PointerBrother

Has anyone found a cash back site (Mr. Rebates, ebates, etc.) that consistently awards the rebate on a government rate? I have searched high and low and have not found a clear answer. Any government rate travelers out there that have experience, please weigh in. Your time and assistance are appreciated!

DJ_Iceman

Upromise used to, but they don't partner with Marriott anymore. I got hundreds of dollars in my daughter's 529 account thanks to this...

TMOliver

A hardened "rate shopper", I'll always compare the various available rates prior to reserving a room, Marriott brands or others. It's interesting to note the widely differing comparable relationships between rates, "seniors", government, military, etc..

In my case, my old grey US Navy Reserve (Retired) ID card seems to work as well as any credential....

DJ_Iceman

Just be careful, TMOliver, because more and more of the government rates specifically say that a retired military ID is not eligible. As someone who's about to switch from an active-duty CAC to a retired card myself, I'm not happy to see that this way of getting some great discounts for my family's travel seems to be drying up...

docr775

Correct, however I have yet to find a hotel that will not accept my retired ID card. At the hotels that I stay at on a regular basis they do not even ask for it anymore. At new hotels they glance at it and check me in.

WillTravel4Food

Well, I hate to breathe life into a long dormant thread, but here it goes.

I regularly travel to Oklahoma City for work. This year's (FY14) gov't rate is a mere $87. This seems to have created a significant shift in availability. If I were a GM at any property in OKC, I would limit gov't rate availability. So I don't begrudge them for their actions. In response, I've seen properties, especially the FS properties, occasionally offer a gov't rate that doesn't match the GSA rate. The offered FS rates seem to be between $105-$120. But even that rate is rarely available mid-week. So they do things to make it a non-option. Who travels for business Thursday-Monday?

Given the current uptick in the energy market, OKC is filling up with oil and gas related business travelers. The local properties don't need us lowly gov't travelers and our measly gov't rates to fill their rooms.

Has anyone seen this in the past where the gov't rate was not in alignment with the current market rates? Well, I must clarify that - the gov't rate is always below the currrent market rates but close enough to ensure availability. Is there a way to get this type of information to GSA so they can revise the FY14 and future rates? If not, then us OKC travelers are destined to the Courtyards and Springhills on the outskirts of town.

dayone

Some hotels offer more than one gov't rate. The GSA is available until the inventory is exhausted and then a higher rate is offered. It is both normal and kosher.

Often1

There is authority for agencies to pay up to 300% of the established GSA rate, so long as the use of the higher rate is justified on an individualized basis, e.g., an agency cannot simply declare the OKC rate to be above $87. On the other hand, it's easy to devise a template justification and use that.

I suspect that agencies with significant interests in OKC, do the latter -- or their people are driving long distances to stay further out.

DJ_Iceman

Yes, you should have tried staying in Silicon Valley during the boom years. The government rate was similarly laughable (so much for GSA and all their research and formulas), but run-of-the-mill hotels were selling out all around San Jose at four or five hundred dollars a night. The government rate, if I remember correctly, was almost up to two hundred dollars a night, but you literally couldn't even get into a Super 8 for that. It was absurd, and getting approved for the up to 300% above per diem that Often 1 correctly refers to completely depends on your chain of command and their understanding of the realities of travel.

I wrote to GSA at the time, and they gave me a pat answer about how thorough they were at researching representative market rates, blah, blah, blah. So if I were you I wouldn't waste my time with GSA.

Counsellor

Marriott has (or at least used to have) a rule that if a property wanted to advertise a rate as "Government Rate" it could not be more than the Federal per diem rate for that date and location. (Of course, they can have different rates for state or local employees, but should specify who is eligible for those rates.)

In other words, it's the per diem rate set by GSA that drives the "Government rate" in Marriotts, not the other way around.

At least, it used to be. I have not seen a policy change from Marriott, but they don't have to get my permission.

WillTravel4Food

So I checked at the OKC Ren and found space. The rate cited "federal government ID required". The rate was for $107. There's random dates spread about the calendar with the GSA rate. The Downtown OKC Courtyard offers both the GSA and state rate. The state rate is $120. It's also spread across the calendar. The Waterford has a "Govt/military" rate for $108.75. The rate rules state it's in accordance with the GSA rate. And they offer this rate on Sunday nights only through mid-Dec.

Bottom line, at best I can find a week where I can get a room for a day or two, but never the whole week. The trend is no availability on Tues and Wed nights.

Often1

This is where you toss it to your chain-of-command. Do they want you to travel to OKC and, if so, you will need an authorization to whichever of the rates it is that gets you the room you need.

DJ_Iceman

I don't actually think it's ever been as clear-cut as you describe. In fact, some Marriott properties have been called out over the years on this very board for advertising so-called government rates that were actually well above per diem.

Lately I have noticed an improvement, where it seems that non-per-diem rates are more clearly called out as such with nomenclature such as "government discount rate -- not per diem" or similar language.

But whether or not it's ever been corporate policy, I (and other government travelers here at FT) can pretty resoundingly vouch that individual Marriott properties have not always made it transparent to know how they price government rates, or when they make them available.

WillTravel4Food

I've seen rate rules state the rate is the current GSA Per Diem rate and others that don't say anything about GSA Per Diem. Just doing a little bit of research to post my complaint here, I found at least one rate rule that claimed the listed rate was the current GSA Per Diem while the rate exceeded the current GSA rate. So a mixed bag with compliance.

Counsellor

Actually, it was specifically so stated a few years back, see this post.

The "calling out" of specific properties that you refer to was done because they were not following policy, and helped to alert Marriott to take corrective action.

I can't locate the provision since Marriott reorganized their site, so they may have changed it since then, but that was indeed the expressed Marriott policy.