official Hyatt GP concierge on the BRG post is really welcomed and appreciated ^
Some other chains are just denying claims for more silly reasons and nobody comes to FT to explain anything.
However, the "voucher" or the "membership" thing is a huge weakness of Hyatt BRG and, as I am concerned, is a source of losing business for Hyatt because there is 2 points which are not acceptable IMO:
- when I know I can go on www.othersite.com and book directly the same room for 80$ which is sold 120$ on Hyatt.com, there is no way I will book the room on Hyatt.com and at this time, I have no interest to book specifically an Hyatt hotel.
- the vast majority of the website which are blacklisted by Hyatt are accepted without any issue by SPG (worldwide) and Marriott (US/Canada). So Hyatt are below the competition when it comes to BRG...

baliktad

This is contrary to the actual written terms of Hyatt's Best Rate Guarantee. The word "membership" doesn't ever appear in the BRG terms and conditions. The actual terms only indicate that the rate must be "publicly available." If a rate is available to be booked by anyone, I believe we can all agree that rate is "publicly available."

It seems the BRG department is arbitrarily crafting rules that are more restrictive the published terms and conditions as a way to deny BRG's that should otherwise be allowed.

Flying Buccaneer

+1

Perhaps to make this process truly transparent, Hyatt could list the blacklisted sites and the reason they are blacklisted in the BRG T&Cs. Based on my recent experiences--0/4 since June 2013 on BRG attempts--I'm beginning to think that all it takes to get on the list is having a lower rate than Hyatt.com.

price123

This is the one that annoys me. I have argued with about 4 levels of people by phone. I think the only thing we can agree to do is disagree.

The other one is e.g. rates on Emirates.com, which BRG say are a travel agent negotiated rate thus not eligible. However, they are openly available and the terms only say "unpublished, negotiated rates" are not eligible, not those published and bookable through another site.

However, I still have around a 90% success rate with requested BRGs, so pretty happy with the program, unlike with IHG.

SamOF

As a Diamond GP member who is generally thrilled with Hyatt, I just want to add my two cents that this interpretation is just plain ridiculous. As mentioned above, the word "membership" doesn't even appear in the Hyatt terms. The verbiage is "publicly available." Hyatt BRG is claiming that a website that lets anyone in the world book and just happens to send you a password after booking is not publicly available. It's not even that I disagree with this interpretation—I simply don't understand Hyatt's thought process here.

If you don't want to offer a best rate guarantee, don't offer one. But just one experience trying to match a rate last year was enough to leave a very bad taste in my mouth. I strongly suggest that corporate think more about the customer experience of the BRG when making these policy decisions.

MightyTravels

I too have my issues with Hyatt/ Hilton/ Club Carlson claiming a Best Rate Guarantee but not honoring its spirit.

It seems the marketing statement is all that counts. Let's see if we can get the general press to write about it. Maybe some more publicity will make the BRG management think to either abolish or honor the BRG.

Hyatt has produced a lot of goodwill (incl. me for a time) with most people here - would be a shame to waste it...