Dolphinyong

That's a good sign...Check out your reservation here : http://m.ihg.com/hotels/priorityclub/us/en/home

want2fly4less

Thanks, I was able to pull it up on the mobile site. It is now set on House use Complimentary and a price of 0,01 € ...

tMonk1

Once you have a BRG claim approved (I think the case managers call it "validated") you can not have a claim approved for the same date at any IHG property anywhere. So if you cancel the approved BRG you have already for - say - May 31, and try to book another BRG at a hotel within 50 or 500 miles of the one you cancelled for May 31 - you will be denied. I learned this the hard way
However, if you are travelling with another person - even a "household member", that person can make a reservation and file a BRG claim for the second location that you prefer and you can be the "guest." It is the name on the reservation that counts as an approval or "validation" and since you are not seeking consecutive night, the alternate person should be approved.

As far as providing a "guest name." I believe they want you to do that so they can co-relate "houshold members" to make sure people are not booking consecutive days in alternate family members names, contrary to T&C. Personally, I felt the request for a guest name initially was an invasion of privacy and that is should be up to me to provide the name of my guest it I wanted, not up to their demands. I even ponted out that I doubted that General David Petraeus, former DIrector of the CIA, or former NY Governor Elliott Spitzer would have willing supplied the guest names of the women they dallied with at various hotels. Mind you they were not after a BRG I also pointed out that some of my reservations are 8 months in advance and my "guest" could easily change through shifts of affection of the heart, any manner of other deployment, critical injury or even change of sex. I did thisis all quite tongue in cheek, and I am still not sure how it was interrpreted in the Phillipines.

Ultimately, I was told by a case manager that the guest name was for their reference and, of course, it could be changed and only the primary guest whose name is on the reservation would be required to provide identification per the T&Cs. So if you know you are going to be travelling with a guest you could list she or he as Bat Guano, and no BRG case manager could challenge you. I think, maybe. I generally list the name of the guest I am travelling with so that they are formally on the reservation and can receive phone calls and messages without a hassel. Just a bit of imformation I thought I'd pass ablong....

mitpat474

I have found a possible BRG, where everything qualifies however the room type slightly differs. Priority club shows room types as:Stand, deluxe, exec, suite.
The competing web site shows double superior only.

Judging by the rates i would think superior matches that of the deluxe room.

Any thoughts of this qualifying?

scubaccr

That's how hotels dump rooms at lower special rates, change room title to a title non-existant on the IHG/PCR site for their room types.
Unlike PCR site 3rd part sites don't expand room types to a full room description, so we can't match for a brg.

cz4444

Any experiences with BRGs in Japan? Do they look after the second guest, if I put a fantasy name on my reservation?

platbrownguy

On April 2, I called the BRG Support Desk and was told that my claim was valid. Crowne Plaza Times Square NY, $351? on (Website Removed) vs. $389 on IHG. I was given the 8-digit confirmation number.

I then booked nonrefundable travel and theatre tickets.

On May 6, I received an email with screenshots purporting to show that the Best Rate folks had made a mistake and that the $351 rate was also available on IHG. I've had 5 other successful BRG claims so I've searched the IHG site before, and when I did my search, it wasn't there. Perhaps the rate was added two seconds later, but when I called and was told that I was approved, why would I keep checking? Anyhow, the email said that my claim was now denied.

I responded by email stating that I had already been approved on the phone, that I had relied on that approval in making nonrefundable purchases, and that I expected the rate to remain "free" as promised. I asked them to confirm that this would be the case. 7 days have passed and I have not received a reply.

What would you do if you were in my situation?

1) Cancel and rebook elsewhere? (thankfully the rate is Best Flexible, as I would not pay that sum to stay at the Crowne Plaza when I could book the St. Regis for $495 and get a Starwood upgrade...).

2) Call and haggle? Ask for a supervisor? Is there a better number to call than the Phillipines desk?

3) Send an email to someone other than my reply the BRG agent who sent me the denial?

4) Go to the hotel, present my card, ask the rate to be free based on the initial approval, seek reimbursement from IHG after the fact if it doesn't happen, and charge it back if all else fails?

5) Something else?


Unless I'm missing something, even though it's a free room, their approval of the rate adjustment should be binding where I have justifiably and foreseeably relied on it to my detriment. I understand that they may have made a mistake. I make mistakes all the time. I pay for them, and if I make a mistake to a client, I don't wait for them to ask.

Thoughts?

Novagal

Is it me or does this thread hide the competing site information really well? lol. I'm trying to find out what websites people have been able to use for successful foreign BRGs, especially for Hong Kong. Any pointers?

platbrownguy

Well, that was fast. Just got this response from IHG. How would you respond?

nacho

Have you got any proof that you got an approval over the phone? That's the reason why I always use the online form to make sure.

If you have no proof, you have no case - sorry.

However if I were you I'd push for more points - 2k points is the points they can give you without approval.

holtju2

Use Skype and record the phone call for "quality control" purposes. That's what I do.

tangey

Basically what happened is that BRG told you your night was free, emailed the claim to the hotel, the hotel came back and countered the claim citing that the rate wasn't available/IHG rate was now cheaper or whatever, and basically told BRG dept they would not comply.

Although it is totally unfair for BRG to tell people the night is free, when the hotel is still given the opportunity to deny it, it has been proven to happen in the past.

If the hotel simply says it won't comply for reasons it can not demonstrate, IHG will normally pay for the night themselves by reimbursing you afterwards. If the hotel presents a reason, then BRG will retrospectively deny the claim, unless you can show that the reason for the denial is wrong. I had a case that the hotel denied, citing that my on file credit card had been rejected. BRG then told me that my BRG was denied. I was able to show that far from being rejected, it had been charged two weeks earlier. BRG re-instated the claim, and the hotel accepted.

nacho

Never used Skype - thanks for the tip!

Pseudo Nim

Curious about something. I am considering doing a BRG for a room that prices out lower than IHG on another site for the London Park Lane property. However, I have a 2-year-old child with me, and including vs excluding him has no impact on the room price, except on the competing website. Is this something I can add to the reservation later? How does the checkin desk look at this? Technically, he does not need a bed, just need a roll-away crib, and I usually book 2 adults, 0 children because of this - but I have never tried this with BRG. Just curious about others' experiences.

Thanks,

-pN

mitpat474

Is it best flex or advance purchase?