Where do you book and which programs have you had success with?
Considering that most hotels have best rate guarantees I'm not sure why anyone wouldn't just book from the hotel.
you cant BRG against a PL rate, especially since you wont know the hotels name till you won the bid and No Refunds
as for getting credit Hiltons,Marriotts and yep *W (but *W is alot harder as they have changed their computer programs) Hyatt till a yr or so ago was Legit w/o playing any games, Ive heard that people at times still get credit at times with Hyatt but far froma slam dunk
My Advice is to expect no credit will be forthcoming and if any does great, = no one should go the PL route if getting credit is Important but see it as a gift if it goes thru, which wasnt the case a few yrs ago, as it usually went thru.
I did get HH and MR credit in '09 , needed a hotel for an overnight Airport stay for doing some MRs and didnt want to use Pts when PL was able to be had for <$50 ai, most reg rates were >$150