BKKLEE

which type rates are you asking about - pre-paid, standard (pay at checkout) or both????

TAWS

You can submit another LNF request if the price drops again on a competitor site, so this shouldn't be an issue.

jamesie_version1

Pay at checkout.. Thanks

BKKLEE

then yes, you should have no problem using your Marriott cheques to pay your bill (with limitations found below)

see, https://www.marriott.com/rewards/terms/moretrms.mi

Marriott Cheques may not be acceptable at concessions within the hotel not owned or operated by the Company. Please confirm with the hotel prior to making the purchase.
Marriott Cheques are not redeemable for cash or Marriott gift certificates or The Ritz-Carlton gift certificates. Change will not be given on cheques presented as payment for goods and services. Cheques are void and will not be honored if sold for cash or other consideration.
Marriott Cheques may be used for all publicly listed and available room rates and packages, but cannot be used for convention, travel industry, tour, advance purchase, catering, or group room rates.
Marriott Cheques are transferable but are not replaceable if lost, stolen, destroyed, or expired.
Any tax liability, including disclosure, connected with receipt or use of this Reward is the recipient's responsibility.
Marriott Cheques are accepted at face value in U.S. dollars. Cheques will be converted into local currency value at the hotel's current exchange rate

sdsearch

I have so far only done AP NR LNFs on one hotel (though quite a few separate times at that one hotel). At least at that hotel (a Fairfield in the USA), the rate changed to cancellable (per the deadline for normal cancellable bookings at that hotel) after the LNF was processed, and my card was never charged until the actual stay.

However, I have no idea whether it works like this at every property everywhere.

rasheed

Thank you for the replies so far.

Okay, I am going to also try the LNF in the following situation, it might get denied.

Marriott has a property (actually a few) where they are not offering a AP NR rate, but the competing website is offering one. If they deny, I guess I can just cancel the marriott.com reservation without issue, but I think it is unfair that Marriott is not offering an AP NR rate of course (LNF program or not).

Do these not get approved?

Regards,
Rasheed

nacho

Why not try? You may want to try putting ADP/ADV in the corporate code to see if there really is an Advance purchased rate.

Beware though, if you booked a non-refundable/cancellable rate, and your LNF get denied, then you really are SOL. I don't do that anymore (even though I ended up paying $10 more).

catharsis

I've generally made a policy of highlighting in my claim that the competing rate is inclusive of breakfast - if I do so , the LNF team have on several occasions modified my Marriott reservation to include breakfast. So in my experience the answer to the above question is yes (at least some of the time).

sdsearch

Have you not read upthread? Most, if not all, non-refundable/non-cancellable rates booked on marriott.com can actually be cancelled within 24 hours (which is the time by which you should receive the LNF reply) without you ever getting charged.

Supposedly there are some rates that spell this out and some that dont', but discussion above seems to show that people have done cancellations within 24 hours without getting charged even on some rates that didn't spell out the 24 hour exception.

But at the very least, if your reservation spells out the 24-hour exception, I don't see the risk unless you might not have internet access (or be awake!) just under 24 hours from booking time!

rasheed

Clearly, there are people who are much more experienced in this than I am, but I am getting the hang of it, slowly. Mistakes have been made on my part, but that is how it goes.

First the story:

Marriott is one of the most price conscious hotel chains I know. Their team knows they need to attract all spectrums of consumers while trying to protect the brand as much as possible. As many may know, they were one of the first chains to pick a preferred opaque vendor and still today participate heavily (although maybe not as much as they used to) in the opaque channels. To me, the LNF program is not that much different except Marriott puts the work on the consumer with a reward. This approach though is a stick/penalty on both corporate owned and franchise hotels by lowering the revpar. This is not that different than the stick ($ cash payout) when they do not properly provide elite amenities or guaranteees either. Because it is not easy to re-create a previously done LNF (along with incentive for the hotel to fix the rate distribution problem on the 'offending' site), this program is supposed to 'heal itself'. However, hotels need to book rooms and sometimes they need to ensure they offer a rate on certain channels to attract a segment of customers. Even if that means a few LNF penalties, it is a win-win-win (show a higher rate normally, have certain channels for a lower rate, and get few additional customers who push for the lower rate officially).

Frankly though, the only real reason to pursue an LNF I think is because they offer points/stay credit for MR members (and officially eligible for MR benefits or upgrades). If they did not, you should book from other channels and go opaque. Keep this in mind if you are new to this -- you may still end up overpaying for a room unless the MR program or bonuses are important to you (which is why only a specific hotel/loyalty would matter as well).

Now nacho and others have provided a lot of advice, here is what I know (some repeat).

1) Do not ever book a NR AP rate if it does not explicitly allow 1 day free cancellation. nacho warned me, but I made this gumshoe mistake. I was able to cancel it and did an AAA rate instead (just a few dollars more). This gives me the flexibility to continue searching for cheaper rates on my denied LNF.

A NR AP rate with not even a day of refund is only slightly better than going opaque. This is rather poor on Marriott's part because I know the LNF team even considers the 24 hour cancellation period as part of the rate review process.

Here is what I would do. First, ensure that the lowest NR AP rate is higher than your competing site. Second, book the lowest price that allows the 1 day cancellation at least in the terms. Then, do your LNF claim form. You may need to correspond back with the Look team if they deny you initally, but LNF team is mostly very competent and need to make sure that the competing website has a lower rate than what they offer for that same room category.

2) Do not use any three letter codes. This is a Look No Further program. You do not need to search for any promotions except what is listed when you bring up the rates and packages for the hotel. That is how the program works. If you do not care about doing a LNF (time or whatever), then try every three letters listed in other threads.

3) Give instructions on how to find the rate you got on the other website. Some competing websites allow you to link directly to a hotel page (sometimes even with dates prefilled). Others, do not. Use the notes section to politely explain how to re-create the rate you are asking for the match/discount.

4) Make sure that taxes are included if required (VAT countries). There are some US websites that separate out the VAT to show a lower room rate.

5) Use the currency of the Marriott's hotel for your comparisons. As nacho indicates, if you need to take a competing site's and convert, use the Marriott calculator he provided. You will get frustrated with the currency conversions, this is part of the price of the effort.

6) And as mentioned by others, indicate what you think the new rate should be after the 25% discount. Again, very helpful when multiple currencies are involved.

Go into the process expecting a denial and happy if you get your match. There are a lot of reasons for this, here is some I see:

1) The LNF team has 24 hours. A lot happens in 24 hours. There is not much you can do except maybe have a few extra choices to use if your competing site rate changes by the time the LNF team gets to check the rate. This is frustrating.

2) Other websites are not always honest (bait and switch). If you are in a tax-inclusive rate country, make sure you are comparing the rate total rate to the Marriott rate.

3) Most websites are just using GDS data and should have similar prices to marriott.com. So, this is supposed to be like finding gold nuggets. You will not always be able to find a lower price.

Regards,
Rasheed

lcsmom

Would I have a successful LNF claim when the non-Marriott website has a lower rate for a portion of my stay?
Specifically, a two night stay starting at $129, dropping to $125 for the second night. Checking only two other sites I find $125 for both nights. This location has few Marriott properties, so a LNF discount would be great.

sophiegirl

They do a night by night comp. So on the $129 to $125, you would succeed. On the $125 to $125 night, you would not. Make 2 reservations, file LNF on the one you can win...then after you succeed ask customer service to link the 2 together so you do not have to change rooms.

sophiegirl

Rasheed, you have provided an excellent summary with a great explanation.

However, I present an addition to #2.

Although you are correct in not using 3 letter codes to find your initial rate, you certainly can do so to find the lower, comparison rate on which to file your claim.

lcsmom

Thank you for the explanation. I will do a little more searching to try for both nights.

nacho

About the ADP with 24 hrs cancellation period, I have experience that I used it to file LNF, then the property charged my CC before my LNF was approved. This doesn't happen so much in the US but in Europe it happens all the time, I know a lot of companies are trying to bill people sooner just to get revenue in earlier.

I didn't know it and when I checked in they showed me the rate and it was obviously wrong. Then I had to argue with them for over 15 mins to get the rate 'refunded' at check out, they first insisted me to 'consume' it on my bill. We refused because we never consume minibar or pay for breakfast (if we want to we will get a rate that has brekkie included).

This made me reluctant to do it again, even though I'm talking about $10 more per night (to avoid hassle). Also you can't use GC to pay for ADP rate (NOT when you are outside the US). It's not as risky as the no cancellation ADP, but if you do have to go through these hassles I'll pay more to avoid it.