LNF on $0.20 difference?
 

I hope this doesn't sound too petty/cheap, but for a hotel stay I'm looking at, the Marriott rate is $79.20, and I found a publicly available rate for $79.00. Technically this rate is lower, and after the 25% discount, should save me about $20. Anyone ever tried to submit an LNF when the rate difference is so small?

Let us know how it goes.

I once got a bill (not from Marriott) for about $.20. Of course it cost more to send it than they would have received if I sent it in.

I've seen successful claims posted in the LNF thread with a $0.01 difference.

It's not petty at all. You are following the rules that Marriott set.

should, unless the difference is due to foreign conversion factors.............

It does to me, but that's just me. I'll admit I really don't get the "gotcha" sub-culture that seems to exist in the MR program with LNF and the ubiquitous "Platinum arrival gift guarantee". I know I'm a little older than many posters on this forum, but am not sure that completely explains the difference in attitude. None of you owe me anything, but can someone explain the attraction in demanding $100 because an overworked FD person didn't get around to offering you a little chardonnay and some mixed nuts (though they are damn good mixed nuts)? I don't thing I could bring myself to ask for something like that.

Marriott say you get $100 if they don't offer an arrival gift to Plats. If I didn't get a gift, I asked for $100. They set the rules, I played by them.

Marriott say if you find a cheaper rate than they offer, they'll beat it by 25%. Again, their rules which I'm happy to play by. The wording is as follows:

• Book a Marriott room using any Marriott reservation channel (Marriott.com, Marriott Hotel Telephone Reservations, or directly at a hotel).

• If within 24 hours of making your reservation, you find a lower hotel price for the same hotel, room type and reservation dates, and submit a qualified claim form, we'll match the rate + give you an extra 25% discount on the room.

It’s that simple. It’s the right thing to do. It’s another way to book right by booking with Marriott.




They're not exactly discouraging use of the Look No Further guarantee, are they?

Agree.

I doubt the majority of us are "gotcha" people. Marriott has a program in place; the $100 is for the guest if it's not followed, which is also part of the program.

What Glenn said in both points.

To the OP - unless the .20cents is due to currency conversion (in which case I wouldn't bother), I'd certainly go for the LNF if it will save you $20, which you can then spend at another Marriott sometime :)

Cheers.

And let me explain the other point of view:

My mother was a mystery shopper for several years. Large companies, such as Marriott, set standard procedures and policies that their employees and properties are expected to follow. The whole point of having a chain is that you can expect a uniform standard. They have implemented checks and balances in order to ensure that those standards are adhered to. So, claiming your $100 compensation isn't petty or cheap, it's following the policy put in place by Marriott to ensure that we get the best service possible.

Well, the fact that Marriott (and other corporations) cater to the lowest common denominator ($$$) doesn't make it any less tacky for me.

You're saying that Marriott (and other chains) having a LNF program in place is tacky? I'd say they consider it a sound bizness program that allows them to keep revenue they might lose otherwise.

Cheers.

I've done it with a penny difference and got it approved. Like others have said, they set the rules and I play by it.

No two ways, it's cheap & tacky. Bet you anything that stuff gets noted and they scr*w you when there's discretionary compensation for something.

How is it cheap and tacky? Just because you think so? Please. The idea that they will reduce any other deserved compensation is a bunch of horse poop. If they really screw something up, they will owe compensation. They can dig themselves a bigger grave, but it would not rank as a smart decision.

So, if I book a room direct with Marriott and then find it cheaper elsewhere, I should say "Sod it, I'll overpay rather than take Marriott up on their generous best rate guarantee" should I?

I really know little about LNF other than what I've read on FT. The PAG guarantee and the sometimes rabid posts about enforcing it...yes, I sometimes find that behavior in poor taste. But, as I said before, that's just me and I'm not the Arbiter of All Things (yet :D).

Anyone wonder why Marriott slowly shuts down programs and benefits.

This would be exhibit A.

They set up programs for a reason, then people spend time trying to game the system.

Eventually Marriott gives up and stops the whole program.

The LNF was not designed as a game, so in a few years when Marriott drops the program and people wonder why - you can look back to this thread and have your answer.

Excellent point. ^

First of all, this is very silly logic. You don't think when they set up the LNF guarantee they discussed all of the potential ways that it could be exploited? All promotions and guarantees are obviously analyzed by a committee with far greater knowledge of Marriott's finances and customers, and I'm sure performed a cost-benefit analysis that resulted in them approving the LNF guarantee. Other hotel chains offer price match guarantees that are easier to take advantage of, and are more publicized. Most people I talk to (not FTers), even those who travel frequently, are unaware of the LNF guarantee. Therefore, I'm sure the small percentage of travellers taking advantage of the LNF does not have a huge impact on Marriott's bottom line. The all-inclusive offer that was cancelled is a better example of a business decision made as a result of too many people taking advantage of a great deal.

Secondly, I would like to ask all of the naysayers at what point you would NOT consider it cheap/petty. Is it a couple dollars? Five bucks? In the grand scheme of things, the difference of $4.80 between that arbitrary $5 and the $0.20 I mentioned is obviously pretty miniscule, so how can you call one cheap/petty and the other fair? And the 25% savings that would result from this $0.20 difference is about $20, which over a 3 week stay (Mon-Fri) is $240 in savings. That is a significant enough savings that I don't feel embarrassed to submit such a claim.

There are obviously people on here who make significantly more money than I do, but everything is relative. Try to keep that in mind before you judge someone for trying to save some money.

It may seem cheap and petty to some for someone to ask to save $240 because they found a difference of $.20 in nightly rates. But... as folks have pointed out, from the corporate side this is like hiring a bunch of mystery shoppers that only get paid when they find a standards compliance problem. And then corporate hits up the individual hotel owner/manager to pay for the non-compliance. The individual hotel owner/manager may be unhappy that they got caught for being out of compliance, but they can take it as a lesson in how to improve their systems. The customer is happy because they got a deal. Corporate is happy that a non-compliance issue was reported.

I think those who think it is cheap/petty feel that the reward is large for the size of the infraction. It may only be $.20, but sometimes it is good to catch those little issues before they turn into big ones. The question a good manager would ask is why the prices were posted with a $.20 difference. Typo, bad training, limitation of pricing engine, automated computer price posting problem, bad attitude, signals to aliens from outer space, etc. Only if you know you have a problem and what it is can you hope to fix it.

One of the FTer here who commented about being petty to file LNF for 0.02 difference is also the one who very much think if you don't tip a good amount, then you are petty. Oh well, we are all entitled to our opinion as long as it doesn't offend the other people.

A lot of FTers including myself are money/points sensitive - that's why we are here to exchanging or sharing information about some special promo/code to save $$$$$. I wouldn't have been able to travel the way I do without the help of other FTers for sharing their tips/information.

Back to Marriott LNF, I think Marriott is charging more for their rooms on Marriott.com than other chains. I can often find Hilton/IHG hotel cheaper than a Marriott. So this LNF is to get people who are price sensitive to stay at Marriott.com, I don't believe that Marriott is loosing money from doing that - each room they sell they get revenue - that's why you see a lot of Marriott properties using Priceline to fill up their empty rooms.

When I was staying at a couple of CYs in Europe, I saw big group of bus tourists staying there too - do you think they really pay Marriott's USD 120 per night?

I saw crews in a couple of Marriotts, do you think they pay USD 249 for a night? Please let me know if they do.

All these are called Price Discrimination.

Well-said both of you.

Cheers.

I've got some perspective on this because I mostly stay in the same area all the time, and thus repeat many of the same hotels a lot, and yet am on a budget and on my own dime, and can't afford most Marriott hotels at their Marriott.com rate most of the time, and yet only stay at hotels which are giving good promos when they're giving good promos (I belong to enough program to be able to just "follow the promos"). So only with LNF can Marriott (and their hotels) have me as a frequent guest.

Some seem to like it more than others.

One of them lets me get rooms at more than half off the marriott.com rate every time I try, even if that's weekly or twice a week. They occasionally adjust the third-party rate that I use, but they never seem to completely take it away.

On the other hand, several other hotels in the area, the moment I use one of the third-party rates I find, (as soon as) the next day it's gone. It sounds like the Marriott LNF folks may be notifying the hotel what website and what rate was used for an LNF, and some hotels respond to that by going "oh, gosh, we didn't want that third-party rate out there!" and take it down quickly, while others go "that's fine, only a tiny fraction of our guests use this, and some of them are very faithful to us as a result, and so we don't mind as long as it doesn't run out of control".

In fact, could some of these be "mistake" rates that I'm finding for them? One was for a hotel which had rates $100ish, but one third-party site was showing a "1 King" rate for $75ish, and then a "King Room" rate for the same $100ish that marriott.com showed. (The hotel has only one type of 1-king-bed room, btw.) I did an LNF on the $75ish, and got a response a few hours later that it had been accepted. But the next morning, all those "1 King" rates for that hotel were gone from the third-party site, and only the normal-rate "King Room" rates remained. So were these intentional low rates that the hotel decided to pull after getting an LNF on them, or mistake rates, or was it just coincidence (and they had expired that morning)?

The LNF gets us working for them and Make people ignore 3rd party sites
 

We provide a service by providing them with the information on the 3rd party rates -- so they can eliminate the "problem" and it costs them a discount for 1 person.

If you have ever seen Miracle on 34th Street, the same thing works. Macy's will know and refer a customer to other stores when they don't have something. That way, you go to Macy's first. In this case, you go to marriott.com first and stop there. (except the FT crowd who will look for a lower rate to win the discount.) Just like the stores that offer the 110% price match or Building 19 which price matches and gives the customer a bottle of "Champaign el Cheapo."

Fortunately Marriott doesn't always kill of the site like IHG does :D

I could not agree with these posts more. I certainly have issues with Marriott but I hate to play the "gotcha" role. I just don't get the obsession with doing so.

That's my point. Marriott has cheesy promotions like every other corporation. It's the "gotcha" aspect I find distasteful. And I ain't buying the altruistic "I'm helping Marriott identify trouble spots" remarks....

It just sounds like many people walk up to the FD locked and loaded to find something wrong and get something for it. All MR members can't be lawyers...can they?

quite a few and alot more what-a-bees.......

What I find distastful is someone assuming everyone plays the 'gotcha' game & are locked & loaded ;).

Cheers.

LNF on $0.20 difference?
 

"many" does not mean "everyone"... :)

Sorry, but many still means a lot. And I beg to differ that many go 'locked & loaded' to the FD & play the 'gotcha' game. Are there some that do? Sure. Are they the majority? Doubtful.

Cheers.

Kill the site? What do you mean?

Personally I wouldn't try for a rate guarantee claim with such a small price difference. But we each have to decide what we want to try for.

I'll let Nacho comment for herself, but IMO what she means is once IHG gets a valid best rate guarantee claim that they make the comparison site stop selling that hotel for the former rate, thus "kill the site""

[QUOTE=GrizShel;18926455]Kill the site? What do you mean?
[QUOTE]

Deleted

According to the OP, that .20cent difference was going to save him $240 over a 3-week stay.

Cheers.

[QUOTE=BKKLEE;18926737]I'll let Nacho comment for herself, but IMO what she means is once IHG gets a valid best rate guarantee claim that they make the comparison site stop selling that hotel for the former rate, thus "kill the site""

[QUOTE=GrizShel;18926455]Kill the site? What do you mean?
Yes exactly, once I called IHG to file a BRG for an IC, and they asked for the site and asked me to hold. I was on the 3rd party site while waiting the agent to verify the rate, when she got back to me she said she couldn't find the rate. So I pressed refresh on my browser and the rate was no longer available.

Fortunately there was another one - so I got my free night at an IC.

Also once you have filed a claim, the rate disappears for a while before popping up again for IHG BRG.

So far Marriott has killed 1 site as far as I know.

Ms Sharon, I have enormous respect for what you do on FT, so I'll shut and we'lljust disagree on this one. Doesn't mean I think I'm right and you're wrong...just means we're different. :D

And on that we agree. Neither right nor wrong for any of us; just different viewpoints :)

Cheers.

I filed one for .01 difference. Saves me 25% and just following their rules

I have seen rates disappear from at least 4 different sites after I've filed successful LNF claims. In one case the next morning, but usually with a bit more of a lag.

It's easy for me tell because (as I explained in more detail above, in post 22) I tend to need to stay in the same area again and again and again and again, so I keep checking for LNFs in the same area repeatedly, first obviously trying what's worked before.

In fact, of 5 sites I've used for 4 Marriott family hotels in one area, only one of those 4 hotels, at only one of those 5 third-party sites, has kept their LNFable rate up on an ongoing basis for months.

It's a lot more difficult to find LNF rate for hotels outside the US. The voucher restriction made most site not valid for LNF claims.