mahasamatman

Maybe the OP doesn't want to pay such a high rate? I know I wouldn't pay that much more just for 2,000 StarPoints.

sc flier

It's not just for 2K Starpoints, though. It's also the difference of earning the base Starpoints, any elite bonus Starpoints, stay credit toward elite status, a stay credit towards a FWN, etc. Plus the OP confirms an upgrade to Grand Deluxe. If the OP books the cheapest rate through gtahotels.com, none of these are received. But with a BRG at the Grand Deluxe level, all of the above is available for just $51 more than the gtahotels.com rate. Seems like the way to go unless there's a completely different hotel out there with a better option.

If willing to give up all of the above, the OP could also consider booking a Cat4 C&P award for a standard room if Starpoints are available.

Bravada04

........I know I have posted before about the BRG and agree it is a great opportunity to get the best rate and of course some starpoints.

Here is my problem.....A large percentage of the time I get this one representative and I swear she has it in for me I NEVER and I say NEVER have a problem any other time but when she responds......somehow - someway she finds a way to deny the BRG.

Recently it was by .02 cents yet when I got back to the third party website it clearly does not represent that. CLEARLY

I do have one question...although this does not represent all of my BRG claims but I figure I will get an honest here on flyertalk so I know going forward........If on the SPG website - let's say for example there is a NON-REFUNDABLE rate of $150.00 and a Best Rate ( refundable ) for $200.00.....I then find a REFUNDABLE rate on a third party website for $175.00. ) O.K. so which rate does Starwood use ??? Off the bat my assumption is they would have to use the refundable rate to compare .....or am I incorrect on this one ?

Regardless, the other issues I am having ( plus the emails I have saved from her ) I will forward to someone that can honestly look at it and see the service this person is giving.

I could careless ( well that's not true because I am taking the time to do this ) but my company is paying for it so it's not my money.........but what truly simply irritates me is the principle of the emails.

It is like night & day from her co-workers....... I honestly as we speak am considering simply taking my business to another hotel chain.......and I know most of you ( and I usually say the same ) will say then go do it.......but I wish you could experience what I have over the last few weeks and I know without a doubt some of you diehards whom take customer service & respect seriously would bail in a minute.

Whew!!! just had to let a little steam out. Thanks for listening.

mahasamatman

I don't know what the official policy is, but they've always used the lowest rate for the room type with me, regardless of refundability. This also works in my favor, as I always book a refundable rate after being approved even if the third-party rate is non-refundable.

Bravada04

O.K. help me out here Boss....now you have me confused when you say "as I always book a refundable rate after being approved even if the third-party rate is non-refundable.[/QUOTE]"

mahasamatman

Starwood gives you 24 hours after approval to book your room - you do not need to book first. I always file for the BRG first. Only after it's approved do I book my room, and I book a refundable rate. They then update the rate, but leave it as refundable.

digitalsky

Yes I agree with you I should have looked closely at the terms before filing, but I filed before I realize that. Anyway, both claims were approved in 12 hrs:

===claim===
Hotel Name: Sheraton Waikiki
Arrival Date: 07-15-2010
Departure Date: 07-18-2010
Number of Adults: 2
Number of Children: 0
Number of Rooms: 1
Room Type: City View
Starwood Brand Web Site Room Rate: 265 (USD)
Company room provider: Other
Other Company room provider: otel.com
Competing rate: 206 (CAD)
===offer===
Arrival Date: July 15, 2010
Departure Date: July 18, 2010
Room Type: City View
Actual confirmed rate: $180 USD plus taxes ($200 USD less 10%)
===claim===
Hotel Name: THE ROYAL HAWAIIAN, WAIKIKI
Arrival Date: 07-12-2010
Departure Date: 07-15-2010
Number of Adults: 2
Number of Children: 0
Number of Rooms: 1
Room Type: Garden View
Starwood Brand Web Site Room Rate: USD 310
Company room provider: Other Web Site
Other Company room provider: otel.com
Competing rate: CAD 243
===offer===
Arrival Date: 12-Jul-10
Departure Date: 15-Jul-10
Room Type: Garden View
Actual rate to be confirmed: $221.49USd plus tax ($246.10USD less 10%)

Thanks to this thread I discovered BRG!

thip88

I didnt book before sending my 2 first claims too(same hotel but different arrival date) because the rate in spg is non-refundable. My first claim was approved while second claim was denied
I'm ok with it because my first claim was success and the rate in spg already equal to competing rate so I decided to book a prepaid rate 1800THB with spg.
It has been abt 2 weeks after I made a booking I check rate in spg,,they changed back to 2400++again while hotels.com still 1800++. This quit made me feel a lil bit disappointment,,I cant help to think that they just adjusted rate to 1800 to deny my claim.
Actually my friend suggested me at that time that I should book a prepaid rate 2400THB before sending my second claim but I thought why I have to pay for a higher price. But my friend was right If i did book a prepaid rate before sending it,,it should be approved.

p.s. I'm not good with english so sorry if my writing is bad.

sc flier

Congratulations on your win! Nice work! Both of these rates still beat spg.com now. Others may be very interested in these.

gsch

Someone will probably be able to help me here.

I'm staying often at the same property on Sunday night.

Over the last few weeks, I realized that the best rate on SPG and expedia is around USD 240 per night until Thursday night. Then on Friday morning as they have availability in the hotel, they change the rate to USD 200. The new rate is available on both expedia and SPG.

So if I book on Thursday at USD 240, could I claim BRG on Friday morning (in the 24hrs window after booking) for the USD 200 rate of expedia?

Thanks for the help.

Bravada04

Here is an insert from her email....now I'm being told that it is because the other site might charge a booking fee ?????? What about the hidden resort fee's on SPG !

Dear xxxxxx,



I have reviewed the rates for The xxxxxxxx Sheraton xxxxxx for the dates of your claim on our website and found a rate of $130.50 CAD which is lower than the rate of $130.52 CAD found on Expedia.ca. Since the rate is lower on our website, I am not able to approve your claim.


For complete program details of the Best Rate Guarantee program please visit our website.


Please remember that all third party websites such as Expedia.ca, will charge you a fee for booking your reservation. In order to fairly compare their price with ours, we have to add the booking fee into the total they charge.
__________________________________________________ _____

Like I said before, she is comparing the REFUNDABLE rate on the third party website to the NON REFUNDABLE rate on the SPG website.... Does this not classify as a room type......it always has with other BRG representatives.

ps. albeit I'm still miffed she is making up an amount on expedia.ca as it still does not show that amount. I have no idea where she got that from ???? I have scoured the website and it is absolutely nowhere to be found.

O.K. I promise I'm moving on with my day now. Bigger & better things to do.

yule_boy

Remember, you have to look at the total price at the competing website and then divide by 1+tax rate to determine the actual room rate charge, which often includes a hidden service fee.

For example, let's say expedia says the room rate is 100 and taxes at the hotel are 10% (You can usually find the tax rate from the spg website) but then the total price at expedia will be more than 110. The difference is the service fee.

These fees are usually hidden by lumping them together under "taxes and fees" so you can only find out what they are by the calculation above.

yule_boy

In theory this would work but there's no guarantee that the rates would drop on Friday. If the 240 rate you're booking on Thursday can be canceled, you have nothing to lose so I say try it.

sc flier

You can try it, but I am not sure it will work. They'll look at both sites and tell you that spg.com currently offers the same lowest rate that expedia currently offers. Assuming that the expedia rate can be canceled, you could still book on spg.com to get lowest rate. If you booked on spg.com on Thurs night and the rate drops the next day, the BRG doesn't technically apply because the BRG terms are only for competing websites.

No, you were told it was because the total price on their site was greater than the total price on spg.com.

She shouldn't say that "all third party sites" charge a booking fee. No, not all do this.

If she's comparing a refundable rate on expedia to a nonrefundable rate on spg.com, then they didn't compare all the details and just stopped when they saw a lower price (without considering that there were other differences to consider). Did you point out this difference in the Comments field when you submitted the claim?

chebraccia

Hotel Name: Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit
Arrival Date: 06-16-2010
Departure Date: 06-17-2010
Number of Adults: 2
Number of Children: 1
Number of Rooms: 1
Room Type: Deluxe Twin Roo
Starwood Brand Web Site Room Rate: 8000 after taxes
Company room provider: Other Web Site
Other Company room provider: GTAhotels.com

I figured I would try my luck with a different agent, to see if they might approve despite the Breakfast GTA offers.. but not such luck.

Since I'm plat the deluxe is not worth paying for. I'll stick with LM BKK and book direct with SPG at this hotel on my last day as the price is lower (4500)...