Jul 8, 2013, 11:43 am
Last edit by: FLYGVA
Recent discussion (After January 01, 2016) could be found in this thread.
Most important points to consider for a valid BRG:
1. The comparison website MUST bill in the same currency as the hotel .
2. The cancellation terms must be equal or better, than the terms by the hotels.
3. The Website needs to provide INSTANT confirmation.
4. The room names should match, but if you can demonstrate, that the room is comparable, it will also work with discrepancies in the name.
5. The price difference has to be more than either USD 1 or 1% (whichever is higher).
5.b In regards to hotels located in australia and New Zealand the price difference must be greater than 3% .
Hotels for which you will get reimbursed:
(Note: There have been significant problems with getting full reimbursements from IHG, especially for reimbursements in other currencies than USD)
IC Istanbul ( BRG claim from the 17.05.2013/ "Technical Difficulties")
IC Frankfurt ( BRG claim from the 20.08.2013/ "Technical Difficulties")
Link to the Terms and Conditions : https://www.ihg.com/hotels/us/en/cus...rms-conditions
Most important points to consider for a valid BRG:
1. The comparison website MUST bill in the same currency as the hotel .
2. The cancellation terms must be equal or better, than the terms by the hotels.
3. The Website needs to provide INSTANT confirmation.
4. The room names should match, but if you can demonstrate, that the room is comparable, it will also work with discrepancies in the name.
5. The price difference has to be more than either USD 1 or 1% (whichever is higher).
5.b In regards to hotels located in australia and New Zealand the price difference must be greater than 3% .
Hotels for which you will get reimbursed:
(Note: There have been significant problems with getting full reimbursements from IHG, especially for reimbursements in other currencies than USD)
IC Istanbul ( BRG claim from the 17.05.2013/ "Technical Difficulties")
IC Frankfurt ( BRG claim from the 20.08.2013/ "Technical Difficulties")
Link to the Terms and Conditions : https://www.ihg.com/hotels/us/en/cus...rms-conditions
New IHG Best Rate Guarantee - Discussion & Feedback
Apr 5, 2015, 5:23 pm
#6736
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: WAS/TYO
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP (3MM), DL PM, BONVOY TITANIUM, HYATT GLOBALIST, HILTON DIAMOND, IHG DIAMOND AMB, et al
Posts: 5,913
Weird situation, not sure if it's a problem. Got an email for successful BPG at IC Los Angeles. I was booked in the Deluxe Room, at $461 total. I haven't yet received the second email saying that the hotel has accepted the rate change.
Today I checked my IHG reservations. The IC LAX showed as modified. Clicked on it, and it still shows the $461 rate, however, the room type has changed to "ONE BEDROOM EXECUTIVE SUITE WITH BALCONY" from "Deluxe Room". That is a small upgrade on the Deluxe Room that I booked. I did not make this modification. So it seems like the hotel has upgraded me?
The concern obviously is that the modification is seen as one that invalidates the BPG. I'm not too concerned because (a) the rate has remained the same, and (b) I did not make the change.
Anybody have experience with this?
Today I checked my IHG reservations. The IC LAX showed as modified. Clicked on it, and it still shows the $461 rate, however, the room type has changed to "ONE BEDROOM EXECUTIVE SUITE WITH BALCONY" from "Deluxe Room". That is a small upgrade on the Deluxe Room that I booked. I did not make this modification. So it seems like the hotel has upgraded me?
The concern obviously is that the modification is seen as one that invalidates the BPG. I'm not too concerned because (a) the rate has remained the same, and (b) I did not make the change.
Anybody have experience with this?
I've seen this before (most recently at the CP LAX). Essentially it's the hotel pre-upgrading your room (typically, in the days/week before your arrival) in conjunction with a successful BRG. I really wouldn't worry.
-FlyerBeek
Apr 6, 2015, 6:46 am
#6737
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,265
This will not work.
You could have booked the cheapest available room and claim their BPG. Howsoever the risk is on you as a cancellation would not be free of charge and IHG's BPG desk sometimes comes up with ridiculous reasons for denying a valid claim.
This happens regularly though.
- often 1-3 days prior to arrival
- sometimes a few weeks prior to arrival (i.e. during the Octoberfest)
- sometimes their flex rate is not flexible at all (as in your case)
I have faced the same problem while looking for the IC Berlin during the Champions League final in June. Rate available was called "Best flexible" but would have been strict. I did not have the balls to risk >600€ and used a free night instead.
You could have booked the cheapest available room and claim their BPG. Howsoever the risk is on you as a cancellation would not be free of charge and IHG's BPG desk sometimes comes up with ridiculous reasons for denying a valid claim.
This happens regularly though.
- often 1-3 days prior to arrival
- sometimes a few weeks prior to arrival (i.e. during the Octoberfest)
- sometimes their flex rate is not flexible at all (as in your case)
I have faced the same problem while looking for the IC Berlin during the Champions League final in June. Rate available was called "Best flexible" but would have been strict. I did not have the balls to risk >600€ and used a free night instead.
I haven't received any reply yet (and I did send a copy to Amb customer service, altough I don't have high hopes for that) so I will just wait for now. Otherwise, I will be in Da Nang anyway so perhaps will just make the reservation and will file a proper claim.
Apr 7, 2015, 3:49 am
#6738
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: DUS
Posts: 199
On the other hand I still like their BPG desk a lot. I filed a claim yesterday (12:00 pm CET) and 19 hrs later they approved my finding and are trying to adjust my stay ^
Apr 9, 2015, 11:44 am
#6739
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AA EXP, IHG Diamond, IC Amb
Posts: 5,511
This means that you can't claim any "ANA only" Hotel, as they are not eligible for a BRG. However you could claim any IC ANA; CP ANA or whatever on the IHG homepage (or on www.anaihghotels.co.jp).
Before someone tries to argue: I claimed successfully an IC ANA in Japan 4 days ago, so it is definitely possible.
Also I haven't such problems with the brg desk and finding sites (for central europe). Maybe it strongly depends on the region where you search. Are these problems more or less only with US stays or can anyone confirm this for europe also?
Before someone tries to argue: I claimed successfully an IC ANA in Japan 4 days ago, so it is definitely possible.
Also I haven't such problems with the brg desk and finding sites (for central europe). Maybe it strongly depends on the region where you search. Are these problems more or less only with US stays or can anyone confirm this for europe also?
Just now I found another instance where hotels.com is $215/night for my upcoming Tokyo stay and IHG is $300/night.
Im booking through hotels.com this time.
I'm not even risking it.
Last edited by 355F1; Apr 9, 2015 at 11:57 am
Apr 9, 2015, 5:05 pm
#6740
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 8
Here is what I got back from IHG, has anyone else received a reply back like this, I told them no way in hell am I trusting them to reimburse me after my stay, change the booking to reflect a 0.00 charge.
Greetings from IHG’s Best Price Guarantee Support Desk.
Please accept our apologies. We were unable to adjust your reservation to reflect your free night on 01 June 2015 at the Holiday Inn Express Staten Island West. In order to fulfill the BPG promise of providing the first night free for reservation 60825544, we will reimburse the amount you paid via US denominated check. You can expect to receive payment in four to six weeks after you completed your stay.
The check will be sent to your complete mailing address on file:
We look forward to your response. Again, please accept our apologies for any inconvenience that this may cause you.
Best Regards,
(...)
Best Price Guarantee Helpdesk
IHG
Email: [email protected]
www.ihg.com/bestprice
Greetings from IHG’s Best Price Guarantee Support Desk.
Please accept our apologies. We were unable to adjust your reservation to reflect your free night on 01 June 2015 at the Holiday Inn Express Staten Island West. In order to fulfill the BPG promise of providing the first night free for reservation 60825544, we will reimburse the amount you paid via US denominated check. You can expect to receive payment in four to six weeks after you completed your stay.
The check will be sent to your complete mailing address on file:
We look forward to your response. Again, please accept our apologies for any inconvenience that this may cause you.
Best Regards,
(...)
Best Price Guarantee Helpdesk
IHG
Email: [email protected]
www.ihg.com/bestprice
Last edited by FLYGVA; Apr 10, 2015 at 6:36 am Reason: edited name of employee out of post
Apr 10, 2015, 10:27 am
#6741
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Antwerp
Programs: IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 166
Here is what I got back from IHG, has anyone else received a reply back like this, I told them no way in hell am I trusting them to reimburse me after my stay, change the booking to reflect a 0.00 charge.
Greetings from IHG’s Best Price Guarantee Support Desk.
Please accept our apologies. We were unable to adjust your reservation to reflect your free night on 01 June 2015 at the Holiday Inn Express Staten Island West. In order to fulfill the BPG promise of providing the first night free for reservation 60825544, we will reimburse the amount you paid via US denominated check. You can expect to receive payment in four to six weeks after you completed your stay.
The check will be sent to your complete mailing address on file:
We look forward to your response. Again, please accept our apologies for any inconvenience that this may cause you.
Best Regards,
(...)
Best Price Guarantee Helpdesk
IHG
Email: [email protected]
www.ihg.com/bestprice
Greetings from IHG’s Best Price Guarantee Support Desk.
Please accept our apologies. We were unable to adjust your reservation to reflect your free night on 01 June 2015 at the Holiday Inn Express Staten Island West. In order to fulfill the BPG promise of providing the first night free for reservation 60825544, we will reimburse the amount you paid via US denominated check. You can expect to receive payment in four to six weeks after you completed your stay.
The check will be sent to your complete mailing address on file:
We look forward to your response. Again, please accept our apologies for any inconvenience that this may cause you.
Best Regards,
(...)
Best Price Guarantee Helpdesk
IHG
Email: [email protected]
www.ihg.com/bestprice
Your post is very inapropriate. IHG always tries to adjust BPG-reservations because that is in their own best interest. But sometimes the hotel isn't willing or able to adjust within the given time frame. It's always been like that, so don't expect IHG to follow up on your demands... they guarantee a free night, and that is what they confirmed you.
My experience with reimbursements is that IHG always refunds correctly within the 4 to 6 week time frame, never had any problems with that. Those are the rules of the game, they adjust or reimburse. If you don't like that, then don't play the game. And if you can't afford to pre-finance that one night, then you don't even belong in their hotels.
Last edited by Stealthmode; Apr 10, 2015 at 11:49 am
Apr 10, 2015, 1:16 pm
#6742
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 84
I've never had a problem with IHG reimbursing me. In fact, there are a variety of reasons why I prefer when BRGs work out that way. But if you're really going to be a hardliner about them changing the rate, you'll probably wind up disappointed. If the hotel isn't willing or able to adjust the price, there's not much the BPG team can do about it.
Apr 10, 2015, 7:06 pm
#6743
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,265
Well, as expected no answer came. At the time I wanted to make the reservation for a 2 nights stay, the hotel was already fully booked for one of the nights involved. Perhaps availability has opened up again afterwards, but I didn't want to take any risk (ending up a night on the beach with my children 
) so I decided to extend my stay at the Nam Hai. Despite still being short of a few nights for the set your sights (will fix that with a matress run at a cheap Hix), this was after all a better idea anyway I guess, since prices at IC Da Nang were higher than average whilst prices at Nam Hai were, relatively speaking, much more reasonable. Not going to be a slave of my IHG account 
.
Would have been nice to know how they would have handled a BRG given the cancellation policy on some OTA's though.
) so I decided to extend my stay at the Nam Hai. Despite still being short of a few nights for the set your sights (will fix that with a matress run at a cheap Hix), this was after all a better idea anyway I guess, since prices at IC Da Nang were higher than average whilst prices at Nam Hai were, relatively speaking, much more reasonable. Not going to be a slave of my IHG account .Would have been nice to know how they would have handled a BRG given the cancellation policy on some OTA's though.
Don't expect any answer. If you get one you probably have to deal with a text-module not answering your question.
On the other hand I still like their BPG desk a lot. I filed a claim yesterday (12:00 pm CET) and 19 hrs later they approved my finding and are trying to adjust my stay ^
On the other hand I still like their BPG desk a lot. I filed a claim yesterday (12:00 pm CET) and 19 hrs later they approved my finding and are trying to adjust my stay ^
Apr 10, 2015, 7:25 pm
#6744
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: Enough
Posts: 961
Got BRG at Intercontinental Sydney Club Room within 24 hours on Adv. Purchase rate. Rate changed to 0.01 within day. Great work, and very happy!
Apr 12, 2015, 10:24 pm
#6745
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 827
Anybody else notice some weird responses from the BRG group lately in the past few weeks? I've gotten a rejection or two which are clearly incorrect. Everytime I send them back, they're corrected, but still. It's getting slightly obnoxious at this point.
Apr 13, 2015, 5:17 pm
#6746
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: SJC/BUR
Programs: Hyatt Diamond, IHG Platinum, Hilton Gold, Club Carlson Gold, Starwood Gold
Posts: 1,089
I made a booking and filed a claim ten minutes later. Then I get an email two days later that says because I filed a claim over 24 hours later, they wouldn't accept it.
Totally bizarre.
Totally bizarre.
Apr 13, 2015, 11:34 pm
#6747
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 244
BRG not worth the time reading the three letters...
Booked HIE LAX through the website for $123...Bookit.com had it for $113. Because I did not book it through their website for a higher rate, my brg was declined...They further said that the room was no longer available on the bookit site. Well, I checked and sure enough it was still there. I wrote IHG whether I should rebook my stay on their site at the higher rate...I am sure I will get another truthful response...
Apr 14, 2015, 12:14 am
#6748
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 84
Booked HIE LAX through the website for $123...Bookit.com had it for $113. Because I did not book it through their website for a higher rate, my brg was declined...They further said that the room was no longer available on the bookit site. Well, I checked and sure enough it was still there. I wrote IHG whether I should rebook my stay on their site at the higher rate...I am sure I will get another truthful response...
Back to your situation, I'm understanding that you booked through Bookit? If so, with IHG you need to book through their site to submit the claim. Always book a refundable rate (which is why it's tough to find valid claims), or a non-refundable price you'd be willing to pay for even if your claim is denied.
If you have a refundable rate that's still active on Bookit and the higher rate is also available through IHG, I'd cancel, book through IHG, and file the claim again. You're risking paying the difference between the direct and third-party price in the worst case, but if the claim is denied and the cheaper third-party rate is still active you could always rebook it and cancel the direct one.
Apr 14, 2015, 8:01 am
#6749
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: USA
Posts: 37
You'll probably just get a standard form letter back from them - in 24 to 48+ hours. The BRG definitely works if you follow their rules to a 'T' ... most of the time. There are always bad experiences with what should be valid claims, but I've definitely had my share of successes too. The problem is that it’s so difficult to find a valid claim nowadays that it often isn't worth looking.
Back to your situation, I'm understanding that you booked through Bookit? If so, with IHG you need to book through their site to submit the claim. Always book a refundable rate (which is why it's tough to find valid claims), or a non-refundable price you'd be willing to pay for even if your claim is denied.
If you have a refundable rate that's still active on Bookit and the higher rate is also available through IHG, I'd cancel, book through IHG, and file the claim again. You're risking paying the difference between the direct and third-party price in the worst case, but if the claim is denied and the cheaper third-party rate is still active you could always rebook it and cancel the direct one.
Back to your situation, I'm understanding that you booked through Bookit? If so, with IHG you need to book through their site to submit the claim. Always book a refundable rate (which is why it's tough to find valid claims), or a non-refundable price you'd be willing to pay for even if your claim is denied.
If you have a refundable rate that's still active on Bookit and the higher rate is also available through IHG, I'd cancel, book through IHG, and file the claim again. You're risking paying the difference between the direct and third-party price in the worst case, but if the claim is denied and the cheaper third-party rate is still active you could always rebook it and cancel the direct one.
then is my understanding correct that you can only submit BRG for non-refundable rates UNLESS only refundable rates are available and in that case you can BRG against the refundable rate?
I have a hard time understanding all the details of their BRG, lot more complex than other programs.
Apr 14, 2015, 9:37 am
#6750
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 244
Rebooked
To be more clear, I booked on IHG site and compared it with bookit.com. Today, I cancelled the original booking and rebooked on IHG site at the higher flexible rate so it would exactly match the best flexible rate on bookit. If the previous poster is correct and that it requires "non refundable" matches, I am out of luck, but would never trust IHG to even match that, though it is also higher than bookit.com