Apr 17, 2017, 8:50 am
Last edit by: FLYGVA
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
Older Thread (Prior to December 31, 2016) could be found here. The Wiki was taken from this thread.
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
Older Thread (Prior to December 31, 2016) could be found here. The Wiki was taken from this thread.
New IHG Best Rate Guarantee - Discussion & Feedback from January 2016
Jan 22, 2017, 6:04 am
#616
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: CPH
Programs: UAMP S, TK M&S E (*G), Marriott LTP, IHG P, SK EBG
Posts: 11,095
I haven't had luck with BRG for a couple of years, but I think I found a valid claim for the Lowest Price Promise for a Holiday Inn in Germany.
It's a non-refundable rate, though, so I'm wary and would like advice on whether to book the Your Rate non-refundable or YR non-refundable + breakfast. There are a variety of OTAs with lower rates. I'm not sure if I can compare rates with better cancellation policies than IHG's or not:
Amoma.com - has 2 lower rates: one for room only, "semiflexible" (partial refund for cancellations 5+ days in advance) OR one for "nonrefundable, breakfast included"
Elvoline.com - has lower rate with breakfast, fully refundable if cancelled 2+ weeks in advance
otel.com - has lower rates for both room and room + breakfast, fully refundable if cancelled 5+ days in advance
hotels.com - has lower rates both for room only and room + breakfast; both are essentially non-refundable (90% refund if cancelled before 5 PM day of arrival, which seems in line with the clause/rule below)
To complicate things, Germany seems to have a unique rule:
Rate Rules:
Cancellation Policy: Booking requires full prepayment for the entire stay, charged to your credit card between time of booking and day of arrival. Cancelling your reservation or failing to arrive results in forfeiting your prepayment less a deduction for the saved expenses to the hotel (generally 10% of booking price), which will be repaid to your credit card. Taxes may apply. *Cancellation policy for hotels in Germany: There will be a deduction from this charge for expenses saved by the hotel (generally 10% of the booking price).
I'm not sure if this is a government-mandated law (in which case even the 'non-refundable' rates of the other OTAs would also give back 10% even if they don't state this), or if this means I shouldn't even attempt a claim since no other OTA lists this clause exactly - though hotels.com comes close.
If anyone can recommend which room/rate to book and which OTA to challenge for LPP, I'd greatly appreciate advice.
It's a non-refundable rate, though, so I'm wary and would like advice on whether to book the Your Rate non-refundable or YR non-refundable + breakfast. There are a variety of OTAs with lower rates. I'm not sure if I can compare rates with better cancellation policies than IHG's or not:
Amoma.com - has 2 lower rates: one for room only, "semiflexible" (partial refund for cancellations 5+ days in advance) OR one for "nonrefundable, breakfast included"
Elvoline.com - has lower rate with breakfast, fully refundable if cancelled 2+ weeks in advance
otel.com - has lower rates for both room and room + breakfast, fully refundable if cancelled 5+ days in advance
hotels.com - has lower rates both for room only and room + breakfast; both are essentially non-refundable (90% refund if cancelled before 5 PM day of arrival, which seems in line with the clause/rule below)
To complicate things, Germany seems to have a unique rule:
Rate Rules:
Cancellation Policy: Booking requires full prepayment for the entire stay, charged to your credit card between time of booking and day of arrival. Cancelling your reservation or failing to arrive results in forfeiting your prepayment less a deduction for the saved expenses to the hotel (generally 10% of booking price), which will be repaid to your credit card. Taxes may apply. *Cancellation policy for hotels in Germany: There will be a deduction from this charge for expenses saved by the hotel (generally 10% of the booking price).
I'm not sure if this is a government-mandated law (in which case even the 'non-refundable' rates of the other OTAs would also give back 10% even if they don't state this), or if this means I shouldn't even attempt a claim since no other OTA lists this clause exactly - though hotels.com comes close.
If anyone can recommend which room/rate to book and which OTA to challenge for LPP, I'd greatly appreciate advice.
Jan 22, 2017, 2:37 pm
#617
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: West Coast, USA
Programs: Skywards Platinum
Posts: 3,747
I just got denied for this. IC Palazzo in Vegas only lists refundable rates, $229/night. OTA has non-refundable for $139/night. Filed BRG and was denied since OTA was non-refundable and I booked a refundable on IHG.com.
I emailed back that there is no option to book refundable on IHG.com and I compared lowest price on IHG.com with lowest price on OTA, waiting for a response but not sure what to expect.
Here is the email:
"We have verified the competing site www.agoda.com and we were able to find out that the lower rate is listed and available. However, please note that you have booked a flexible rate where it is possible to cancel the reservation without penalty before 6:00 PM (local hotel time) on Saturday, 4 February, 2017 will result in no charge, while the third-party site levies a Non Refundable Rate. Please be advised that this would make the lower rate being claimed more restrictive than the reservation you have booked and as such we are unable to compare the two rates for the purpose of the Guarantee."
I emailed back that there is no option to book refundable on IHG.com and I compared lowest price on IHG.com with lowest price on OTA, waiting for a response but not sure what to expect.
Here is the email:
"We have verified the competing site www.agoda.com and we were able to find out that the lower rate is listed and available. However, please note that you have booked a flexible rate where it is possible to cancel the reservation without penalty before 6:00 PM (local hotel time) on Saturday, 4 February, 2017 will result in no charge, while the third-party site levies a Non Refundable Rate. Please be advised that this would make the lower rate being claimed more restrictive than the reservation you have booked and as such we are unable to compare the two rates for the purpose of the Guarantee."
Jan 23, 2017, 4:03 pm
#619
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DAY
Posts: 513
I just got denied for this. IC Palazzo in Vegas only lists refundable rates, $229/night. OTA has non-refundable for $139/night. Filed BRG and was denied since OTA was non-refundable and I booked a refundable on IHG.com.
I emailed back that there is no option to book refundable on IHG.com and I compared lowest price on IHG.com with lowest price on OTA, waiting for a response but not sure what to expect.
Here is the email:
"We have verified the competing site www.agoda.com and we were able to find out that the lower rate is listed and available. However, please note that you have booked a flexible rate where it is possible to cancel the reservation without penalty before 6:00 PM (local hotel time) on Saturday, 4 February, 2017 will result in no charge, while the third-party site levies a Non Refundable Rate. Please be advised that this would make the lower rate being claimed more restrictive than the reservation you have booked and as such we are unable to compare the two rates for the purpose of the Guarantee."
I emailed back that there is no option to book refundable on IHG.com and I compared lowest price on IHG.com with lowest price on OTA, waiting for a response but not sure what to expect.
Here is the email:
"We have verified the competing site www.agoda.com and we were able to find out that the lower rate is listed and available. However, please note that you have booked a flexible rate where it is possible to cancel the reservation without penalty before 6:00 PM (local hotel time) on Saturday, 4 February, 2017 will result in no charge, while the third-party site levies a Non Refundable Rate. Please be advised that this would make the lower rate being claimed more restrictive than the reservation you have booked and as such we are unable to compare the two rates for the purpose of the Guarantee."
Feb 8, 2017, 12:03 am
#620
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Andover, MA, 01810
Posts: 1,972
New Zealand?
Can anyone suggest sites for New Zealand in NZD? I could only find airnewzealand.com, and that's it. Others will display NZD if you ask, but don't appear to actually bill in NZD. In exchange I can share successful strategies for USD.
Feb 12, 2017, 5:48 am
#623
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DAY
Posts: 513
I've gotten this many times before. It just depends how long they take to reply back. It could be a few hours, a day, a week, a month. You can always follow up after a couple weeks if you don't hear anything by then. They should respond before your stay though. When I get this response, sometimes they come back saying my claim is valid, but other times they say it's denied. It doesn't necessarily mean your claim has been denied.
Feb 12, 2017, 12:12 pm
#624
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: MDW, ORD
Posts: 332
Apologies if this has already been covered in this thread. I did try a search and came up empty. I have a question about a recent "Best Price Guarantee" claim which was approved.
First, just to add my data point, my claim was submitted at approximately 6:20 p.m. CST Saturday night and I received the e-mail at 1:45 a.m. Sunday informing me that my claim had been approved. So about a 7.5 hour response time.
Now with regard to the details of my claim. The IHG.com rates for the stay in question were as follows:
Night 1 - $396.90
Night 2 - $274.40
Night 3 - $249.90
Night 4 - $274.40
Night 5 - $216.58
Night 6 - $316.54
Total: $1701.72 Nightly Avg: $283.62
The rates on the "other site" for my stay were as follows:
Night 1 - $344.25
Night 2 - $238.00
Night 3 - $216.75
Night 4 - $238.00
Night 5 - $187.85
Night 6 - $274.55
Total: $1499.40 Nightly Avg: $249.90
As per the terms of the Best Price Guarantee, "we will provide you with the first night’s room price at the IHG hotel free and match the lower average nightly room price found for your entire stay for the rest of the nights of your stay."
So now on to my actual question. They will not INCREASE the rate for night 5 of the stay from $216.58 to $249.90, will they? The above sentence kind of makes it sound like the last five nights of the stay will all be adjusted to $249.90, but that obviously wouldn't make sense with regard to the night that was originally lower than that. However, I know that just because it doesn't make sense doesn't mean they wouldn't do it. I just want to know what would normally happen in this scenario.
First, just to add my data point, my claim was submitted at approximately 6:20 p.m. CST Saturday night and I received the e-mail at 1:45 a.m. Sunday informing me that my claim had been approved. So about a 7.5 hour response time.
Now with regard to the details of my claim. The IHG.com rates for the stay in question were as follows:
Night 1 - $396.90
Night 2 - $274.40
Night 3 - $249.90
Night 4 - $274.40
Night 5 - $216.58
Night 6 - $316.54
Total: $1701.72 Nightly Avg: $283.62
The rates on the "other site" for my stay were as follows:
Night 1 - $344.25
Night 2 - $238.00
Night 3 - $216.75
Night 4 - $238.00
Night 5 - $187.85
Night 6 - $274.55
Total: $1499.40 Nightly Avg: $249.90
As per the terms of the Best Price Guarantee, "we will provide you with the first night’s room price at the IHG hotel free and match the lower average nightly room price found for your entire stay for the rest of the nights of your stay."
So now on to my actual question. They will not INCREASE the rate for night 5 of the stay from $216.58 to $249.90, will they? The above sentence kind of makes it sound like the last five nights of the stay will all be adjusted to $249.90, but that obviously wouldn't make sense with regard to the night that was originally lower than that. However, I know that just because it doesn't make sense doesn't mean they wouldn't do it. I just want to know what would normally happen in this scenario.
Feb 13, 2017, 4:26 am
#625
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Amsterdam, Asia, UK
Programs: IHG RA (Spire), HH Diamond, MR Platinum, SQ Gold, KLM Gold, BAEC Gold
Posts: 5,072
Apologies if this has already been covered in this thread. I did try a search and came up empty. I have a question about a recent "Best Price Guarantee" claim which was approved.
First, just to add my data point, my claim was submitted at approximately 6:20 p.m. CST Saturday night and I received the e-mail at 1:45 a.m. Sunday informing me that my claim had been approved. So about a 7.5 hour response time.
Now with regard to the details of my claim. The IHG.com rates for the stay in question were as follows:
Night 1 - $396.90
Night 2 - $274.40
Night 3 - $249.90
Night 4 - $274.40
Night 5 - $216.58
Night 6 - $316.54
Total: $1701.72 Nightly Avg: $283.62
The rates on the "other site" for my stay were as follows:
Night 1 - $344.25
Night 2 - $238.00
Night 3 - $216.75
Night 4 - $238.00
Night 5 - $187.85
Night 6 - $274.55
Total: $1499.40 Nightly Avg: $249.90
As per the terms of the Best Price Guarantee, "we will provide you with the first night’s room price at the IHG hotel free and match the lower average nightly room price found for your entire stay for the rest of the nights of your stay."
So now on to my actual question. They will not INCREASE the rate for night 5 of the stay from $216.58 to $249.90, will they? The above sentence kind of makes it sound like the last five nights of the stay will all be adjusted to $249.90, but that obviously wouldn't make sense with regard to the night that was originally lower than that. However, I know that just because it doesn't make sense doesn't mean they wouldn't do it. I just want to know what would normally happen in this scenario.
First, just to add my data point, my claim was submitted at approximately 6:20 p.m. CST Saturday night and I received the e-mail at 1:45 a.m. Sunday informing me that my claim had been approved. So about a 7.5 hour response time.
Now with regard to the details of my claim. The IHG.com rates for the stay in question were as follows:
Night 1 - $396.90
Night 2 - $274.40
Night 3 - $249.90
Night 4 - $274.40
Night 5 - $216.58
Night 6 - $316.54
Total: $1701.72 Nightly Avg: $283.62
The rates on the "other site" for my stay were as follows:
Night 1 - $344.25
Night 2 - $238.00
Night 3 - $216.75
Night 4 - $238.00
Night 5 - $187.85
Night 6 - $274.55
Total: $1499.40 Nightly Avg: $249.90
As per the terms of the Best Price Guarantee, "we will provide you with the first night’s room price at the IHG hotel free and match the lower average nightly room price found for your entire stay for the rest of the nights of your stay."
So now on to my actual question. They will not INCREASE the rate for night 5 of the stay from $216.58 to $249.90, will they? The above sentence kind of makes it sound like the last five nights of the stay will all be adjusted to $249.90, but that obviously wouldn't make sense with regard to the night that was originally lower than that. However, I know that just because it doesn't make sense doesn't mean they wouldn't do it. I just want to know what would normally happen in this scenario.
(and OTA average of 249.90 is lower than the 266 averaged rate of IHG nights 2-6, so is a further saving along side First Night Free (FNF) )
IHG site
1)396.90 - First Night Free
2)266.36 - Ave rate Nights 2-6 = 1331.82 -> total 1728.72 (av 6x 288.12)
OTA Site
1)344.25 - first Night Free
2)231.03 - Ave rate Nights 2-6 = 1155.15 -> total 1499.40 (av 6x 249.9)
2. You are right in a sense, the OTA rate average for nights 2-6 is just 233.03 and average if including the first (most expensive) free night is 249.90
3. So yes since you have the average for 6night stay skewed by the most expensive night being the free on, and even more so one later night being just HALF that expensive night rate, the 6night OTA average of 249.90 is i)higher than OTA average of nights 2-6 (249.90 is higher than 231.03) so bad
ii)Lower than IHG average of nights 2-6 (249.90 is lower than 266.36)
BPG Working(s)
o The averaged OTA rate of 240.90 for nights 2-6 is saving you
a)Free night of 396.60
b)5 nights average saving of 16.46/night , total of 82.30 saving nights 2-6
c)total saving of FirstNightFree and Nights 2-6 at OTA ave = 479.20 off IHG rate
d)The highest rate room is your free night so you did very well there
e)due to high free first nights very high room rate and one other night at just half that high rate, the OTA average approaches average of remaining 5nights. This occurence is not that common
f)It is swings+roundabouts ... IE If first night free was not the most expensive, your free night saving woud be less AND the the OTA 249.90 average whilst being the same may have been higher than any individual night.
The higher FreeNight + Lower 5nights total saving would be similar saving if all 6 nights had same rate
If it helps you feel better ...
I show below that BPG saving would actually be identical if all 6nights at IHG were priced the same rate per night
Eg Same Rate each night Saving
===============================
IHG = 6nights at 288.12
OTA = 6nights at 249.90
Saving = 288.12 + 5(288.12-249.90) = 288.12 + 191.10 = 479.22
eg Actual Saving in Your BPG claim
=================================
IHG = i)first Night 396.90 ii)IHG average 2-6 = 266.36
OTA = i)average of 6nights 249.90
Saving = 396.90 + 5(266.36 - 249.90) = 396.90 + 82.30 = 479.20
Last edited by scubaccr; Feb 13, 2017 at 4:35 am
Feb 14, 2017, 1:03 am
#627
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Amsterdam, Asia, UK
Programs: IHG RA (Spire), HH Diamond, MR Platinum, SQ Gold, KLM Gold, BAEC Gold
Posts: 5,072
For instance if the cheapest night was the FirstNightfree, then the remaining nights total IHG cost + IHG average would be that much higher , resulting in a bigger difference between IHG/OTA averages and thus a bigger saving on remaining nights.
In fact YET AGAIN the saving would be identical
eg Actual Saving Cheapest Night of 6 nights Free
====================================
IHG Free (cheapest) Night = 216.58
IHG Average/Total other remaining 5 nights = 302.43 / 1512.14
OTA average Night = 249.90
Saving = 216.58 + 5(302.43-249.90) = 216.58 + 262.65 = 479.23
So as you can see (and as IHG accountants, and maths graduates already knew) which ever way you dice it, on a multinight BPG claim it doesn't really matter which night is free, as saving remains constant.
Just thought it was worth mentioning so people know playing with dates to make first night the priciest provides absolutely no benefit.
Last edited by scubaccr; Feb 14, 2017 at 1:10 am
Feb 16, 2017, 5:39 am
#629
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 121
I've gotten this many times before. It just depends how long they take to reply back. It could be a few hours, a day, a week, a month. You can always follow up after a couple weeks if you don't hear anything by then. They should respond before your stay though. When I get this response, sometimes they come back saying my claim is valid, but other times they say it's denied. It doesn't necessarily mean your claim has been denied.
I wonder if they're just waiting for the competing OTA to raise their prices before denying it.
Starwood and Hilton have much better programmes that are fairly responded to
Feb 16, 2017, 8:42 am
#630
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 121
