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SPG Best Rate Guarantee (BRG) 2018: Success, failure & discussion thread

Old Jan 1, 2018, 7:21 am
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Last edit by: Starwood Lurker
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POSTING FORMAT

Hotel Name:
Arrival Date:
Departure Date:
Number of Rooms:
Number of Guests:
Room Type:
Starwood Brand Web Site Room Rate:
Competing Rate:
Competing Web Site:

Comments:

FAQ

What is the Best Rate Guarantee (BRG)?

If a lower rate at an SPG Hotel is made available on a non-SPG website or non-SPG mobile application, upon its receipt of a claim that satisfies these Best Rate Guarantee terms and conditions, SPG will honor that Competing Rate and provide the individual that submitted the valid claim one of the following rewards: (1) an additional 25% discount off the Competing Rate (20% for Design Hotels) per room per night (up to a maximum of three rooms); or (2) 2,000 Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints per room per stay (up to a maximum of three rooms).

What should I do if my claim is successful?
  • Re-confirm your rate at check-in; normally the hotel will have the correct BRG rate in your reservation, but sometimes you will need to remind them.
  • If you choose points, they will be credited after the stay; check in one week to see if they have posted. If they have not posted, then contacted the BRG team to get it posted.
Are SPG benefits honored for BRG stays?

Yes. You should receive the same SPG elite member benefits and stay/night credit as for a normal paid stay.

How do I view my reservation after my BRG has been approved?
  • Log into your SPG account.
  • Click on your stays to view your current reservation.
  • Click on "Set Stay Preferences" link for the BRG reservation, then SAVE.
  • Refresh your stays page and the reservation should be visible again. You may need to repeat this step if the hotel touches your reservation. If you apply for Your24, you will not be able to view the reservation details.
How do I add a Suite Night Award (SNA) to a my BRG reservation?
  • Follow the steps as outlined under: How do I view my reservation after my BRG has been approved?
  • At the end of this process, you should be able to select "Apply SNA to this Stay" from within your stays page.
GUIDELINES FOR A SUCCESSFUL CLAIM

You cannot BRG against a rate on a Starwood Website/App (hot escapes, promos, Gov. Rate etc.). It has to be a 3rd party website/App.

The rate you submit the BRG against must be a rate that is available to the general public
Cancellation/Deposit Policies and amenities must match on both websites to be valid

A valid Starwood website reservation is required to submit a BRG

If a room category is available on an external website but not on Starwood, you may still make a claim. You still need to make a booking with Starwood using the next lowest category of room and must include the cancel/deposit polices and amenities you are wanting- if your claim is approved the room type in the booking will remain what is booked.


Only one claim may be submitted per reservation number (If your first claim is denied, you may submit a new claim for that reservation if you find another lower rate after you receive the denial email)

You must book and submit a claim for the room type, cancel policy, deposit policy and amenities you are comparing. If you a flexible rate on SPG.com, they will look for a flexible rate when processing your claim, even if a lower rate for non-cancellable is available.
You cannot BRG with a flexible rate against a prepaid rate. All information must be the same on both websites and the claim will be denied.

If your comparable rate includes extras like breakfast or parking, make sure there is a room available on spg.com that includes the exact amenities. If there is no room available with the same amenities, it will be denied.

Room types must be the same for a BRG.

If you are booking and comparing rates for a non-refundable booking, note that you are responsible for any and all charges including cancellation charges, even if the claim is not approved

If you have an approved and finalized claim and you find an even cheaper rate later, then you may submit a new BRG claim that is not connected to any existing reservation. If this BRG claim is approved, you will need to make a new reservation on SPG.com. Once the process is completed, you will then email the BRG desk to cancel your first reservation, if it is within the cancellation deadline.

The cancel policy of an approved claim will be the same as what was booked and approved. It will no longer default to flexible.

If you find availability for the room type you want on a third party website/app but there is no availability for that room type on the Starwood Website, then this may be an approved claim if it meets all other terms and conditions. You will need to make sure that you specify the room type you actually want on the Starwood Website section and enter 0 in the rate and currency. This will ensure that the processing associates know that the room type you want is not available on the Starwood Website. You may also add additional comments near the end of the claim form indicating that there is no availability on the Starwood Website for that room type to help clarify.

If you find availability on a third party website/app but there is no availability on the Starwood Website, then this claim cannot be submitted as you must have a valid reservation to submit a claim. If it is submitted somehow without a reservation, the claim will not be processed as a valid Starwood reservation is required.

Per the FAQ, "Any questions regarding claims should be directed to [email protected] or call 1-866-500-0368." A human is available at this number beginning at 9am EST.

OTAs not eligible because they do not confirm instantly:
  • AsiaWeb
  • BestDay
  • Cancelon
  • Ctrip (Known as MyTrip from Dec 2017)
  • Elvoline
  • HappyRooms
  • Hoteling
  • Hotelreservierung.de (according to BRG team 5 Sept 2017)
  • HotelsClick (Some rates on request, some instant)
  • Ostrovok
  • Roomertravel
  • Laterooms (according to BRG team 24 Oct 2016)
  • Hotelius (according to BRG team 21 Sept 2017)
  • Zenhotels (according to BRG team 10 Nov 2017)
  • Travelbag (according to BRG team 22 Dec 2017)


Special Conditions for BRG & Design Hotels
  • You may only claim against the absolute lowest rate on SPG.com, for the date(s) in question.
  • The rate must be the lowest on sale on SPG.com, and is regardless of the type of room you actually want, the number of occupants, cancellation policy and the amenities provided. In all likelihood this will mean you have to use a rate for a standard room, for 1 person, non-refundable and without any amenities.
  • It is not necessary for the rate on the external website to match the SPG.com rate in any way including room type and number of occupants. The only requirement for a successful BRG claim is that the rate be lower than the lowest rate on SPG.com for the date(s) in question.
  • As with normal BRG claims, you need to make a booking before submitting a claim but it must be the lowest rate for the hotel and dates. Since this will likely be a non-refundable booking, note that you are responsible for any and all charges including cancellation charges, even if the claim is not approved.
  • Amenities are not included in the comparasin
  • You will retain the category of room booked on SPG.com, even if the external website rate submitted for the claim refers to a different category of room. This is especially pertinent in situations where the hotel continues to sell lower categories of rooms on other websites, while not making them available on SPG.com. You will then be able to book a higher category of room on SPG.com, BRG the lower rate, and retain the higher category of room while paying the lower rate.
  • If you need to BRG Design Hotels for Double or higher occupancy.
    • The BRG will be processed for a single occupant, even if the rate does not change for more than one occupant. You must book the actual number of occupants intended. Effectively, you can only BRG for single occupant unless double rate happens to be the same as single. It is not possible to BRG if double rate is higher than single. No modification to occupancy is allowed if BRG is approved. If you submit with single rate, you will be stuck with single room; if you submit with double rate and single rate is lower, it will be automatically denied irrespective of competing rates.

Differing currencies

Marriott may deny claims where the difference between the comparison rate and the Marriott rate is less than $1. Rate disparities primarily attributable to fluctuations and/or differences in currency exchange rates are excluded from the guarantee.

Link to T&C
https://www.starwoodhotels.com/bestrate/terms.html
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SPG Best Rate Guarantee (BRG) 2018: Success, failure & discussion thread

 
Old May 27, 2018, 6:53 am
  #661  
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: LCY
Programs: SQ Krisflyer, QR Privilege Club, MB LT Plt (1K+ nights thx MB)
Posts: 1,032
Originally Posted by noeatbutgo
In the reply of rejection:

"...this website charges a fee of XX to modify or cancel a reservation as well as a prepayment for an entire reservation..."
I would suspect that this is what was the problem ... i.e. the cancellation is not free. .. but hey its just my guess ... btw what OTA was it?
X-ON is offline  
Old May 27, 2018, 7:30 am
  #662  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,324
Originally Posted by margarita girl
I think Loyalty Lobby summed it up best!
Yes I completely agree. While they destroyed SPG brg overnight I am not sure why they decided to damage the lnf at the same time.
HHonors OUTSIDER is offline  
Old May 27, 2018, 8:05 am
  #663  
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Seoul, KR
Programs: MAR Titanium, HH Gold
Posts: 574
Originally Posted by X-ON
I would suspect that this is what was the problem ... i.e. the cancellation is not free. .. but hey its just my guess ... btw what OTA was it?
Sure but why did the agent mention the part 'as well as prepayment'... and ''deposit' in another rejection. Those replies are not mine but the guy who received them used Amoma.
noeatbutgo is offline  
Old May 27, 2018, 8:27 am
  #664  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,324
Originally Posted by X-ON
That is inconsistent with how I used LNF on Marriott properties in the past. I have previously used LNF sucessfully vs OTA free cancellation rates where the whole amount is charged upfront but returned to you if you cancel x days before arrival ... and the x days was not the same as the flex rate I booked on marriott.com. If we end up with different interpretations of the same T&C depending if your LNF claim ends up being processed by a SPG legacy team or not I call amateur hour ...really MAR what are you doing?
Bingo. X-ON you nailed it. The SPG legacy team is asked overnight to interpret the new T&C so they are going to be rejecting claims left right and center. "The OTA site didn't mention that the room type included a hair dryer and our site does" CLAIM DENIED
HHonors OUTSIDER is offline  
Old May 27, 2018, 8:31 am
  #665  
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Rotterdam
Programs: AMEX Platinum, BA Gold, Flying Blue Platinum, Marriott Platinum Elite, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 1,274
Yup! It has begun

" I have processed your claim to compare rates for a deluxe rainforest and breakfast with a cancellation policy of 6:00 PM hotel time on Wednesday, Feb 13, 2019 without any penalty. Using the dates on your claim, I found a rate of 1,340.86 MYR inclusive of service charge, plus local government fee, per night on our website. I was unable to locate any availability for the same room and cancellation policy on Airasiago.com.my. As I am not able to verify the availability of the competing rate, I am not able to approve your claim."

Big downside now. Even of SPG alters it's cancellation policy 24 hours, it will always be different then the third party website.
kevinflyaway is offline  
Old May 27, 2018, 9:01 am
  #666  
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: LCY
Programs: SQ Krisflyer, QR Privilege Club, MB LT Plt (1K+ nights thx MB)
Posts: 1,032
Originally Posted by HHonors OUTSIDER
Bingo. X-ON you nailed it. The SPG legacy team is asked overnight to interpret the new T&C so they are going to be rejecting claims left right and center. "The OTA site didn't mention that the room type included a hair dryer and our site does" CLAIM DENIED
MAR need to at least, at a minimum, coordinate the practice of how to apply the new T&C of LNF. I have yet to see any activity over at the Marriott forum LNF sticky thread so it seems that there is business as usual.. Imagine 1 AUG come and go and when you LNF whether your claim is denied or not is depending on which team gets the email the marriott forum will be fuming... Somebody dropped the ball here ... It puzzles me that some aspects of this merger is so poorly executed
One thing that the SPG BRG had going for itself was the transparency and no hair splitting, of course you could not take advantage of the difference in flex premium between OTA and spg.com but nothing is perfect. I am a little surprised that MAR did not go with the SPG T&C since it is perceived as being transparent and as a property you only need to pay attention to one rate (pre-paid SPG, i.e. keep that at the same lvl as thr OTA) for each room category in order to avoid BRG, I guess you go with what you know.
If MAR is going to start with the hair splitting and every LNF agent is going to start to be a pretend lawyer the LNF program is going down the same route as Hyatt once did.
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Old May 27, 2018, 10:51 am
  #667  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 301
Originally Posted by pentiumvi

I always book non-refundable rates, as my plans rarely, if ever change, and paying the premium for flexible rates is not worth it for me.
Good for you then. The change of T&Cs does not affect you. You still only need to book the lowest prepaid available rate on spg.com and find an OTA rate that is lower than that. Same as before.
M.dA.R. is offline  
Old May 27, 2018, 11:42 am
  #668  
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Programs: DL DM, SPG Plat 100/LT Gold, Marriott Plat, National Executive Elite
Posts: 2,988
Originally Posted by X-ON
I would suspect that this is what was the problem ... i.e. the cancellation is not free. .. but hey its just my guess ... btw what OTA was it?
They are looking at the specific time to cancel now to match.

The new T&Cs do NOT state this. It just says rate type needs to match - Marriott in the past for LNF has said it just needs to match either "nonredundable" or "flexible" - the date and time of flexibility don't matter

SPG agents I spoke to yesterday said Marriott trained them to be this precise about it. She mentioned hearing negative things and this website and encouraged everyone to call the BRG line, ask for a Supervisor, and file a complaint

Originally Posted by HHonors OUTSIDER
Bingo. X-ON you nailed it. The SPG legacy team is asked overnight to interpret the new T&C so they are going to be rejecting claims left right and center. "The OTA site didn't mention that the room type included a hair dryer and our site does" CLAIM DENIED
They are claiming this is how they were trained.

Also, they are taking longer than the promised 24 hours to reply to claims because they claim to have to verify so many more details now and it's taking much longer per claim

I would encourage calls and complaints; I complained to a Supervisor that if they cannot review in the 24 hours they prescribe then any claims taking longer than 24 hours should be auto approved

They can't pick and choose what they want to follow (strict rules applied to our rates) then take forever to verify on their end!
btonkid12345 is offline  
Old May 27, 2018, 12:46 pm
  #669  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,324
Yes even Hilton auto approves if they take too long to process the claim.
btonkid12345 likes this.

Last edited by HHonors OUTSIDER; May 27, 2018 at 12:59 pm
HHonors OUTSIDER is offline  
Old May 27, 2018, 2:17 pm
  #670  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: YVR
Posts: 1,076
Originally Posted by M.dA.R.


Good for you then. The change of T&Cs does not affect you. You still only need to book the lowest prepaid available rate on spg.com and find an OTA rate that is lower than that. Same as before.
But, from the way I'm understanding the new rules, I NEED to book the SPG pre-paid rate, and BRG against an OTA's prepaid rate. This would mean if my claim gets rejected, I'm stuck with the hotel.
Whereas I used to be able to book a refundable rate on SPG, and if claim gets denied for whatever reason, I can still cancel without penalty.
Is my understanding incorrect?
pentiumvi is offline  
Old May 27, 2018, 2:33 pm
  #671  
Moderator: Mileage Run, InterContinental Hotels
 
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 5,891
Originally Posted by pentiumvi
But, from the way I'm understanding the new rules, I NEED to book the SPG pre-paid rate, and BRG against an OTA's prepaid rate. This would mean if my claim gets rejected, I'm stuck with the hotel.
Whereas I used to be able to book a refundable rate on SPG, and if claim gets denied for whatever reason, I can still cancel without penalty.
Is my understanding incorrect?
Correct. And your likelihood of having a claim denied has just increased a lot: An important aspect M.da.R.'s "does not affect you" response fails to acknowledge is the fact that now the room type needs to match exactly. It is very common among the best competing sites to find generic room descriptions like "Standard Room" or "1 Dbl/Twin" while the lowest category on SPG is "Deluxe Twin" or "Wonderful King." Those claims used to sail through, but are currently being denied.
margarita girl likes this.
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Old May 27, 2018, 2:45 pm
  #672  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: YVR
Posts: 1,076
Originally Posted by jpdx
Correct. And your likelihood of having a claim denied has just increased a lot: An important aspect M.da.R.'s "does not affect you" response fails to acknowledge is the fact that now the room type needs to match exactly. It is very common among the best competing sites to find generic room descriptions like "Standard Room" or "1 Dbl/Twin" while the lowest category on SPG is "Deluxe Twin" or "Wonderful King." Those claims used to sail through, but are currently being denied.
Sigh, that's what I was afraid of.

Maybe it's time to temporarily give up on SPG properties and try my luck over at Marriott. Seems like the agents over there are bit more flexible.
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Old May 27, 2018, 2:56 pm
  #673  
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Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 301
Originally Posted by jpdx
Correct. And your likelihood of having a claim denied has just increased a lot: An important aspect M.da.R.'s "does not affect you" response fails to acknowledge is the fact that now the room type needs to match exactly. It is very common among the best competing sites to find generic room descriptions like "Standard Room" or "1 Dbl/Twin" while the lowest category on SPG is "Deluxe Twin" or "Wonderful King." Those claims used to sail through, but are currently being denied.
Ive had several claims denied because of that under the old rules, so nothing new there.

I was simply referring to the fact that pentiumvi on a prior post claimed to always book nonrefundable rates and had no problem with that and wouldnt pay a premium for the ability to modify a reservation. however, on a more recent post s/he now says that books refundable.
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Old May 27, 2018, 7:39 pm
  #674  
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Programs: DL DM, SPG Plat 100/LT Gold, Marriott Plat, National Executive Elite
Posts: 2,988
Originally Posted by pentiumvi
Sigh, that's what I was afraid of.

Maybe it's time to temporarily give up on SPG properties and try my luck over at Marriott. Seems like the agents over there are bit more flexible.
OR you could try to work with the property directly; I've had success with this in the past and just again today (the BRG agent actually told me that they sometimes send customer screenshots emailed to their team (which BRG can't use) to the hotel, who decides to honor the lower rate for the customer)

I emailed the Front Office Manager of a Sheraton the screenshot and how to find the lower rate; he quickly replied and told me he would be happy to honor that rate himself and to forget dealing with the current state of BRG insanity; he probably also preferred not having to pay the approved BRG penalty to corporate, which I could care less about personally

In other news, an escalation point replied to one of my complaints with the new program and claimed they are still awaiting further clarification about the specificity of comparing cancellation deadlines from "above" and that they would get back to me within 48 hours
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Old May 27, 2018, 8:12 pm
  #675  
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 1,707
Originally Posted by btonkid12345
OR you could try to work with the property directly; I've had success with this in the past and just again today (the BRG agent actually told me that they sometimes send customer screenshots emailed to their team (which BRG can't use) to the hotel, who decides to honor the lower rate for the customer)

I emailed the Front Office Manager of a Sheraton the screenshot and how to find the lower rate; he quickly replied and told me he would be happy to honor that rate himself and to forget dealing with the current state of BRG insanity; he probably also preferred not having to pay the approved BRG penalty to corporate, which I could care less about personally

In other news, an escalation point replied to one of my complaints with the new program and claimed they are still awaiting further clarification about the specificity of comparing cancellation deadlines from "above" and that they would get back to me within 48 hours
That is good to know. However, will the property also give you the 2,000 Starpoints or the 25% additional rebate? That is the crux of the matter since the difference between the SPG rate and the OTA rate is rarely wide enough to bother looking for lower rates across numerous sites.
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