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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 427155 times)

Offline Yeki89

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #60 on: June 16, 2013, 05:09:51 PM »
I guess since I sit in front of a computer for 4-5 hours straight so it's not a big deal.

Offline dhalpern1

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #61 on: June 16, 2013, 05:10:53 PM »
Thats what I was curious, how long on hold makes it worth it. Certain people waited for 6 hours.

Offline u4

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #62 on: June 16, 2013, 05:12:47 PM »
Does Hilton post points for a BRG? I just had a great brg matched but no points posted yet.

Offline Ez

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #63 on: June 16, 2013, 05:17:32 PM »
Reading all of the comments on the main site. What's the amount of time to wait on hold for this to be worth it? I think 4 hours is ridiculous.

You can use Lucy Phone to hold for you.

http://www.lucyphone.com/

Offline SPGDUDE

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #64 on: June 16, 2013, 06:14:41 PM »
I used lucyphone and was disconnected

Offline mochada

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #65 on: June 16, 2013, 06:27:05 PM »
Wow.
Comment here: http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/31771

http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=23222.msg505463#msg505463

Maybe others will be lucky as well!  Room was very spacious but I wouldn't call it chic luxurious.  IC Barclay is old school fancy.  There were globes and other "antiquey" items.

Offline springles

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #66 on: June 16, 2013, 06:47:13 PM »
I have, but not sure that makes a difference. If you have 4-6 hours straight to be near a phone (even if it is on speaker) then more power to you. You cant deny its a big imposition.
I dont think anyone expected to be on hold for 4 hours.  If you call now then you are crazy, but if you called this morning or early afternoon and were on hold for 4 hours does it make sense to hang up at that point? If it is effecting your day then thats silly but if you are able to wait on hold while you go about your day then why not.

Offline mochada

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #67 on: June 16, 2013, 06:49:31 PM »
I dont think anyone expected to be on hold for 4 hours.  If you call now then you are crazy, but if you called this morning or early afternoon and were on hold for 4 hours does it make sense to hang up at that point? If it is effecting your day then thats silly but if you are able to wait on hold while you go about your day then why not.

I had a similar situation when I tried...on Sunday I waited on hold for about 15 minutes so I decided to hang up.  Called back at Monday at 8 AM, got right through to a rep, within 10 minutes had the BRG email approving my free night.

Offline mike

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #68 on: June 16, 2013, 07:55:02 PM »
Where in Israel? I've been searching high and low for them!

at the Crowne Plaza Jerusalem

Offline SGF

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #69 on: June 16, 2013, 09:09:33 PM »
with this offer i stayed 6 times in NYC + other places. and i got some free rooms for others.

easiest way is to check thru kayak as it shows prices on other websites, though it dosent always have all sites and its not always so accurate.

Offline MrsZev

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #70 on: June 16, 2013, 10:31:39 PM »
I've been on hold 3:30 (headset/cell phone/doing laundry & dishes ;) ), finally get through to a rep... he says he won't/can't honor BRG at Intercontinental NY Barclay to HotelTravel.com on the basis that HotelTravel.com doesn't give you a guaranteed confirmation for 20 min. I have confirmation email w/total charges from HotelTravel.com, but he says that doesn't help... He can SEE that the rate is lower, but he's saying that since he won't get a confirmation number until 20 min later, it doesn't qualify. He cites section 3 of the BRG:
Quote
The average nightly lower room price and lower total room cost must be available for booking at the time of claim verification and both must be lower than those found on an IHG website, as determined by IHG customer service representatives.

At these times, HUCA isn't desirable... thoughts?? Right now I'm holding for supervisor, but I'm not expecting that to go anywhere...

ETA: rep returned to call, took contact info & promised a follow-up call/email. :( :(
« Last Edit: June 16, 2013, 10:41:38 PM by MrsZev »

Offline aryeh1

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #71 on: June 17, 2013, 12:34:30 AM »
She said the address on my id has to match during check in, if the address doesn't match is that an issue?

Offline far rockaway

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #72 on: June 17, 2013, 10:34:55 AM »
Comments from the main site makes it seem like it's dead now. A few people got through and were not honored due to "illegal activity". Some reps said that the program might  be canceled. I submitted 2 online forms yesterday, but did not geet through on the phone yet.

Offline mercaz1

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #73 on: June 17, 2013, 10:36:37 AM »
just got approved right now after waiting for only 35 minutes
hope it is honored
got a case number so not so worried about themm not honoring it

Offline fretworthy

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #74 on: June 17, 2013, 11:55:01 AM »
I see some of the Hoteltravel options say "Free Cancellation" in green next to the option, and some don't.  Do I need to find one that says "free cancellation" which is cheaper than the analogous ihg option, or is a cheaper, non "free cancellation" option sufficient?
In Dan's screenshot on the post in the main site, the example of the hoteltravel.com option does not say "free cancellation," so i'm guessing that's sufficient?

Anyone know?

Offline Marco Polo

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #75 on: June 17, 2013, 11:57:37 AM »
I see some of the Hoteltravel options say "Free Cancellation" in green next to the option, and some don't.  Do I need to find one that says "free cancellation" which is cheaper than the analogous ihg option, or is a cheaper, non "free cancellation" option sufficient?
In Dan's screenshot on the post in the main site, the example of the hoteltravel.com option does not say "free cancellation," so i'm guessing that's sufficient?

Anyone know?
CMIIW, you are supposed to book on the IHG site and then call with the site that is showing a better offer.
Quaerite et Invenietis.

Offline AJK

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #76 on: June 17, 2013, 11:58:20 AM »
got a case number so not so worried about themm not honoring it

You should be.
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Offline fretworthy

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #77 on: June 17, 2013, 12:04:23 PM »
CMIIW, you are supposed to book on the IHG site and then call with the site that is showing a better offer.

I know.  My question is whether I can potentially get the guarantee if the alternative cheaper booking through hoteltravel does not have the "free cancellation" icon.

Offline sky121

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #78 on: June 17, 2013, 12:06:26 PM »
I know.  My question is whether I can potentially get the guarantee if the alternative cheaper booking through hoteltravel does not have the "free cancellation" icon.

Unless the rep doesn't realize no. You have to match the room mates.
"Not all who wander are lost"

Offline fretworthy

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #79 on: June 17, 2013, 12:13:18 PM »
Unless the rep doesn't realize no. You have to match the room mates.

ok thanks.  so i guess dan got lucky? (assuming the he used something like what he shows in the screenshot, which doesn't have the "free cancellation" icon)