robertwcook16

Got the verification emails this morning that my reservation is designated as complimentary for Christmas Eve !!

sbbi

Can anyone pls tell me generally speaking within how many days before the arrival date IHG sites will remove Advance Purchase option for a hotel?

I understand that IHG only honors BRG for the lowest rate (for the same room type/features/date..) including Advance Purchase, is it correct?

Thanks.

nacho

Generally 21 days or 7 days, but keep your option wide by searching various kinds of rooms, breakfast (if they don't do the second person charge), which might give you a good chance that you can avoid BRG using ADP rate.

Shimon

Well they now have loaded all rates onto IHG.com

tangey

Quick post to say that our BPG at the CP Manchester city centre went fine at the property. Not even mentioned at checkin (we had the previous night booked on a pre paid rate). We were given one of the better rooms, and given full platinum
Priveldges, including late check out.

xcalx

Update on San Juan Intercontinental. No problem at check-in or check-out no mention of the free night, only paid for bar drinks. Same for my partner who checked in the following day. We did have to move rooms as I was upgraded for the first night.

cal

graemef

Can anyone add any clarity on this room

"A guest must book the lowest available hotel room price through the Best Available price search - for the type of accommodations sought - in order to qualify for the Best Price Guarantee."

What exactly does this mean. For example if the options are

1. A double room
2. A double room but with a beach view

Would I get penalised for comparing the beach view room as the double only room is cheaper? They maybe the same bed but the rooms are different surely?

tangey

They are different room types, so provided the SAME room type exists on the 3rd party, then you can use that same room type. ie. if you want a beach view, you have to use the cheapest beach view price on IHG, and compare it to a beach view on the 3rd party. If the 3rd party doesn't specify "beach view" then you have to use the non-beach view price on IHG.

graemef

Thanks for this. Well that's what I've done.

From what I can see I've got

1. The same hotel
2. The same date
3. The same room type
4. The same currency
5. The same cancellation policy

and I've found it slightly cheaper. Is there anything else I should be aware of?

graemef

oh and importantly the same rate type.

Would I get penalised given I am comparing a flexible rate when the advanced purchase is cheaper or does that not matter as long as the 3rd party is the flexible as well?

mrredskin

govt rates do not apply, i assume? since it states "general public" rates i was thinking no. govt rate is available through one site but not thru PC/HIX

GlobalExpat

First let me start off by saying how happy I am to have found this site, it's phenomenal. I figure I'd start off by offering the method I have used in the past to score free rooms. I've only got four so far and the only time I actually had to argue a very little bit was because the off-site room offered breakfast and was cheaper, while the PC site had same room type, same restrictions, just didn't offer it. They gave it to me..

Let me preface this by saying I just reviewed the T&C and they changed the $1.00 part to include "or 1% whichever is higher" so you've got to do the math.

Actually, I almost had a heart attack when I thought I scored a free Ambassador Suite at the IC Kuala Lumpur on New Years Eve last year, that's when I found the $1.00 part, the one I found off site was only $0.90 cheaper, it almost cost me $1700.00 US so reread them every time. Ooo so close.

So here's what I do:

I created a bookmark folder, for quick access, that has http://www.hotelscombined.com/ http://www.hotelcalculator.com/ and http://www.kayak.com/hotels you could do others but I really can't be bothered. So open those up in a browser and the PC site in another window. I do this because so many numbers can really get to me, dual displays are really nice here.

Anyways, log into to PC, reservations/find & book, location, date, # of people, make sure rate preference is “Best Available” and whatever other options you want. Search away.

So I'm searching IC in Kuala Lumpur, May 18th one night two people. Little get away just down the road. Sort by room type first. Leave currency in MYR for now. I sort by room type because it's easier to match up on other sites and keeps them categorized better, you can see rate types on the right side.

Go to off sites and plug in the same dates/people/property. On those three I mentioned to you it's easy to filter by name. So I see hotelscombined has hotels.com listed cheaper than IC by $4.00, good sign, click it, forget you have pop up blocker on and wonder why it's not working, fix that and now were on hotels.com. Always click the “show more rooms” if you're going to get something for free, why not try to get the best.

Edit: Here's where you want to make sure the checkout screen on PC is in the same currency as the off-site checkout screen. I looks like Malaysia switches back to MYR so you'd need to change to an off-site that allows the same currency. hotelscombined leads to hotels.com where you can book in MYR so let's use that.

You'll get to the checkout screen on PC and see the total price per night RM473.28 and on hotels.com RM473.28. For the sake of argument let's say hotels.com is cheaper. You double check that dates, people, room type, breakfast, AP or Flex rates match, Flex = Normal price, they all match and you're ready to book.

Fire up Skype and dial the US toll free number 1-800-447-2981 for the Best Price Guarantee Support Desk. It doesn't matter where you are in the world you can still call toll free to the States with just a regular, no money, Skype account.

I never had to wait anytime I called, they picked up right away. Guess they're bored processing online claims. So while you were waiting for Skype to start up you finalized your booking on PC and have your confirmation number. Tell the individual you want to exercise the Best Price Guarantee, give him your confirmation number, and give him the other sites name and let him do his thing. If he doesn't find it, you can walk him through the entire process you used, he's at a computer doing it right there. Send him to hotelscombined, tell him info to put in, choose hotels.com, etc etc, exactly how you did it. I once had a different price from the site direct than going through a proxy.

They'll eventually get there and confirm you have a winner, then they'll call your hotel and your stay will be free.

It was a fun thing to do for awhile but I got bored quickly and prefer points anyways. You won't be awarded any for a free room. Oh, but only if you were....

Thanks Guys

Oh and I did use the forum search function and didn't find a guide, walkthrough, what have you. So if I missed it and wasted 20 minutes of my day, and two minutes of yours, sorry.

mrnik2007

Yes, they will deny you. You must be comparing the CHEAPEST rate available on their own site.

First:
Make sure you book the lowest priced room on IHGs website. (If you book a flex fare when advanced is available, they will not price match... even if the 3rd party site is lower than both)

Then:
Try to price match.

My results: IHG will try to find any reason to avoid giving you the free room. They will say that "your suite includes a sofa... the IHG suite states sleeper sofa". etc.

They suck.

tangey

samwkchan

This trick won't work because the third-party website must use the hotel currency (MYR in your case) to quote and book in order to fulfill the BRG requirement.

If you click to book the room on PC website, you should find that they charge you in MYR regardless of what currency you choose on the room selection page. Since Orbitz charges you in USD but not MYR, your BRG must fail. In other words, you must find a website quoting and booking the room in MYR for BRG. It is the hard part to do if the hotel currency is not a worldwide used currency like USD and EUR.

Some booking websites offer a 1% off when you click through Kayak. However, it is not regarded as a "publicly accessible" way to reserve rooms, so it shouldn't work. Please correct me if you have had a successfully claim with this trick.