BRG will now better the rate by 20% :) :)

[Alanslegal]

Sorry to hear about your frustrating BRG claim Pele - hope its more easier next time.

I have just completed 34 nights and all of them were BRG claims The claim length varied enormously, ranging from 4 hours (rejection though) through to 45 hours (approval luckily). If it wasn't for the BRG program (which I have been using for several years now) I doubt I would ever stay at a SPG property, especially some of the asking price is wayyyyy more than what I could find online elsewhere - the 20% promise to beat the best price is just cream.

 

[moa999]

Wow Alanslegal.
If I can ask - what hotels, and what sites were generally best for BRG.

 

[SponsorSFC]

moa999, I have had a lot of success using these aggregators Compare & Save on Cheap Hotel Deals - HotelsCombined Search Flights, Hotels & Rental Cars on KAYAK or tripadviser.

The only time I haven't been able to get a BRG for an SPG stay that is better than the hotel rate was the Le Meridien Ile des Pins which had a promo for stay 3 get 1 night free including airport transfers. This was significantly cheaper than any of the OTAs at the time.

I have found the highest discrepancies seem to occur with rates that are not for the standard base room.

For example one of the stays I have coming up is the Four Points Sydney which Venere had the Premium Harbour View Room listed for same price as the City View Rooms so that was an easy BRG and a 20% off the already cheapest rate available for that hotel.

 

[Alanslegal]

Wow Alanslegal.
If I can ask - what hotels, and what sites were generally best for BRG.

This is a dilemma. I want to reveal the site but at the same time, selfishly, don't want to. I have read the arguments for and against for sharing information; at the end of the day, this is a forum where we are here to help each other. I found the site from the Flyertalk thread, it's been mentioned several times, but luckily with all the discussion going on there - the site has kind of been buried away. I will give you and the others a clue though - it's a German website.

 

[SponsorSFC]

This is a dilemma. I want to reveal the site but at the same time, selfishly, don't want to. I have read the arguments for and against for sharing information; at the end of the day, this is a forum where we are here to help each other. I found the site from the Flyertalk thread, it's been mentioned several times, but luckily with all the discussion going on there - the site has kind of been buried away. I will give you and the others a clue though - it's a German website.

Perhaps a PM will resolve your dilemma

Otherwise trawling FT I will go.

 

[Alanslegal]

Just another BRG claim approval:-

Wow - and an 11 hour turnaround

which is much better than my up to 48 hour turnarounds.

Le Meridien Bora Bora
for June 2016 - 5 nights
Premium Overwater Bungalow with Otemanu Mountain View
Starwood Rate: 105,000XPF++ (~USD$985++) per night

Competing Site: getaroom.com
Competing Rate: USD$657 per night

Confirmed Rate: 56,000XPF++ (~US$530++) per night

Good rate but now my mate recommends me to go 200 metres down the sand and stay at the St Regis Bora Bora instead.

That is over US$2,000 savings over 5 nights

 

[Brisbane Flyer]

One claim accepted last night out of two requested.

Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok, it was on spghotescapes.com, also the hotel mentioned on flyertalk that they were part of this weeks SPG promotion. For the three nights stay I'll save $350, not my best, nothing like a few mentioned above, but I'll take it.

Turnaround on the claim was ~ 6 hours.

Cheers
BF

 

[Loga2015]

Can we apply for BRG if we booked a room with another code(Upgrade Offer), and we find a cheaper rate else where?

 

[nickfromeastryde]

Tried a BRG claim for Sheraton Austin and almost came unstuck. Found the link on the SPG site and entered claim without a prior booking. Got a response a few hours later telling me t&c's had changed and I needed to complete a booking and provide confirmation number. The email stated that they would then process it. I had put my claim in about 25 hours before the check in time, their response was inside the 24 hour period but I went ahead and booked a non refundable room and resubmitted my claim. I then got an email back saying claim denied because I was inside the 24 hour window.

A couple of emails back and forth and still no joy but at least a direct line contact to a BRG manager. So finally, about 3 hours before we were due to arrive at the hotel managed to have a proper conversation. Still it didn't go well, she acknowledged I had been told to make a booking but kept saying she couldn't approve as "that would be unfair on other guests who had been denied claims due to the 24 hour rule". Eventually she agreed to contact the hotel to see if they would cancel my booking which they then did.

The really strange part, prices had come down, I booked the cheapest room at a better price than I would have paid with the successful BRG claim and then got upgraded to the same room with club lounge access that I had tried to book originally

BRG certainly harder and riskier than before - complete a refundable booking and make sure claim is assessed long before the cutoff time to cancel the existing booking is the way to go now