addicoe

I searched the forums and couldn't find details regarding this. I'm specifically interested in a list of hotel loyalty programs that still get honored (still accrue status and points/rewards/etc) even when staying under a USA federal government per diem rate as a contractor and not an official government employee. I know in some cases the distinction doesn't matter, but it does for others. My research has also led me to believe that some hotels won't even give you a government rate as a contractor. All I have found is that IHG works, marriot perhaps doesn't (not 100% sure), possibly wyndham does. Looking for people who have experience with this to provide input.

MSPeconomist

AFAIK Starriott/Bonvoy, Hyatt, and Hilton all give elite benefits and elite nights/stay credit on government rates that are booked through their respective websites. If you book through some other website, including your employer's or agency's travel portal, there could be a problem, especially if it essentially books through hotels.com, etc.

I've noticed that these chains offer a variety of government rates, depending on the particular property and availability. Some have a government rate, which might or might not be available to contractors; you must look at the conditions for the particular rate at the specific hotel to know for sure, and you might want to print the rules at the time of booking. Other hotels have separate rate plans for federal government, state government (which might or might not be restricted to the state in which the hotel is located), local government, contractor, etc., plus sometimes military rates that can be better than any government rate.

Especially if a group are traveling together, note that if the room is direct billed, you generally get NO elite benefits or status credit or points for the stay. If there's a negotiated rate or contract for a (generally larger) group or meeting, what happens depends on the details in the contract, which *should* be explicit about this but generally isn't information that is distributed to individual travelers.

garykung

I do believe you need to clarify a little bit more as the term "contractor " is too generic.

Basically, there are 2 kinds of contractors - the one who works directly within the Federal Government, as well as the one who provides goods and/or services to Federal Government (such as Boeing).

AFAIK, If you are a non-employee contractor (i.e. the first kind), while your chance of official travel is low, yet the official travel will be the same as other federal employees. But if you are the second kind, you are supposed to follow your company's own travel policy. You are NOT supposed to use the GSA contracted rate because your travel is not really paid by the Federal Government.

addicoe

I mean a contractor that works for a private company under contract to provide a good/service to the government. It is the second one. However what you say about not paid by the government is untrue. It depends on the terms of the contract. Some T&M contracts require receipts sent to the gov't for reimbursement. Assume in this case that I am referring to the second one where the government per diem rates are the maximum amount reimbursed from the gov't

garykung

Most don't, at least 95% and higher.

As a federal contractor, you are not bound by the travel policies of the federal employees. So you can do whatever you want (like you can fly premium classes). The Government simply reimburse the actual cost or the maximum allowed.

In this case, because the travel is not official, the travel provider is under no obligation to honor the GSA contracted rate to you.

YashDen

It seems to me, the best deal is to book the best deal/location every time with a high points earning reward card, instead of limiting yourself to one brand's portfolio of properties. Am I missing something

addicoe

As an example, if I booked a first class ticket, the gov't would deny the reimbursement without justification for the first class ticket. If I booked a full size car, the gov't would deny the reimbursement without justification for the full size car. That may not line up with your experience but that is my reality in this case.

As you say the travel provider is under no obligation to honor the GSA contracted rate, which is exactly why I opened this thread to find out which hotel programs would still give me the rewards while staying as the GSA rate.

jrl767

in my experience it’s largely up to the individual property, which may mean it’s up to the particular front desk clerk who checks you in or the auditor who catches that something was amiss with your folio

since retiring from active Reserve duty in July 2003 I’ve had to follow travel policy for seven employers; most if not all explicitly indicated that employees were not eligible for Government lodging rates (although I’ll typically book Government rate if it’s lower than a corporate contract) ... other than official travel to two conferences in Europe, I probably have less than 15 nights outside Marriott or IHG properties, and only had one instance where a front desk clerk refused to honor my military ID as qualifying for Government rate

so back to OP’s question — regardless of whether I’ve booked on the brand website or via a corporate travel portal, I’ve received full rewards program point credit for every Government-rate stay that I’ve accumulated at Marriott, IHG, and Hilton properties in the US

WHBM

Here in Europe (different arrangements but same hotel brands) there are no formal government rates, but there are individual arrangements from each hotel with local commercial businesses. As far as I have experienced the various businesses who have these are always very keen that you book at these rates, as they get progressively better deals the next year depending on how many nights they do; 20% off standard up to 100 nights, 30% off 100 to 300 nights, etc. They want as many as possible, visiting employee relations, etc, and the hotels likewise.

chrisl137

It can also depend on what kind of badge you have. If you have a federal agency PIV-II badge it's generally indistinguishable for someone who doesn't know the agency and various color codes. I've been working for a contractor for a few decades and we have to stay within the GSA rate, with exceptions possible if it's just not available at all. Way back before the standardized badging I had to carry a letter that very few places asked for, and only one ever didn't accept. With an agency issued PIV-II badge I just show that and it's got the agency on it and I've never had an issue.

Maxwell Smart

It seems like people are responding to two separate questions-

1. Do you get hotel points/rewards when staying on a government rate?
2. Who is eligible to use a government rate?

OP, I think you're asking about #1 . In my experience over 30 years, I've always received points/rewards when staying on a govt rate, as long as I was the one who paid the bill at checkout (as opposed to something directly billed/paid by a third party, for which I have no experience or reference). Never have I personally seen a situation where a stay was ineligible for points by virtue of it being a govt rate, if they allowed you to use it (there are other things that could make it ineligible, like if it was booked through opaque or 3rd party websites, but that's a whole different topic).

For #2 , that is strictly up to the hotel and/or chain. Unlike GSA airfares, there is no "contract" govt hotel rate. This is a frequent point of misunderstanding. GSA simply states that a govt traveler will be reimbursed up to a specific amount $X for a given location. Thus many hotels may decide to offer a "government rate" of $X to attract govt travelers, and are free to limit it or extend it to whoever they want (e.g., government only, govt contractors, govt official business, anybody that can spell "USA", or whatever). They are also under no obligation to offer that rate at all (for example, in the Bay Area many hotels have sufficient demand that they can always fill up rooms at higher than GSA rates thus have no reason to offer a govt rate). And similarly, a government traveler is free to stay at a lower or higher rate or more expensive hotel, they will simply only be reimbursed up to $X of the room's cost (other than specific situations where actual lodging expenses are approved for reimbursement).

pinniped

In markets where there are lots of government contractors, hotels know this and price themselves accordingly. They'll price right in line with what they know the government and by extension the traveler's employer will reimburse.

So price-wise, you're looking at a big cluster of Hiltons, Marriotts, and Hyatts that are all in a very narrow range. These are often cities or suburbs where all of these properties are acceptable, but none are truly outstanding or differentiated. The hotel room is a commodity at this point, and you are definitely better off picking one and sticking with it.

Clearly personal travel to places with many unique or luxury properties is a different story. The above strategy works best when you have lots of business travel in midrange hotels and want points to use later for a more interesting trip.

LAX_Esq

Related question. IHG allows government contractors to use the government rates, even on leisure, but the booking page for a particular non-US hotel says government ID required. Wife is a contractor but doesn't have a government ID. What do people do in these situations?

GUWonder

If asked — and they don’t always ask even when it says government ID required — then show other indication of being a government employee, government contractor/employee of a government contractor or even that of officially attending a government sponsored/affiliated event.

LAX_Esq

This is a region where I feel like the people like to be policemen and enforce rules, and I feel like there's a higher chance they could ask.

She works for a very well known contractor, but people in foreign countries aren't going to know what it is... So her employee ID from a well known contractor isn't going to help, I'd be afraid.