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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 438734 times)

Offline B.D.Da'ehu

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1840 on: June 15, 2015, 05:51:26 PM »
Let them try. Doesn't change anything.
Seems to be that it does. Immediately after my approval they lowered the rate on theyre website. That would mean only 1 person gets per price difference.

Offline Emkay

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1841 on: June 15, 2015, 05:53:08 PM »


That would mean only 1 person gets per price difference.
Very incorrect

Offline shimino1

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1842 on: June 15, 2015, 05:54:54 PM »
To whoever gave up on getting a high-end IHG property:Hope rings alive again!! I just got approved for my first! (Sorry but they changed the rate immediately after my approval, so its dead now)
It also seems that they don't update you're reservation to reflect a free night, rather they claim to send you a check sometime after you're stay. Kinda sucks to have to lay out $500...
Congrats!
Dont worry about laying out the money. Besides this way you get points for the stay and a stay credit.

Offline refill

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1843 on: June 15, 2015, 10:37:54 PM »
To whoever gave up on getting a high-end IHG property:Hope rings alive again!! I just got approved for my first! (Sorry but they changed the rate immediately after my approval, so its dead now)
It also seems that they don't update you're reservation to reflect a free night, rather they claim to send you a check sometime after you're stay. Kinda sucks to have to lay out $500...

Be careful with IHG. They mysteriously canceled my BRG reservation then claimed it was me that did it.

Offline SearchGuy

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1844 on: June 15, 2015, 11:51:46 PM »
To whoever gave up on getting a high-end IHG property:Hope rings alive again!! I just got approved for my first! (Sorry but they changed the rate immediately after my approval, so its dead now)
It also seems that they don't update you're reservation to reflect a free night, rather they claim to send you a check sometime after you're stay. Kinda sucks to have to lay out $500...
Was the cancellation date the same as on IHG? because me they denied because of different cancellation dates

Offline B.D.Da'ehu

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1845 on: June 16, 2015, 02:26:18 AM »
Congrats!
Dont worry about laying out the money. Besides this way you get points for the stay and a stay credit.
True. Good point.

Offline B.D.Da'ehu

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1846 on: June 16, 2015, 02:29:00 AM »
Was the cancellation date the same as on IHG? because me they denied because of different cancellation dates
Yes it was actually the same exact time! I find that Priceline is usually not as good regarding the time (meaning they dont give until 6 p.m.) but i found that hotels.com had it exact.

Offline Geshmak25

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1847 on: June 20, 2015, 10:08:39 PM »
Booked a suite for tuesday night for $480 (after taxes) at a holiday inn. Willing to pay $250 to anybody that can find me a successful brg claim. PM if interested in details.
PUTPAC = PITA

Offline shimino1

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1848 on: July 02, 2015, 03:26:10 PM »
Spending a free night at Intercontinental Tel Aviv.
Awesome business lounge with so many drinks and snacks.

Offline B.D.Da'ehu

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1849 on: July 02, 2015, 03:31:54 PM »
Spending a free night at Intercontinental Tel Aviv.
Awesome business lounge with so many drinks and snacks.
Wow! Nice. How'd you get approved for that?!

Offline Emkay

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1850 on: July 02, 2015, 04:56:57 PM »
Wow! Nice. How'd you get approved for that?!
Don't ask

Offline B.D.Da'ehu

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1851 on: July 02, 2015, 05:01:19 PM »
Don't ask
My mind is spinning with possibilities.

Offline Jm1248

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1852 on: July 02, 2015, 05:03:04 PM »
I got a holiday inn express in Manhattan last week. They approved my claim in less than an hr. Maybe because it was just a holiday inn ;)

Offline shimino1

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1853 on: July 03, 2015, 01:28:06 AM »
I got a holiday inn express in Manhattan last week. They approved my claim in less than an hr. Maybe because it was just a holiday inn ;)
They have been very fast in responding lately. Under 10 hours in most cases.

Offline shimino1

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1854 on: July 03, 2015, 01:32:19 AM »
Wow! Nice. How'd you get approved for that?!
Seek and you shall find...
I'ts really not that hard.
Decide what hotel you want to stay in, go to Trivago or Kayak, click through all the links to get to the actual sites, find a cheaper rate, enjoy the free stay!

Offline srap

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1855 on: July 03, 2015, 09:45:12 AM »
..., enjoy the free stay!
Are there any tips in getting two nights back to back?  I suppose husband/wife, if they happen to live at different addresses.  Has anyone been approved with two people with same last name one day after the next? 

If going with a party of three from different households, has anyone been approved for three nights back to back (separate claims)?  I believe in PMs.  :-X

Offline B.D.Da'ehu

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1856 on: July 03, 2015, 11:14:07 AM »
Seek and you shall find...
I'ts really not that hard.
Decide what hotel you want to stay in, go to Trivago or Kayak, click through all the links to get to the actual sites, find a cheaper rate, enjoy the free stay!
I wasn't referring to the steps to getting a brg. I'm talking about the obstinacy of ihg in approving intercontinental especially in israel with the VAT and all that!

Offline shimino1

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1857 on: July 03, 2015, 11:44:58 AM »
I wasn't referring to the steps to getting a brg. I'm talking about the obstinacy of ihg in approving intercontinental especially in israel with the VAT and all that!
I've gotten plenty of Intercontinentals approved, not sure what the big deal is.

Offline yitrap

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Offline abo456

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #1859 on: July 19, 2015, 10:51:38 PM »
I just got back from a free weekend getaway in LA, thanks to Choice Hotels and IHG. both BRGs were very easy and quick to claim, and both showed my online confirmations to have a nightly rate of $0 after approval.  this was my first time with a Choice BRG.

first night we stayed at the Tilt Hotel Universal, a Choice property. upon check in the guy at the desk had me sign a paper reviewing charges ($0 nightly rate for room, $10 for parking) which is standard for all guests.  Within 15 minutes we receive a phone call in the room from the front desk, the guy wants our confirmation number since it was a $0 rate. OK easy enough, I brought a print out of the BRG confirmation email anyway just in case they asked about the free night.  The front desk man takes the confirmation number and makes a call to his manager.  He gets off the call, and says since the nightly rate is showing up as $0 he will just charge us the going rate of $189 a night. I quickly scolded him and said this is a complimentary night, it says on my email which I gave him and it came directly from Choice hotels. I said if I am charged for this night I will be very upset and will be contacting Choice Hotels to complain and dispute the charge. He responded that he wont charge me "yet" and then shoo'd me away. He never charged me for the room, luckily.  Very disappointing experience and it kinda ruined the stay bc i was thinking about what a PITA it will be to dispute this stupid thing if he ends up charging me.

for night 2 we were off to the Crowne Plaza LAX. As with my past IHG BRG nights, I wasnt hassled at all about having a BRG reservation. Check-in greeted me warmly and confirmed that I had a "comp night". I was given a welcome drink at the bar for being a platinum member and was also given 2 free vouchers for the breakfast buffet (usually $20) since the club lounge is closed on weekends. actually a nice property, there was minimal noise from the airport (slept like a baby and didnt even need to use earplugs) and the service was excellent.

interesting how different the two BRG experiences were. hopefully this isnt the norm with Choice and was just a problem with this one front desk guy. Always bring your BRG confirmation email with you, ALWAYS!!!!