Oct 5, 2018, 3:54 pm
Last edit by: margarita girl
Marriott's Best Rate Guarantee Discussion Thread
This thread is about Marriott's BRG. If you don't know what BRG is - here's the Marriott BRG and here's the claim form.
If you're not satisfied with the outcome of your claim and wish for a second review you may reply back by email or call Marriott's BRG hotline 1-800-771-5665. A human is available at this number beginning at 9 am EST.
If you are new to this, and would like to ask fellow FTers questions regarding BRGs, then this thread is the place to start.
Hotel Name:
Date of stay:
Number of Guests:
Room Type:
Marriott Brand Website Rate:
Competing Rate:
Actual Approved Rate:
This thread is about Marriott's BRG. If you don't know what BRG is - here's the Marriott BRG and here's the claim form.
If you're not satisfied with the outcome of your claim and wish for a second review you may reply back by email or call Marriott's BRG hotline 1-800-771-5665. A human is available at this number beginning at 9 am EST.
If you are new to this, and would like to ask fellow FTers questions regarding BRGs, then this thread is the place to start.
Hotel Name:
Date of stay:
Number of Guests:
Room Type:
Marriott Brand Website Rate:
Competing Rate:
Actual Approved Rate:
Marriott BRG Best Rate Guarantee (formerly LNF) Success, failure & discussion thread
Aug 19, 2019, 4:43 pm
#1006
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
Programs: UA 1K, AC MM E75, Marriott LT Ti, IHG Dia Amb, Hyatt Glob
Posts: 15,521
Hotel Name: Dulles Airport Marriott
Date of stay: Sep 2019 - 1/nt
Number of Rooms: 1
Number of Guests: 2
Room Type: 1 King
Marriott Brand Website Rate: 114 USD
Competing Rate: 88 USD
Actual Approved Rate: 66 USD
Hotel Name: Key Bridge Marriott Arlington
Date of stay: Sept 2019 - 1/nt
Number of Rooms: 1
Number of Guests: 2
Room Type: 1 King
Marriott Brand Website Rate: 104 USD
Competing Rate: 85 USD
Actual Approved Rate: 61 USD
Date of stay: Sep 2019 - 1/nt
Number of Rooms: 1
Number of Guests: 2
Room Type: 1 King
Marriott Brand Website Rate: 114 USD
Competing Rate: 88 USD
Actual Approved Rate: 66 USD
Hotel Name: Key Bridge Marriott Arlington
Date of stay: Sept 2019 - 1/nt
Number of Rooms: 1
Number of Guests: 2
Room Type: 1 King
Marriott Brand Website Rate: 104 USD
Competing Rate: 85 USD
Actual Approved Rate: 61 USD
Aug 19, 2019, 11:56 pm
#1007
Join Date: Feb 2016
Programs: DL DM, SPG Plat 100/LT Gold, Marriott Plat, National Executive Elite
Posts: 2,988
I could use points for either of these hotels starting at 17,500 points, but even at 5,000 for $22, it would be $77 in cash offset value for 17,500 points (more than I would pay for these nights).
I also don't love the idea of tracking the points (I've taken the points maybe once, back in the SPG days, and I remember it was a a hassle). Usually prefer cold hard cash because its easy to verify the correct rate at check out.
If I needed/wanted points, I would definitely take the points. But, cash is worth more to me now than points which, who knows what they'll be worth come Sep 14.
Aug 20, 2019, 5:03 am
#1008
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,047
Award nights count for status, and if you are spending somebody else's money then you should definitely choose the points.
Can't think of a good reason to avoid ridiculously cheap points yet not redeem an accumulated points balance...
Aug 20, 2019, 8:31 am
#1009
Join Date: Feb 2016
Programs: DL DM, SPG Plat 100/LT Gold, Marriott Plat, National Executive Elite
Posts: 2,988
If you are unwilling to accumulate 5,000 points for $22 and have plenty of points, then you should be SPENDING points on your hotel stays, not messing around with BRG claims.
Award nights count for status, and if you are spending somebody else's money then you should definitely choose the points.
Can't think of a good reason to avoid ridiculously cheap points yet not redeem an accumulated points balance...
Award nights count for status, and if you are spending somebody else's money then you should definitely choose the points.
Can't think of a good reason to avoid ridiculously cheap points yet not redeem an accumulated points balance...
There are plenty of times I use points. Have other 30 nights redeemed this year. Just don't redeem them in place of $66 stays is all - and that's my subjective value determination, which is different for each individual.
Aug 20, 2019, 10:27 am
#1010
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,047
One of the age-old questions of Flyertalk - what are points worth, and when should I use them versus cash?
There are plenty of times I use points. Have other 30 nights redeemed this year. Just don't redeem them in place of $66 stays is all - and that's my subjective value determination, which is different for each individual.
There are plenty of times I use points. Have other 30 nights redeemed this year. Just don't redeem them in place of $66 stays is all - and that's my subjective value determination, which is different for each individual.
The maths tell most of us to take 5000 points over a $22 rate reduction every single time.
Aug 20, 2019, 10:33 am
#1011
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
As long as you don't fall into the typical fallacy of spending a 100k points to avoid a $400 per night rate (because that feels painful) in order to avoid spending 10k points on a $66 stay (which feels cheap) then do whatever you want.
The maths tell most of us to take 5000 points over a $22 rate reduction every single time.
The maths tell most of us to take 5000 points over a $22 rate reduction every single time.
Aug 20, 2019, 10:46 am
#1012
Join Date: Feb 2016
Programs: DL DM, SPG Plat 100/LT Gold, Marriott Plat, National Executive Elite
Posts: 2,988
Aug 20, 2019, 10:53 am
#1013
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 thought they are like Cat 4 or 5 hotels? How come they are only 17,500 points/night?
Aug 20, 2019, 9:50 pm
#1014
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Hold it down for The Bay, reppin' Oakland
Programs: Lowly UA silver, Marriott Ambassador/Tit4Lyf, IHG Plat
Posts: 1,763
Can I ask how the BRG works for 2 rooms of different category in the same hotel?
Both the 1 king and 2 double I want are significantly cheaper on uk hotels.com both full refundable rates. Will Marriot allow me to match both or only 1?
Reason I ask is because of the disclaimer on the site saying only 1 BRG per location per stay period but then also says up to three rooms per property?
If it is only 1 I'd match the 2 double as I can get the king on a cheaper (but non-refundable rate) if the double match was successful or even book via Hotels.com as I only get EQN for 1 of the rooms anyway.
Both the 1 king and 2 double I want are significantly cheaper on uk hotels.com both full refundable rates. Will Marriot allow me to match both or only 1?
Reason I ask is because of the disclaimer on the site saying only 1 BRG per location per stay period but then also says up to three rooms per property?
If it is only 1 I'd match the 2 double as I can get the king on a cheaper (but non-refundable rate) if the double match was successful or even book via Hotels.com as I only get EQN for 1 of the rooms anyway.
Last edited by lexdevil; Aug 22, 2019 at 9:50 pm
Aug 21, 2019, 11:54 am
#1015
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: PRG, DRS, VIE
Programs: Marriott Titanium, BA Gold, A3 Gold
Posts: 939
Marriott Cancun
2019-12-13 to 2019-12-22
Marriott rate reserved: 2,423.54 USD
Competitor rate: 1089 USD (excluding resort fee).
2019-12-13 to 2019-12-22
Marriott rate reserved: 2,423.54 USD
Competitor rate: 1089 USD (excluding resort fee).
Matched total to 1,232.15 USD
Last edited by hhoope01; Aug 22, 2019 at 6:37 pm Reason: removed name of competitor site per rules of this thread.
Aug 21, 2019, 2:05 pm
#1016
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: EDI/GLA
Programs: DL 2 MM Unobtainum | UA 1.1MM Gold | MR Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 2,272
I was wondering the same but looked at an upcoming stay where the retail rate is $324 and the BRG rate would be $150 before the 25% discount so I figured the 5,000 points would be better than $37.50 in savings to make up for the deficit.
Aug 21, 2019, 2:08 pm
#1017
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: EDI/GLA
Programs: DL 2 MM Unobtainum | UA 1.1MM Gold | MR Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 2,272
So we'll see if the BRG team gives me a hassle over this since there's clearly a few lower rates available on competitor versus Marriott.
Last edited by hhoope01; Aug 22, 2019 at 6:38 pm Reason: removed references to competitor site per rules of this thread.
Aug 22, 2019, 10:48 am
#1018
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: UK
Programs: Bonvoy Gold, AA Plat, Volare Premier, VS Silver, National Emerald Elite, Hertz President Circle
Posts: 2,526
I see that many (all?) properties allow a day cancellation even on non refundable rates. This is stated at booking time.
Has anyone tried this to file brg claims on non refundable rates with the idea of cancelling the reservation if the claim is not approved?
If so what do you use as cut off time for the cancellation? The timezone of the date is not mentioned on the booking as far as I can see. And does it involve a refund or is it that payment is only taken after a day from booking?
Thanks
Has anyone tried this to file brg claims on non refundable rates with the idea of cancelling the reservation if the claim is not approved?
If so what do you use as cut off time for the cancellation? The timezone of the date is not mentioned on the booking as far as I can see. And does it involve a refund or is it that payment is only taken after a day from booking?
Thanks
Aug 22, 2019, 3:16 pm
#1019
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
Programs: UA 1K, AC MM E75, Marriott LT Ti, IHG Dia Amb, Hyatt Glob
Posts: 15,521
I see that many (all?) properties allow a day cancellation even on non refundable rates. This is stated at booking time.
Has anyone tried this to file brg claims on non refundable rates with the idea of cancelling the reservation if the claim is not approved?
If so what do you use as cut off time for the cancellation? The timezone of the date is not mentioned on the booking as far as I can see. And does it involve a refund or is it that payment is only taken after a day from booking?
Thanks
Has anyone tried this to file brg claims on non refundable rates with the idea of cancelling the reservation if the claim is not approved?
If so what do you use as cut off time for the cancellation? The timezone of the date is not mentioned on the booking as far as I can see. And does it involve a refund or is it that payment is only taken after a day from booking?
Thanks
Aug 22, 2019, 5:52 pm
#1020
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,040
First time a claim has taken that long for me. 60 hours to respond. But they approved it, so all is good 
Sheraton YYZ Gateway from 280 CAD to 120 CAD
Sheraton YYZ Gateway from 280 CAD to 120 CAD