Ambraciot

At what point is reserving flexible rate rooms that are likely to have a price drop in the next 24 hours and either BRGing or canceling them considered abusive? I haven't tried it yet, but I've seen a lot of rate reductions in the last 48 hours.

Shimon

Found this one manually. Crowne Plaza Shanghai Harbour City. Available on weekends and Chinese holidays for multiple room types with breakfast. The suite has a different name but same description. Got approved for the suite.

Cheaper rate at ctrip.com

Agent said ctrip BRG need approval from a manager. I was also told that they can only take one confirmation number per call so I filed the rest online.

nacho

Did you book ADP rate?

Shimon

Best Flexible with breakfast. Only option with breakfast. New hotel... guess they are new to IHG booking site.

nacho

Thanks!

Ambraciot

I found and submitted a request for Holiday Inn Express SAN DIEGO SOUTH-NATIONAL CITY for a Saturday in May. The lower rate is bookable through aavacations, which is where aa.com sends stand alone hotel bookings.
__________________________
It's been verified and approved. I like hotel rate guarantees, until last week I'd never seriously looked at them.

mrnik2007

Sorry, but this rate matching seems completely bogus. I dont know how you guys have been able to price match anything....

My room is best flexible rate... comparing website (getaroom.com) had the same policy... However, as it is a 3rd party, they require one more day to allow pre-cancellation. Crowne is denying it for this reason.

Any suggestions?

They also stated the same thing against www.aavacations.com and reservetravel.com
After she denied those two on the phone, she then said, "This room doesnt qualify for the best rate guarantee anyways, since you can buy the advanced purchase rate for $100". I stated that aavacations has it for $83 as a flexible rate, so its still lower... But she denied it anyways.



-------------------------------------------


Thank you for contacting our office regarding the Best Price Guarantee in reference to rates at the Crowne Plaza Tampa – Westshore. We appreciate the opportunity to assist you with this matter.

As per the terms of the program, al l p rice or rate terms, including, but not limited to pre-payment, deposit or other requirements must be equal to or more restrictive than the terms found on an IHG website to be used for comparison. For example, when you book a room that may be cancelled without penalty on an IHG website, you may not compare it to a room with a pre-paid or non-refundable price on a non-IHG website. If, however, you book a pre-paid or non-refundable rate on an IHG website, you may compare it to a cancellable or refundable rate on a non-IHG website.



Please be advised that the cancellation policy at www.getaroom.com states that guest has the option to cancel the reservation on or before 10 June 2012, otherwise one-night payment applies.



On the other hand, you have the option of cancelling your booked reservation in our website on or before 6:00 PM (local hotel time) on Tuesday, 11 June 2012. Hence, since the lower rate does not have the same rate restriction as IHG, your claim won’t qualify for the Best Price Guarantee.

Thank you for taking the time reading this mail.

Should you have further questions regarding the specific Terms and Conditions of the program, you may visit: http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/ihg/hot...care/bwc_lp/tc


Best Regards,

Mr. Ferdie Nantes
Best Price Guarantee
Guest Relations
InterContinental Hotels Group
Phone: 800.447.2981
Email: [email protected]
www.ichotelsgroup.com/bestprice
Reference No. 27636239

kipper

The cancellation policy MUST be the same or less severe on the other website.

nacho

I got a free night with breakfast at HI Berlin City West. The funny thing is that IHG's flex rate has a rather strict cancellation policy - if you wish to cancel, you must do so at least 7 days before arrival day. Voila! Most third party sites require 1-3 days. This IS what I need for BRG. I don't want to book ADP and stuck with it.

So best flex is not as 'flex' as it could be.

al613

Thank you for the info.

MDtR-Chicago

I had an interesting experience with BRG last week. Found a lower rate, submitted the form, and received back a very detailed rejection, with screen shots, showing my rate was not actually lower and had a different cancellation policy.

Turns out I had sent them a bad link, so they saw a different price. Also, the wording of the cancellation policy was unclear to me. So I figured it wouldn't hurt to call in.

I walked the rep, step by step, thru the process I used to see the rate. Finally she saw a lower rate. But then she wanted to deny based on the cancellation policy. However, without my prompting she went back and looked at IHG's policy again. Apparently the hotel had changed its cancellation policy between when I booked and when I talked to her. Because of that, my reservation now qualified and rather than make me cancel and rebook, she simply accepted what I had already done.

Took about 20 minutes but it ended up working out. However, I've got to wonder, how often are hotels weaseling out of this by contracting with 3rd parties and setting unusual cancellation policies - different by a day or an hour?

samwkchan

Glad for you! What were the cancellation policies that you intended to send them, you eventually sent them and they saw when you called? It seems strange if they have relaxed the third-party cancellation policy or tightened their own cancellation policy.

MDtR-Chicago

Originally I saw something like this...

IHG: Cancel one day prior by 3pm
Other website: We do not have any cancellation penalties. We only pass along the hotel's own policy, which is two days prior by noon. (At the point when I booked, it was inside the limit, so effectively non-cancellable. The site ALSO displayed completely non-cancellable prepay rates, as well.)

An argument could be made that those policies are no different, as the 3rd party claims it will honor whatever the hotel says. If I had actually booked thru the 3rd party and then called the hotel and was told the policy is one day prior, I think a credit card challenge of the no-show could be successful.

But, obviously, the BRG desk argued against that interpretation.

When I called, this is what I was told...

IHG: No cancellable rate type available - so non-cancellable
3rd party: Same as before, so non-cancellable

robertwcook16

Just got one approved last night for Christmas eve at the Intercontinental Boston. Cancellable rate on aavacations.com $258 for King cityview - on IHG.com $369 for King Cityside non refundable. Rep was very helpful as I had reserved the best flexible rate. When he said it would be denied because I hadn't booked the lowest rate, I asked if I changed the reservation to the advance purchase rate, would it go through?? He actually called the hotel to make sure that the room types were the same and called me back within a half hour to tell me that if I changed the reservation the BRG would be approved. Changed the reservation while he was still on the phone, and was approved!!! Now just waiting for the adjustment to the rate by the hotel...

sbbi

Did you have to book a Advance Purchase room? thanks.