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BRG is a way of getting compensation for finding a cheaper rate then the one offered by the hotel website.  Compensation varies greatly by the hotel brand policy. It can be in the one following: first night free, gift cards, matched rate with an additional percent discount as well as bonus points.

Hotel brand/ site compensation policy
Please note: most will match the rate plus give compensation.
Choice hotel : $50 VISA gift card plus rate matched (US residents) OR first night free plus rate matched (non-US residents). It goes by the address you write on the reservation so if you Write down an Israel (or anywhere non U.S) address, you're good
Ihg: rate matched plus 5x points for the reservation
Best Western: rate matched plus 100$ BW travel card
Marriott: 25% off matched rate or 5,000 Marriott points
Hyatt: 20% off matched rate or 5,000 Hyatt points
Hilton: 25% off matched rate
Wyndham: rate matched plus 3,000 Wyndham points



How to find a brg claim
Search for the hotel and dates of your choice and then the fun begins.
Hotel price comparison web sites are great way of finding BRGs. Some of the following work very well:

TripAdvisor.com
Hotelscombined.com
Trivago.com
Wego.com

If you want some tutorial articles about how BRGs work, how to find them, how to match them, and all the details, go to http://brgdeals.blogspot.com/ and read the articles.

The site run by a guy named David, and he also finds BRGs and posts them there. So If you don't want to start making one yourself, just go to his site, search for the city you need and see if there are any current BRGs available. You can also be spontaneous and look at his most recent finds (he posts new ones almost daily), although you may have not planned a trip, but if you can get it free (or discounted) hey why not.

How to claim a brg
You do need to book the hotel first and then file a BRG claim.  Just search the hotels/ third party site for a best rate gaurantee policy and you should be able to find a link to a brg claim form. Be aware that room and conditions need to be a perfect match.
As they often find ways to wiggle out of this policy it's not advised to book a non refundable room unless you would have stayed there regardless.


Redeeming brgs
No  diff as to the form of compensation ( discount or free night) redeeming Is all the same. Your reservation will look like a standard reservation except it will be either discounted or show a 00.00 balance. Most hotel receptionists aren't familiar with brgs and automatically assume that it's a points stay.


Why I love choice brgs
Choice hotels include brands like quality inn, comfort inn, rodeway and of course the ascend collection. They are fairly easy when it comes to approving claims as long as you stick to the following:
- 1 claim per household per 30 days
- price match before taxes (ymmv on this one)
- your claim is submitted / approved 72 hours before your scheduled stay
However even within those policy's there are plenty of loop
Holes.



When Posting a brg please use the following Example format:

BRG claim for: Choice Hotels
Hotel Name: comfort suites
Hotel Add: 320 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL, US, 60601
Room Type: Queen Suite
Room Rate:197
Better rate found: Hotelscombined.com
Better Rate: 127
« Last edited by a mirrer on August 05, 2019, 01:23:12 PM »

Author Topic: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee  (Read 438608 times)

Offline shiframeir

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1240 on: June 13, 2014, 12:25:43 PM »
I had a clear cut winner with an IHG room on kayak and they still denied without giving an understandable reason (and they included a pdf of the search they did that actually showed the lower price!!). after a few emails they basically said i should sue them in Georgia. thinkin about it...

Offline chucksterace

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1241 on: June 13, 2014, 12:27:46 PM »
What was their reason?
You may not hold me responsible for any actions taken that were recommended from my account or username.

Offline Emkay

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1242 on: June 13, 2014, 12:31:15 PM »
+10-12
They arent going to just give you free hotel rooms whenever you want, you have to go according to thier rules.
If you do have a claim that meets all the t&c then they will approve you, but it really has to fit the program guidlines.
even if you fulfill the T&C you will usually get denied

Offline shiframeir

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1243 on: June 13, 2014, 02:38:14 PM »
What was their reason?
Jaymie Rosana of IHG gave this reason:

There is no $210.66 listed on booking.com via kayak.com. [ME: THE WAY TO BOOK IS DIRECTLY CLICKING ON KAYAK'S LOWER PRICE, NOT CLICKING ON THE BOOKING.COM LINK OFF OF KAYAK AND THEN SEARCHING!]

Please see our screenshots attached. [IDIOT INCLUDED A SCREENSHOT THAT SHOWED THE 210.66 RATE AS A KAYAK RATE, THAT IF U CLICKED ON WENT TO KAYAK "VIA" BOOKING.COM TO CLOSE THE DEAL (WITH RESERVATION DIRECTLY WITH KAYAK AND CANCELLABLE ON THEIR SITE). THIS PROVED THEY SAW THAT RATE WHEN CONFIRMING AND JUST SKIPPED IT AND WENT DIRECTLY TO KAYAK]

Please make sure you are checking the same hotel, dates and accommodation. [TO EXPLAIN - IHG RATE WAS 221 NON-REFUNDABLE AND 245 REFUNDABLE, WHILE THE 210.66 RATE WAS ALSO REFUNDABLE, ALL FOR SAME DATES, HOTEL AND ACCOMODATIONS]

We remain firm with our decision to disqualify the claim as the rates are similar on both sites. [SIMILAR? WTF?]

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience the program has caused you. In as much as we wanted to extend the guarantee please understand that we are bounded by our terms and conditions. [SO U WANT TO? ITS PRETTY EASY...]

i replied explaining myself several times and even rebooked the lower rate and included screenshots and Jaymie's screenshot, but i think that got the idiots there confused and they said it doesnt matter if i can get rate, they must be able to when they ok it, and at the time that Jaymie had checked he refused so it was not then available (disregarding his own screenshot). in each email i gave my phone number and begged to speak to someone to explain. so frustrating.

Offline EJB

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1244 on: June 13, 2014, 02:55:02 PM »
Jaymie Rosana of IHG gave this reason:

There is no $210.66 listed on booking.com via kayak.com. [ME: THE WAY TO BOOK IS DIRECTLY CLICKING ON KAYAK'S LOWER PRICE, NOT CLICKING ON THE BOOKING.COM LINK OFF OF KAYAK AND THEN SEARCHING!]

Please see our screenshots attached. [IDIOT INCLUDED A SCREENSHOT THAT SHOWED THE 210.66 RATE AS A KAYAK RATE, THAT IF U CLICKED ON WENT TO KAYAK "VIA" BOOKING.COM TO CLOSE THE DEAL (WITH RESERVATION DIRECTLY WITH KAYAK AND CANCELLABLE ON THEIR SITE). THIS PROVED THEY SAW THAT RATE WHEN CONFIRMING AND JUST SKIPPED IT AND WENT DIRECTLY TO KAYAK]

Please make sure you are checking the same hotel, dates and accommodation. [TO EXPLAIN - IHG RATE WAS 221 NON-REFUNDABLE AND 245 REFUNDABLE, WHILE THE 210.66 RATE WAS ALSO REFUNDABLE, ALL FOR SAME DATES, HOTEL AND ACCOMODATIONS]

We remain firm with our decision to disqualify the claim as the rates are similar on both sites. [SIMILAR? WTF?]

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience the program has caused you. In as much as we wanted to extend the guarantee please understand that we are bounded by our terms and conditions. [SO U WANT TO? ITS PRETTY EASY...]

i replied explaining myself several times and even rebooked the lower rate and included screenshots and Jaymie's screenshot, but i think that got the idiots there confused and they said it doesnt matter if i can get rate, they must be able to when they ok it, and at the time that Jaymie had checked he refused so it was not then available (disregarding his own screenshot). in each email i gave my phone number and begged to speak to someone to explain. so frustrating.

This has happened to me a few times. They have to see it available when they validate the claim. I believe if you argue and they recheck and the BRG is still valid, they may honor the claim but chances are IHG will have lowered their rate by then.

When it's their error, I've usually ended up getting 2-3k points courtesy. Doesn't hurt to ask.

Offline EMCC

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1245 on: June 13, 2014, 04:27:36 PM »
Is there aa lawyer here?
"Disclaimer: I don't believe everything I write."  - ChaimMoskowitz

Offline Super Speed

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1246 on: June 13, 2014, 04:33:29 PM »

Offline EMCC

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1247 on: June 13, 2014, 04:45:51 PM »
Ihg needs a class action lawsuit. I am not a lawyer, but is false advertising illegal? They say that they have a brg, but do not respect legitimate claims.
"Disclaimer: I don't believe everything I write."  - ChaimMoskowitz

Offline shiframeir

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1248 on: June 14, 2014, 11:01:03 PM »
I'm a lawyer, but starting up with someone like IHG requires big bucks to fund anything that might scare them. i'm not fronting it, esp considering the courts generally allowing little leeway to the little man trying to take advantage of these types of free benefits  :'(

Offline PlatinumGuy

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1249 on: June 16, 2014, 03:42:30 AM »
Ihg needs a class action lawsuit. I am not a lawyer, but is false advertising illegal? They say that they have a brg, but do not respect legitimate claims.
Good luck proving the extent of the damages.

They'd argue the guarantee is simply to grant benefits to anyone who finds lower rates.
״וזה כלל גדול: שישנא אדם כל דבר שקר. וכל מה שיוסיף שנאה לדרכי השקר – יוסיף אהבה לתורה.״ - אורחות צדיקים

Offline chayal101

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1250 on: June 16, 2014, 12:05:07 PM »
When finding a BRG with IHG, has anyone tried to file a claim booking the most expensive room, f.e. Executive Suite or Presidential Suite? You think it can be successful, or do you think they will not be happy to honor it?
Chaya L.

Offline Emkay

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1251 on: June 16, 2014, 12:15:45 PM »
When finding a BRG with IHG, has anyone tried to file a claim booking the most expensive room, f.e. Executive Suite or Presidential Suite? You think it can be successful, or do you think they will not be happy to honor it?
they aren't happy to honor any at all so I can't imagine this will be easy but it should  not make any difference.
Just as a side note, most of the executive or presidential suites cannot be booked online so you wont really have anything to match it to

Offline shimino1

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1252 on: June 16, 2014, 05:11:51 PM »
When finding a BRG with IHG, has anyone tried to file a claim booking the most expensive room, f.e. Executive Suite or Presidential Suite? You think it can be successful, or do you think they will not be happy to honor it?
Just got 2 executive suites approved a couple of weeks ago, no problem. I also know of somone who got the pres suite in china.
If the claim is valid, its valid.

Offline Emkay

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1253 on: June 16, 2014, 05:19:36 PM »
Just got 2 executive suites approved a couple of weeks ago, no problem. I also know of somone who got the pres suite in china.
If the claim is valid, its valid.
which site had presidential suite?

Offline shimino1

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1254 on: June 16, 2014, 06:05:42 PM »
I think Hotels.com

Offline ice man

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1255 on: June 16, 2014, 06:33:37 PM »
Which hotel was it?

Offline shimino1

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1256 on: June 16, 2014, 06:36:47 PM »
Which hotel was it?
More specific?

Offline ice man

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1257 on: June 16, 2014, 06:37:24 PM »
Which intercontinental was it in? In Manhattan?

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1258 on: June 16, 2014, 06:43:50 PM »
Which intercontinental was it in? In Manhattan?
Are you refering to my post or to somone else? If so to my own experience or to my friends?
Its esier if you quote or at least specify.
If you were refering to my expirience, it was at a crowne plaza in a european city. My friends was at an Intercontinental in china.

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1259 on: June 17, 2014, 11:46:08 PM »
I have been following this thread for a while (I did not read the whole thing, just skimmed thru it and read the last bunch of pages)
All the brg's that are being discussed lately are ihg and choice hotels, being that those are entirely free rooms,
I am going to Europe in the summer and I was checking out of curiosity if there are any brg opportunities for my nights,
I saw 2 hotels that might be cheaper on a 3rd party site, 1 spg and 1 Hilton,
I understand those don't give free nights, but if I was gonna pay for a hotel anyway, than its worth a try
I just wanna make sure that I understand all the requirements
1) it has to be the same currency
2) it has to be the same room description,       
How much of a price difference does it have to be?
And what exactly is the requirements for the same room? Same name or just same amenities?
Thanks