bsb21

So, just got my first claim approved for a 2000EUR Penthouse Suite.

Kayak had a rate $9 lower last friday (snagged and sent screenshot, now only $3 lower). Best Flexible was the only rate offered for the Penthouse and lower room categories did not make the $5 difference cut.

Originally, got the "we are gonna investigate" email and sent and a polite reminder today. Got approved within a few hours.

Now we wait for the adjustment and it gets interesting!

Will the hotel S**T a brick over a 2000 EUR comp suite?

Vacation time

So if you do a refundable breakfast room the cancellation policy must match??

Estratos

@bsb21 Just got me first claim approved in PEK! No questions asked, they approved it right away (although still waiting for rate adjustment)

PS. Is the Penthouse somewhere in PEK?

bsb21

Congrats! Its great to hear that we have gotten past mailand claims being denied!

Which PEK property were you able to score? We have 1001 here and some are very far away from the action.

btw, The Penthouse is in the Mediterranean! Altough, I would really love a nice staycation!

Estratos

I claimed BRG for the CP Beijing Sun Palace. Just a superior room, for starters

So many hotels, so many opprotunities for the BRG

lfc84

If I find a third party site and the difference is about $3 then they wont honour the claim?

bsb21

If the BRG claim involves a currency conversion, the difference must be at least $5. If no conversion is required, the difference must be at least $1.

MattGreenfield

The T&C states:
"The price difference between IHG’s website and a competing website, when comparing the same currencies, must be at least $1 per night in order to qualify for the Guarantee. If the price difference involves comparing two different currencies, then the price difference must be at least $5 per night to qualify for the Guarantee.. IHG uses OANDA® currency converter when verifying currency differences."

lfc84

Thanks. Admittedly I'm in a rush today and haven't studied it

carrotjuice

On the same day that the hotel wrote to me to confirm the free night, the rate on my alternative website was switched from "instant confirmation" to "on request".

Hawkwind1966

I am a long time Platinum member Staying 50+ nights a year. Following the announcement of the new offer - I thought I would test it.

I found a cheaper price within 24 hours that met all the criteria describe (same room type and terms etc).

I filled in the on-line form and submitted. I was told they would get back within 24 hours.

After a weekend wait I called them, but ICH could not find my application (this has happened to me with other issues I have raised using their forms system and I have been told by an agent that it does seem to happen)

The suggestion that I was either confused or was lying. They could not find the offer on Opodo, so would not provide the free night.

I have tried to complain, but have spent ages being sent around different departments and cut off. Finanally last night I was promised a manager would call be back within half an hour, but has failed to do so. This is a very different experience to that I have been used to with ICH and Priority Club - it seems (now that many of our calls from the UK go to the US) that the level of service provided in the US by ICH is not the same as I have been used to in the UK.

However, here is the important thing that I really wanted to explain to the manager in the US. They have built an offer that is dependent on them checking the3rd party website provided by the customer to see if a cheaper price is available.

As prices on the web and hotel availability changes in real time, this is not possible and will result in the offer identified not being available by the time they check. This can be true is it is 1 minute later or longer.

As they are using this as the evidence onto whether to agree to their offer or not - it is always going to be unfair on the customer (and this offer is for loyal card carrying customers) unless they are lucky and the same hotel offer is available at that moment.

At a minimum this is going to create dissatisfaction with loyal customers which surely cannot be the purpose of the offer. More importantly, it (in my view) is against the Fair Trade Act within the UK and as the phone calls are charged in the UK, it could also be an issue for Trading Standards - it unintentially looks like a marketing scam of old (phone this chargable number for a prize that either doesnt exist or is valued at less than the cost of the call). I have put this into an email into ICH and await a response. However, as a long term loyal customer who is usually complementary about ICH (check my previous posts) this annoys me greatly and unless I get a sensible reply with an improvement to the way this offer is managed, it is my duty to raise it with Trading Standards for investigation. It is simple to solve - they need uis to supply the evidence - which is a cut of the web page at the moment we are raising the request or use their CRM to trust that their loyal customers are not lying to them (this is how Amazon work - and they seem quite successful at retaining loyalty).

However, it would also be wrong of me to just accept that this is how I (we) loyal customers should be treated, I am now booking outside of ICH and doing the same for my teams until this is resolved - OK a few dozen bookings isn't going to go noticed by them, but it does make me feel better.

Please just take this as a personal warning to this new offer, you are welcome to try it for yourself - maybe I have just been unlucky.
....

Goonerfish

this is your first post??

Sorry to hear about your experience....however, there is a thread dedicated to the new BRG so would be best put in there

Estratos

My second claim for a different hotel in PEK. Not so obvious to IHG :/

1. I booked the cheapest best available rate (best flexible with breakfast) for CNY1168.
2. I found the exact same room with breakfast for CNY1068 at a 3rd party site.
3. Filed a claim.
4. Got response (with screenshots!) of the 3rd party site's rate being 1068 and the updated rate at ihg.com for the same room for CNY1068.

And now they are denying to honour BRG, because the IHG and 3rdPS rates are the same. Of course they are, because they have changed it!

Shouldn't they compare the cheapest avaialble price at the moment of my booking with the 3rd party site's price at the moment of their verification?

lfc84

I have found a rate on a 3rd party site as follows:

bed and full breakfast
2 adults
cancellation policy:
if you cancel 0-7 working days prior to arrival or no show then charged 1 night. all other cancellations 15% of booking.

on ihg their rate for 2 adults "advance purchase rate with breakfast" is higher, but this is 100% non refundable at any time.


does anyone know if this claim would be valid?

im reluctant to try it due to the non refundable part of this process

bsb21

Wow, that's a new low, even for IHG.