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 431089 times)

Offline @Yehuda

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Oct 2013
  • Posts: 9696
  • Total likes: 188
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 5
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #800 on: March 18, 2014, 04:37:34 PM »
I dont think so
Maybe it just is for the hotel/night/room I'm looking for. Anyway, I see TP's total rate is a few dollars cheaper even without being logged into TP. So that issue is gone. Now, I need to get a prepaid cc and only put $1 on it so that since this isn't refundable, in case they don't approve it,  I don't get charged. Citi VANs never worked for me. No idea why, it just won't launch for me. Any other ideas?

Offline shmebeble

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Apr 2013
  • Posts: 1669
  • Total likes: 88
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 2
    • View Profile
  • Location: NYC
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #801 on: March 18, 2014, 04:59:17 PM »
I dont think so
+1 It just has to have same/better cancellation policy as the one you booked with IHG.

Offline @Yehuda

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Oct 2013
  • Posts: 9696
  • Total likes: 188
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 5
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #802 on: March 18, 2014, 05:03:44 PM »
+1 It just has to have same/better cancellation policy as the one you booked with IHG.
Gotcha and I don't have to actually book it twice - once with IHG and once with TP right?

Offline shmebeble

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Apr 2013
  • Posts: 1669
  • Total likes: 88
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 2
    • View Profile
  • Location: NYC
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #803 on: March 18, 2014, 05:04:59 PM »
Gotcha and I don't have to actually book it twice - once with IHG and once with TP right?
Correct. You book it only with IHG

Offline @Yehuda

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Oct 2013
  • Posts: 9696
  • Total likes: 188
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 5
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #804 on: March 18, 2014, 05:10:01 PM »
Correct. You book it only with IHG
Okay, well here goes. Just submitted. Was $2 cheaper on TP both for room rate and total rate. Will post the response.

Just realized, though, that I gave them travelpony.com as the competing site. Should I have given wego.com as the site?

Offline shmebeble

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Apr 2013
  • Posts: 1669
  • Total likes: 88
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 2
    • View Profile
  • Location: NYC
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #805 on: March 18, 2014, 05:11:01 PM »
Okay, well here goes. Just submitted. Was $2 cheaper on TP both for room rate and total rate. Will post the response.

Just realized, though, that I gave them travelpony.com as the competing site. Should I have given wego.com as the site?
AFAIK you can always resubmit it with the other website

Offline @Yehuda

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Oct 2013
  • Posts: 9696
  • Total likes: 188
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 5
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #806 on: March 18, 2014, 05:13:05 PM »
AFAIK you can always resubmit it with the other website

Right, seems that way from other people's comments.

Offline @Yehuda

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Oct 2013
  • Posts: 9696
  • Total likes: 188
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 5
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #807 on: March 18, 2014, 05:32:34 PM »
Oh, also got Citi VAN to work and reserved it with a $1 card.

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 #808 on: March 18, 2014, 05:43:08 PM »

Just realized, though, that I gave them travelpony.com as the competing site. Should I have given wego.com as the site?
no. wego is a search engine not a booking site,

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 #809 on: March 18, 2014, 05:44:18 PM »
+1 It just has to have same/better cancellation policy as the one you booked with IHG.
i dont believe they will accept it if its better only if its the same

Offline @Yehuda

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Oct 2013
  • Posts: 9696
  • Total likes: 188
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 5
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #810 on: March 18, 2014, 05:52:05 PM »
i dont believe they will accept it if its better only if its the same
Oh. IHG was non-refundable. TP was refundable. I guess we'll find out.

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 #811 on: March 18, 2014, 05:57:54 PM »
Oh. IHG was non-refundable. TP was refundable. I guess we'll find out.
good luck with that but dont get your hopes up to high

Offline blue eyes

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite + Lifetime Gold Elite
  • ******
  • Join Date: Apr 2012
  • Posts: 856
  • Total likes: 7
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #812 on: March 18, 2014, 06:00:31 PM »
Oh. IHG was non-refundable. TP was refundable. I guess we'll find out.
Congratulations on you first BRG!
IHG is very stringent when it comes to approving brgs. if you find a better refund policy they may also claim that "its not an exact match"
As far as giving a travel site with better rate - i usually just copy and paste the link with the room type selected as well as the amount of adults that will be staying ( i've had IHG deny a claim cuz the competing site automatically put in 1 adult instead of 2 per room)
Travel Pony generally gets denied since you need to create an account in order to book so its not considered "open to anyone" . Wego is a great search engine as others have mentioned, all you got to do is follow their link to the site with lower price.
Good Luck!

Offline blue eyes

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite + Lifetime Gold Elite
  • ******
  • Join Date: Apr 2012
  • Posts: 856
  • Total likes: 7
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #813 on: March 18, 2014, 06:02:19 PM »
Great for Chol Hamoed!
this property is 2.7 Miles from the closest minyan and 22 minute drive to Hershey park.

BRG claim for: Choice Hotels
Hotel Name: comfort inn Riverfront
Hotel Add: 525 s front street, 17104  Harrisburg, Harrisburg - pa,
Room Type: 2 Queen
Room Rate:119
Better rate found: Hoteopia
Better Rate: 110.99

Am i the only one thats excited about this BRG... oh well.
I got mine booked and will hopefully b approved shortly!

Offline @Yehuda

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Oct 2013
  • Posts: 9696
  • Total likes: 188
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 5
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #814 on: March 18, 2014, 06:08:44 PM »
Congratulations on you first BRG!
IHG is very stringent when it comes to approving brgs. if you find a better refund policy they may also claim that "its not an exact match"
As far as giving a travel site with better rate - i usually just copy and paste the link with the room type selected as well as the amount of adults that will be staying ( i've had IHG deny a claim cuz the competing site automatically put in 1 adult instead of 2 per room)
Travel Pony generally gets denied since you need to create an account in order to book so its not considered "open to anyone" . Wego is a great search engine as others have mentioned, all you got to do is follow their link to the site with lower price.
Good Luck!
I wouldn't call it a successful BRG just yet.
I have found cheaper prices from a few different sites. Do you know if I can send in multiple BRG requests at the same time? Or do I need to wait for a possible rejection before submitting with a new site?

Offline blue eyes

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite + Lifetime Gold Elite
  • ******
  • Join Date: Apr 2012
  • Posts: 856
  • Total likes: 7
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #815 on: March 18, 2014, 06:17:47 PM »
I haven't tried submitting more than one claim per reservation. but try making another reservation and putting in a claim for that one and see which one gets approved. be aware that with IHG you can only have one claim approved per household per 7 day period within 50 mile radius.

Offline @Yehuda

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Oct 2013
  • Posts: 9696
  • Total likes: 188
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 5
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #816 on: March 18, 2014, 06:20:52 PM »
I haven't tried submitting more than one claim per reservation. but try making another reservation and putting in a claim for that one and see which one gets approved. be aware that with IHG you can only have one claim approved per household per 7 day period within 50 mile radius.
Maybe I'll just wait. It's for Sunday night, so I still have a few days. Also, if I did as you suggest, the 1 claim per 7 days wouldn't affect me - just get me approved for 1 and I'll be good! ;)

Offline dovy2

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Oct 2012
  • Posts: 2389
  • Total likes: 300
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 24
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #817 on: March 18, 2014, 06:50:26 PM »
Am i the only one thats excited about this BRG... oh well.
I got mine booked and will hopefully b approved shortly!
Ime, all brg's that are on the blog get rejected, unless you chap it right away... our unless is a property that no one is interested in

Offline blue eyes

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite + Lifetime Gold Elite
  • ******
  • Join Date: Apr 2012
  • Posts: 856
  • Total likes: 7
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #818 on: March 18, 2014, 07:23:35 PM »
Ime, all brg's that are on the blog get rejected, unless you chap it right away... our unless is a property that no one is interested in

hey, you cant make a blanket statement like that. Firstly, choice BRG generally last for weeks and months ( unless its a sale rate that makes it an eligible BRG) Secondly, a property that isn't interesting for you may be of interest to someone else

Offline @Yehuda

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Oct 2013
  • Posts: 9696
  • Total likes: 188
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 5
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: Free hotels/Best rate guarantee
« Reply #819 on: March 19, 2014, 07:47:52 AM »
Maybe I'll just wait. It's for Sunday night, so I still have a few days. Also, if I did as you suggest, the 1 claim per 7 days wouldn't affect me - just get me approved for 1 and I'll be good! ;)
Rejected for the exact reason you said - TP is not accessible to everyone since you need an account.
Just booked a different room at the same hotel with a $1 VAN as I found it cheaper via Wego on Ostrovok.ru
Hope that works!