glasszon

Thank you, I checked the approval email and the only part it mentioned about the rate I book it as follows, is that sufficient?
Reason I ask is because someone called the hotel and the hotel say they won't honour the all-inclusive benefit as this was noted in the reservation after the best rate quarantee:

X-ON

I cannot speak for your particular situation but I BRG half board rates and while the rate details can only mention breakfast due to system limitations on the backend the meal plan is clear. I would reply to the BRG team and make sure they spell it out that the approval is for an all inclusive meal plan. If so then the property need to honor the BRG rate. Sounds like the hotel representative responding was some uninformed person..
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omk298

I've just tried to do a BRG for a booking next May. I'd booked a flexible member standard rate, and price matched it to a similar flexible rate. I've had a reply saying that:
"The reservation you booked does not feature the lowest rate we offer for the location selected. I want to make sure that you have the lowest rate we offer, you have to agree to the rates terms and conditions. Rate: 413.00 Euro room total before taxes and fees. This rate is a prepay in full non-refundable if cancelled less than seven days before arrival "

​​​​​​And then saying that the lowest rate on the other site was higher than that. I thought that they should compare flexible to flexible, if that is what I've booked. Is that not the case?

X-ON

Sounds to be an uneducated / uninformed BRG agent ... I would just resubmit and get another agent that is faster than educate this individual on their own practice

DaveMidknight

The agent is correct, as Marriott is still comparing two flexible rates, because the rate the agent is mentioning is still cancellable until 7 days before your arrival and you get a full refund.

omk298

Good spot. I think the agent has got it wrong though - the pre-paid rate is non-refundable, but can be changed up to 7 days prior to check in. The property is The Laylow, Honolulu - I can't see any rates that are refundable up to 7 days out. I'll challenge the refusal.

X-ON

I see, so the key word here is non-refundable, that you can change date of the reservation but not cancel it makes it non-refundable or if you like changeable does not make it refundable ,,, Let us know how it went

escapefromphl

Recently ran into a scenario where I found a lower rate for a property on Travelocity App ($300 vs $357 Marriott) both fully refundable, but by the time they came to verify (earlier than 6 am PST) it it was no longer showing. But then an hour or two after the rejection it was available again. So I put in another bid, again also rejected. Third time I woke up extra early the next day and put in bid. This time the timing worked out and the claim was successful. Anyone else seen these transient rates on the apps or websites and been successful?

cfischer

what is often faster than re-submitting is replying to the denial pointing out it is 'still' available. Definitely seen fluctuating prices.

Sea Trips

Received the following reply after submitting a claim for a rate found on traveluro. I guess this site doesn’t work for BRG

‘Marriott reserves the right to deny a claim, if it cannot independently verify the availability of a Comparison Rate at the time it processes the claim. After extensive testing, we have found that we do not consistently receive reservation requests from this site and therefore we are unable to approve your claim.

Our terms state:

“…sites that do not pass reservations to the Marriott Central Reservation System (CRS) for confirmation are not eligible…” ‘

MePlatPremier

Wow… how do they go about checking that? Do they actually complete reservations on OTAs when processing BRG claims?… I find that really hard to believe. I always thought they went all the way until the final step in the process where CC details have to be entered and stopped there.

Most OTAs don’t book directly with Marriott’s CRS but rather through third-party intermediaries and wholesalers. I wonder if Marriott is actually able to see the original website where a reservation originated from when it is coming to them from some obscure wholesaler.

This makes it abundantly clear that the BRG program is nothing more than a way to prevent rate leakage and a tool to enforce its rate parity policy across its distribution network.

Hawwk

I think somebody at Marriott recently checked all OTAs on how they are operating and now many are excluded from the BRG.
I have had BRGs from three different websites (some of which I had been using successfully four weeks ago!) denied last week with the claim from above “…sites that do not pass reservations to the Marriott Central Reservation System (CRS) for confirmation are not eligible…”.
3/3 times by the time the BRG was denied the competing rate by the OTA was gone...

RK23

Has anyone gotten approved over such a small difference of $3-5? The terms say that it won't apply for small amounts of $1 or less due to potential currency movements but I would think that would apply to $3-5 too?

imverge

I've had claims approved with a $2 - $3 difference. They will use xe.com to compare currencies. Best if you can choose hotel currency on the comparison website (if possible).

imverge

This reason is legit. Here's the backstory...

Years ago there were "fake" hotel booking websites with the sole purpose of showing lower rates among all the major chains ensuring that BRG claims were successful. The "fake" websites looked real (they copied and pasted the same hotel/room photos from Travelocity and hotels.com). Back then when Marriott approved a BRG it would simply modify the rate and the Marriott property would only be aware of the rate change when the guest checked in. Where as now, Marriott contacts the property Room Manager, provides them with the competing website name, URL and screenshots.

The way this was all discovered is another story.... This is the reason when I started the original BRG thread, NOT to post the competing website. But like I said that's another story