HHQX888

@ yorkboy24 : this is question we have on board any pilot ??
In our next holiday we take first night cheap hotel becouse we will be at airport at 9pm for me is not worth pay 450EUR only for short stay at bed w/o breakfast (at RC we don't have this benefit), then I want compare two brands at this island St.Regis and Ritz-Carlton and never we stay longer than 5 days at one hotel if I must do it I will go to trip advisor and choose best hotels at that location (not only Marriott network) .

I can't told you this policy came into force I can told you whats happen with my last three LNF claims which answers I have on email and by phone. It is so big chaos in all Marriott chanels that I don't know who told true but I know that they want drop down LNF claims as drop down amount of old Platinum members and this whole chaos is on silent agreement of corporations and they want keep image that this program is best and this all changes bring us better traveler program.

yorkboy24

I agree that everything is rather chaotic so it's best to just keep putting in your LNF claims and hope you get it. If you get a negative response, wait a few days and try again until you get the right agent. Unfortunately, different agents interpret things in different ways.

craigthemif

It's all about timing IME. Submit 2 LNFs at the same time and they are more likely to be combined.

Do one LNF, leave things for a few days and then do another for the same or adjacent dates... tends to work just fine. If I am worried about having a hotel booked so I can confirm flights, I'll use a different chain as a placeholder.

You can also do LNFs as a non-member and add your account details later.

noeatbutgo

I am wondering about how you inform LNF agents regarding inclusion of taxes and fees in the lower rate you find.

Some OTAs just show ''final" rates without breakdown of pre-tax room rate and taxes/fees. Some of those OTAs mention their rate are tax-inclusive somewhere in their T&C but there are also other OTAs don't clearly explain while I need to contact their customer centre to get an answer re inclusion of taxes.

In the old days of SPG BRG, the agents used to follow my memo in the claim like "the lower rate includes taxes and fees" and generally processed the lower rate as tax-inclusive.

However the LNF agents are far less tend to accept the memo in the claim but usually regard the lower rate does not include taxes and fees unless the OTA provides a breakdown of the rate or clear mentions on taxes in somewhere.

For a few cases, I attached an email from OTAs which proved their rates were tax-inclusive in my reply to the LNF team but it is still very time consuming...

Any thought?
Many thanks!

yorkboy24

I find these scenarios to be always a battle, which is why certain sites can only really be used where rates are also inclusive of taxes on the Marriott website (e.g. UK, some hotels in Japan and so on...). Where taxes are added, it's better to include the terms and conditions of the OTA in the comments section and / or state that according to that website, taxes are included, then minus the taxes to put in the NET rate on the claim form. Sometimes, if the OTA website doesn't break it down and just shows an inclusive rate, Marriott will only take the gross rate to compare with the Marriott net rate. SPG did the same. With taxes it's easier to fight for using the net rate (if it says taxes included) but if there's a service charge too (and it doesn't specifically say that service charge is included), you'll have to fight for it but most likely they'll reject it. I have been successful after escalating to the supervisor by showing the specific terms of the OTA that stated that service charge was included (even though the terms said 'all relevant taxes including x, y, z etc' but they didn't specifically refer to service charge). Good luck!

UKTraveller4Fun

It is and even if only one of the 2 bookings have a LNF attached and hotels of two completly different types, AC and St. Regis! What gets me is the terms quoted to me by them clearly state its at Marriotts discretion so they even admit to choosing to do it! Frankly if the answer to my complaint is the agent was correct then I am thru with Marriott, the ilist of ways they have screwed me over in the last 9 months is getting to long plus they don't seem able to actually post stays to my account since Bonvoy launched but hey thats a different issue lol!

yorkboy24

It doesn't really make sense for Marriott to do it. As someone above suggested, it's probably better to book them several days apart allowing each individual claim to be processed before submitting the next one. If they are actually sticking to this silly policy, what will be next? One 'stay' per 7 days is OK but then maybe they'll put a limit on the amount in USD that can be saved?! It'll just encourage members to stay for longer stays in one hotel and that hotel may be a lower category because people may want to spread their stays across different brands / prices and this discourages them from choosing the more luxury brands.

margarita girl

UKTraveller4Fun

The St.R isnt a BRG rate, its actually an American Express FHR rate! The only BRG in this process is the 1 night at the AC which I will arrive at at approximatly 1am! Also the St.R is actually sold out that night anyway!

noeatbutgo

Thanks for your detailed answer- greatly helpful.
Yes it significantly shrinks our OTA pool for LNF. I recall I barely argued with SPG BRG team re inclusion of taxes and fees if I left a proper comment on it. Well but LNF is LNF, a different battle indeed.

One follow-up Q: I presume you also put NET rate of the original booking on Marriott.com when you put NET rate in the lower rate (OTA) field? (NET = before taxes and fees).

UKTraveller4Fun

My initial thoughts were just the agent getting confused but I had an email exchange with them and they have refused to back down insisting they are correct. I will see what answer I get from Corporate, that said recent exchanges with them havent been great, them even freely admiting they are understaffed and cannto cope with the workload!

shevboyz

LNF are run by agents who think they r always right.
If this kind of rubbish rule is really being put in place. Then goodbye to Marriott.
Why go through all these trouble only to be treated like an idiot.
I have a couple of stays coming up. Let's see how these lnf goes.

barracuda93

You can have points for one hotel and 25% off for another. At least it was possible. Not sure if something changed just now.

X-ON

It is just another agent with the head where the sun doesn't shine ... check post #448 for an example that this is a result of people lacking the ability to apply basic logic....

xar

Anyone up for a BRG challenge? (or you can pm me the details if your kind enough )
Been trying a couple of times but i cant seem to find a cheaper OTA rate for [Renaissance Johor Bahru Hotel] - my travel dates are 22 - 24 Mar