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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 430674 times)

Offline refill

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2420 on: January 10, 2017, 01:40:27 PM »
What are your experiences when IHG BRG sends a reply that they have confirmed the lower rate, but need more time to verify other terms?  On the bright side, they promised to get back to me before the cancellation deadline (this was for a flexible booking - only rate left).  Crowne Plaza Jerusalem, by the way.

Interesting...never had that happen before. Are you using an obscure OTA? Usually they just approve or deny right away, so I'm assuming they know the terms of most OTAs pretty well.

Offline moe8555

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2421 on: January 10, 2017, 01:43:40 PM »
Interesting...never had that happen before. Are you using an obscure OTA? Usually they just approve or deny right away, so I'm assuming they know the terms of most OTAs pretty well.

Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if I was the first person to ever submit a request from this specific OTA, which is non-US but still denominated in US dollars.

Offline moe8555

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2422 on: January 11, 2017, 07:05:11 AM »
What are your experiences when IHG BRG sends a reply that they have confirmed the lower rate, but need more time to verify other terms?  On the bright side, they promised to get back to me before the cancellation deadline (this was for a flexible booking - only rate left).  Crowne Plaza Jerusalem, by the way.

I have returned with a data point: claim denied due to lack of instant confirmation after the site's normal business hours.  In other words, if you book during normal business hours they give instant confirmation, otherwise it's next business day.

For future reference, in case anyone happens to run across the site and think they can get a BRG, it was: http://www.come2israel.com/

Very ironic considering that they have a banner ad at the top of the page that says "Full Service 24/7"

But I've found another site that DOES give instant confirmation 24/7 and have already submitted a new claim  ;D ;D

Offline rileywiles23

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2423 on: January 21, 2017, 09:52:21 PM »
Anybody staying at the intercontinental Barclays tonight ?
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Offline rileywiles23

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2424 on: January 22, 2017, 11:30:49 AM »
I was charged for my BRG upon checking in. Does the hotel refund the charge by checkout, or do I get a refund from the BRG dept. later ?
Life is as good as you make it...

Offline shulem92

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2425 on: January 22, 2017, 11:45:55 AM »
I was charged for my BRG upon checking in. Does the hotel refund the charge by checkout, or do I get a refund from the BRG dept. later ?
Check in the mail usually

Offline Jkhein

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2426 on: April 26, 2017, 12:32:17 PM »
I'm trying to price guarantee a hilton room, does anybody know if they take the more expensive tax of expedia into account?
this is what their policy says,
Quote
Price comparisons will be made net of taxes, gratuities, service charges, early departure fees, or other fees and incidental charges, and will exclude changes in currency exchange rates.

Offline shimino1

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2427 on: April 27, 2017, 12:02:29 PM »
I'm trying to price guarantee a hilton room, does anybody know if they take the more expensive tax of expedia into account?
this is what their policy says,
Good luck but I have only tried doing Hilton twice and my requests were completely ignored.

Offline JACKBLUE

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2428 on: August 13, 2017, 11:42:04 AM »
Is there a DDMS BRG post?

Offline JACKBLUE

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2429 on: August 15, 2017, 03:01:59 PM »
Can I claim a BRG On a reservation that was paid and is not refundable?

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2430 on: August 15, 2017, 03:06:44 PM »
Can I claim a BRG On a reservation that was paid and is not refundable?
Sure. As long as it's within 24 hours

Offline JACKBLUE

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2431 on: August 15, 2017, 03:08:30 PM »
Sure. As long as it's within 24 hours
and after 24 hours I can't?
What else can I try to do? Booked a non refundable hotel and now I see it much cheaper online.

Offline B.D.Da'ehu

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2432 on: August 15, 2017, 03:13:04 PM »
and after 24 hours I can't?
What else can I try to do? Booked a non refundable hotel and now I see it much cheaper online.
With IHG? The claim form must be filled out within 24 hours of booking.

Offline JACKBLUE

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2433 on: August 15, 2017, 03:13:44 PM »
With IHG? The claim form must be filled out within 24 hours of booking.
SPG

Offline B.D.Da'ehu

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2434 on: August 15, 2017, 03:16:05 PM »
SPG
Also must be within 24 hours of booking. Can try to find a sympathetic rep maybe?...

Offline JACKBLUE

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2435 on: August 15, 2017, 03:17:07 PM »
Also must be within 24 hours of booking. Can try to find a sympathetic rep maybe?...
thanks a lot

Offline eliteflyer

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2436 on: January 29, 2018, 12:27:37 PM »
When Posting a brg please use the following Example format:

BRG claim for: SPG
Hotel Name: Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk
Hotel Add: 200 North Ashley Drive Tampa, FL 33602
Room Type: Traditional: 2 Double Beds
Room Rate:$361
Better rate found: Cancelon.com
Better Rate: $233.04

BRG claim was submitted on Tuesday evening, January 25th and approved on Sunday January 28th.  I took the 25% match option rather than the bonus points, so confirmed rate is $174.78 ($233.04 less 25%)

Offline Welder

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2437 on: January 29, 2018, 12:35:08 PM »
When Posting a brg please use the following Example format:

BRG claim for: SPG
Hotel Name: Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk
Hotel Add: 200 North Ashley Drive Tampa, FL 33602
Room Type: Traditional: 2 Double Beds
Room Rate:$361
Better rate found: Cancelon.com
Better Rate: $233.04

BRG claim was submitted on Tuesday evening, January 25th and approved on Sunday January 28th.  I took the 25% match option rather than the bonus points, so confirmed rate is $174.78 ($233.04 less 25%)

I'm surprised they approved it. Cancelon isn't a "competitor" rate; it's people re-selling their non-refundable reservations.
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Offline eliteflyer

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2438 on: January 29, 2018, 12:56:00 PM »
I'm surprised they approved it. Cancelon isn't a "competitor" rate; it's people re-selling their non-refundable reservations.
I may have also submitted it referencing a similar lower rate at Amoma.com

Offline moe8555

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Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #2439 on: January 29, 2018, 03:03:55 PM »
I may have also submitted it referencing a similar lower rate at Amoma.com

That's actually pretty important information, so it'd be great if you can confirm whether the match was to Cancelon or Amoma  :o