Topic Wiki

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 438831 times)

Offline Emkay

  • Dansdeals Lifetime 10K Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Dec 2012
  • Posts: 14412
  • Total likes: 377
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 35
    • View Profile
  • Location: Where I ought to be
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1940 on: August 13, 2015, 10:50:12 AM »
But you are expected to pay for the full price of the room on a non-refundable room if the BRG is not honored. My question is what happens when they charge the credit card on file and they can only charge $1? They would notice they arent able to charge the full price of the room. I can't imagine they would just let you go with only $1
You will pay zero

Online B.D.Da'ehu

  • Dansdeals Presidential Platinum Elite
  • ********
  • Join Date: Jul 2012
  • Posts: 3773
  • Total likes: 100
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 126
    • View Profile
  • Location: Jerusalem
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1941 on: August 13, 2015, 11:49:33 AM »
You will pay zero
Have you had this happen to you?

Offline jstu

  • Dansdeals Gold Elite
  • ***
  • Join Date: Dec 2014
  • Posts: 224
  • Total likes: 3
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 2
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1942 on: August 13, 2015, 03:49:57 PM »
Has anyone done any IHG claims lately, I submitted one three days ago and have not heard anything from them yet?
I also did one about a month ago and never received any reply
Sometimes it doesn't pay to save money.

Offline Welder

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Jul 2014
  • Posts: 1194
  • Total likes: 71
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 13
    • View Profile
  • Location: NYC
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1943 on: August 13, 2015, 03:52:19 PM »
Has anyone done any IHG claims lately, I submitted one three days ago and have not heard anything from them yet?
I also did one about a month ago and never received any reply

Did a few in in the last week or so, got 3 approvals . They sometimes take a long time to answer but I never had to wait more then a day or two.
"We need more welders and less philosophers" — Marco Rubio

Offline Emkay

  • Dansdeals Lifetime 10K Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Dec 2012
  • Posts: 14412
  • Total likes: 377
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 35
    • View Profile
  • Location: Where I ought to be
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1944 on: August 13, 2015, 06:41:21 PM »

Offline Jimgotkp

  • Dansdeals Gold Elite
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jul 2015
  • Posts: 138
  • Total likes: 0
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1945 on: August 14, 2015, 02:14:50 AM »
Did a few in in the last week or so, got 3 approvals . They sometimes take a long time to answer but I never had to wait more then a day or two.

Impressive.. been looking for BRG claims in the EU but no luck. will have to keep looking.

Ever try the $.01 GC on a non-refundable reservation with another chain (ex. Hilton)?

Offline Welder

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Jul 2014
  • Posts: 1194
  • Total likes: 71
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 13
    • View Profile
  • Location: NYC
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1946 on: August 14, 2015, 08:30:39 AM »
Impressive.. been looking for BRG claims in the EU but no luck. will have to keep looking.

Ever try the $.01 GC on a non-refundable reservation with another chain (ex. Hilton)?
No. So far only tried IHG and Choice.
"We need more welders and less philosophers" — Marco Rubio

Offline yitzyul

  • Dansdeals Presidential Platinum Elite
  • ********
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 2982
  • Total likes: 142
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 70
    • View Profile
  • Location: Monsey
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1947 on: August 16, 2015, 11:28:47 PM »
Hotels. com has a hilton hotel for $35 less then hilton (both are prepaid rate) would hilton honor the BRG if hotels.com officially has a special of 15% off hotels or will they wiggle out saying its a coupon and not a straight rate?

Thanks
« Last Edit: August 16, 2015, 11:32:54 PM by yitzyul »

Offline dovy2

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Oct 2012
  • Posts: 2401
  • Total likes: 309
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 24
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1948 on: August 16, 2015, 11:37:24 PM »
Almost all brg's are "sales".
As long as you don't actually need to add a coupon, I believe it's fine

Online B.D.Da'ehu

  • Dansdeals Presidential Platinum Elite
  • ********
  • Join Date: Jul 2012
  • Posts: 3773
  • Total likes: 100
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 126
    • View Profile
  • Location: Jerusalem
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1949 on: August 17, 2015, 04:12:12 AM »
Almost all brg's are "sales".
As long as you don't actually need to add a coupon, I believe it's fine
+1 BRG's happen when hotels.com has 10% off or so..

Offline keepsmiling123

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Dec 2014
  • Posts: 1271
  • Total likes: 27
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 9
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Location: United States
  • Programs: UR, SPG, MR, UA
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1950 on: August 17, 2015, 10:16:50 AM »
how long does IHG usually take to respond to a claim? booked for 2 wks from now and want to make sure it goes thru in time

Offline shimino1

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Apr 2013
  • Posts: 2412
  • Total likes: 140
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 10
    • View Profile
  • Location: israel
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1951 on: August 17, 2015, 04:24:59 PM »
Less then 24 hours

Offline keepsmiling123

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Dec 2014
  • Posts: 1271
  • Total likes: 27
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 9
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Location: United States
  • Programs: UR, SPG, MR, UA
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1952 on: August 17, 2015, 04:48:05 PM »

Offline Yehuda25

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Dec 2013
  • Posts: 6091
  • Total likes: 78
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 9
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1953 on: August 17, 2015, 08:31:09 PM »
Less then 24 hours
not always, though officially they are supposed to respond within 24 hours.
“To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.”


― Aristotle

Offline shimino1

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Apr 2013
  • Posts: 2412
  • Total likes: 140
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 10
    • View Profile
  • Location: israel
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1954 on: August 18, 2015, 02:15:52 AM »
He asked how long does it USUALLY take.

Offline D93

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Jul 2014
  • Posts: 8793
  • Total likes: 21
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 14
    • View Profile
  • Location: PHL - TLV
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1955 on: August 18, 2015, 06:04:03 AM »
how long does IHG usually take to respond to a claim? booked for 2 wks from now and want to make sure it goes thru in time
Recently they have not been responding at all.

Offline PPM

  • Dansdeals Gold Elite
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jun 2013
  • Posts: 198
  • Total likes: 2
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 1
    • View Profile
  • Location: jerusalem
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1956 on: August 18, 2015, 06:34:26 AM »
Recently they have not been responding at all.
check your spam

Offline shimino1

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Apr 2013
  • Posts: 2412
  • Total likes: 140
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 10
    • View Profile
  • Location: israel
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1957 on: August 18, 2015, 08:44:31 AM »
Recently they have not been responding at all.
-1
I don't know why people keep saying that they don't respond. Iv'e submited about 100 claims and they always responded!

Offline emak

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: May 2013
  • Posts: 1483
  • Total likes: 27
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 9
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1958 on: August 18, 2015, 08:45:48 AM »
Responded within hours to me yesterday. Claim declined  >:(

Offline keepsmiling123

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Dec 2014
  • Posts: 1271
  • Total likes: 27
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 9
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Location: United States
  • Programs: UR, SPG, MR, UA
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1959 on: August 18, 2015, 12:02:02 PM »
if the rate i find is from hotelclub and it says "promo applied" but i didnt enter any promo code any chance of IHG honoring it?