Today: Book a hotel room with a Best Rate Guarantee

Best Rate Guaranteed (BRG) programs are used by hotels chains around the world to guarantee that a hotel guest is given the lowest available rate for a night or a multiple-night stay. If means that if you find a better, publicly available rate on another website than the official hotel website, you can submit an online BRG claim. If your claim is approved, not only will the lower price be matched, but you will also receive an additional 10 to 25% discount (depending upon the hotel chain). Finding a better rate than the one on the official website is not difficult at all, as you can read in my tips how to book a luxury hotel at the cheapest price. Important: a BRG will only be approved for a booking of an identical room type, date and length of stay, and reservations must be made directly on the hotel websites (not on third-party websites).

Here’s a list of the BRG programs of the major luxury hotel chains. Click on the table for a larger version. There is more information – including links to the BRG claim forms – below the table).

MARRIOTT

• Luxury hotel brand: St Regis, Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, W Hotels, The Luxury Collection Hotels
• Best Rate Guarantee: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation using any Marriott reservation channel (Marriott.com, Marriott Hotel Telephone Reservations, or directly at a hotel), Marriott will match the lower rate and give you an additional 25% discount on the room or 5,000 Marriott Bonvoy points (up to your choice).
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on an official Marriott reservation channel.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation. Some Ritz-Carlton hotels are excluded.
• Link: BRG program of the Marriott hotel group

HYATT

• Luxury hotel brands: Park Hyatt, Andaz, Alila, Thompson, Miraval, Unbound Collection
• Best Rate Guarantee: If you find a better, publicly available rate on a non-Hyatt site, not only will the price be matched, but you will also get an additional 20% off or 5,000 World of Hyatt Bonus Points
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on the Hyatt website.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation.
• Link: BRG program of the Hyatt hotel group

ACCOR HOTELS

• Luxury hotel brands: Fairmont, Raffles, Swissôtel, Sofitel
• Best Rate Guarantee: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation directly with Accor, the lower rate found will be matched and it will be further discounted by an extra 25% off (except for Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel, where you’ll receive a 10% discount).
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel via Accor.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation. And the discount is only 10% (not 25%) for Accor’s luxury hotel brands Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel
• Link: BRG program of the Fairmont hotel group

INTERCONTINENTAL 

• Luxury hotel brand: Six Senses, InterContinental
• Best Rate Guarantee: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation at IHG.com, IHG will match the lower rate and give you 5X the IHG Rewards Club points, up to a 40,000-point maximum, for the room rate for that hotel stay.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on the IHG website.
• Disadvantage: you can only submit a claim after making a reservation, and not all rates are eligible for a BRG.
• Link: BRG program of the IHG group

HILTON

• Luxury hotel brands: Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, LXR Hotels & Resorts
• Best Rate Guarantee: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation through an official Hilton Worldwide booking website, Hilton will match the lower rate found and take an additional 25% off the room rate for each night of your stay.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on an official Hilton Worldwide booking website.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation.
• Link: BRG program of the Hilton hotel group

KEMPINSKI

• Best Rate Guarantee: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation at Kempinski.com, Kempinski will match the lower rate found and will discount it even further by an additional 25%. In addition to that, you’ll be upgraded to the next higher room category, subject to availability at the time of check in at the hotel.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on the Kempinski website.
• (Dis)advantage: Kempinski offers the most generous BRG program of all luxury hotel chains, with a 25% discount and (potential) room upgrade, but you can only submit a claim after making a reservation.
• Link: BRG program of the Kempinski hotel group

MANDARIN ORIENTAL 

• Best Rate Guarantee: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation at mandarinoriental.com, Mandarin Oriental will match the lower rate found and will discount it even further by an additional 10%.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on the Mandarin Oriental website.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation.
• Link: BRG program of the Mandarin Oriental hotel group

OBEROI

• Best Rate Guarantee: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation directly with Oberoi, the lower rate found will be matched and it will be further discounted by an additional 10%.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on the Oberoi website.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation.
• Link: BRG program of the Oberoi hotel group

SHANGRI-LA

• Best Rate Guarantee: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation directly with Shangri-La, the lower rate found will be matched and it will be further discounted by an additional 10%.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on the Shangri-La website.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation.
• Link: BRG program of the Shangri-La hotel group

COMO HOTELS & RESORTS

• Best Rate Guarantee: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation directly with COMO hotels, the lower rate found will be matched and it will be further discounted by an additional 10%.
• Terms & conditions: You must email the COMO hotel group within 24 hours of booking your hotel room.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation.
• Link: BRG program of the COMO hotel group

JUMEIRAH

• Best Rate Guarantee: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation directly with Jumeirah hotels, the lower rate found will be matched and it will be further discounted by an additional 15%.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim form within 24 hours of booking your hotel room directly with Jumeirah hotels.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation.
• Link: BRG program of the Jumeirah hotel group

LANGHAM

• Best Rate Guarantee: If within 24 hours of your booking on the Langham website, you find a lower rate on each night of the stay, for the same accommodation on another website, Langham will match it. Plus, they will award you an additional 10% off.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on the Langham website.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation.
• Link: BRG program of the Langham hotel group

FOUR SEASONS

• Best Rate Guarantee: If you find a lower qualifying rate within 24 hours of making your reservation, Four Seasons will match the lower rate.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on the four µseasons website.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation. And you don’t receive any additional discount.
• Link: BRG program of the Fours Seasons hotel group

HOTELS.COM

• Best Rate Guarantee: If you find a cheaper price, hotels.com will match that rate (and refund you the difference).
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim after booking your hotel room via hotels.com.
• Disadvantage: The BRG is available only for exact itinerary matches, including property, room type, and dates of travel (as is the case with all other BRG programs) but also includes an identical cancellation policy (which makes is harder for your BRG claim to be approved).
• Major advantage: You can submit a BRG claim from the moment of reservation until 23:59 (PST) the day before your stay (this large time span in unique in the world of BRG programs).
• Link: BRG program of hotels.com.

EXPEDIA

• Best Rate Guarantee: If you find a cheaper rate on your hotel reservation up to two days before your check-in, Expedia will refund the difference.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim after booking your hotel room via Expedia.
• Disadvantage: The BRG is available only for exact itinerary matches, including property, room type, and dates of travel (as is the case with all other BRG programs) but also includes an identical cancellation policy (which makes is harder for your BRG claim to be approved).
• Major advantage: You can submit a BRG claim from the moment of reservation until 2 days before your stay .
• Link: BRG program of Expedia

*** Follow me on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook for a daily moment of travel inspiration ***

The post Tip: Book a hotel room with a Best Rate Guarantee appeared first on the Luxury Travel Expert.

Friday newsletters always feature luxury travel contests, tips, series, or news.

Today (September 15, 2017): How to book a room at a Four Seasons hotel at the cheapest rate?

Four Seasons is one of the world’s premier ultra-luxe hospitality brands and the company is rapidly expanding its already impressive global portfolio which consists of 100 properties in more than 40 countries (with many more developments in the pipeline). Although I am more of a Soneva and Aman junkie, Four Seasons has a die-hard fan base among the rich and famous, since the hotel’s group objective is to be recognized as the company that manages the finest hotels, resorts and residence clubs wherever they locate. Four Seasons properties are created with enduring value using superior design and finishes, and supported with a deeply instilled ethic of unmatched personal service, which is probably the brand’s most succesful selling point. Doing so allows Four Seasons to satisfy the needs and tastes of discerning travelers, and to maintain its position as the world’s best known luxury hotel brand.

But with the group’s stellar reputation also comes a heavy price tag and staying at a Four Seasons hotel requires you to dig deep in your pockets (with most entry room rates above $500 USD per night, excluding taxes and any extras). Unfortunately, Four Seasons currently lacks a formalized points loyalty program – probably because their wealthy guests keep returning anyway – although they have introduced an invitation-only elite guest program called ‘Four Seasons Card’ that offers exclusive services to their most loyal travelers. However, there are some tips & tricks that can save you a few bucks on costs when staying at one of the brand’s hotels and resorts. I hereby share with you the 5 best strategies – at least in my opinion – for booking a room (or even suite) into a Four Seasons property. You can share your own tricks in the comments below.

1. Check the room rate on aggregator websites

The lowest room rate at a Four Seasons hotel for your requested travel dates will always be found on the aggregator websites Hotelscombined and Trivago. These aggregators verify hotel prices at hundreds of other sites (e.g. Booking.com, Hotels.com, Otel.com, Hotelopia, Expedia, etc ….) and show where you can book the cheapest room rate. You can try it out for yourself below:

Once you have found the lowest rate, I recommend you to book via either hotels.com (and submit a best rate guarantee in case that hotels.com would not offer the cheapest rate) or Virtuoso (in case the discounted rate found via the aggregator website does not outweigh the free Virtuoso perks).

2. Book the room via Hotels.com

Hotels.com – part of Expedia – is one of my favorite hotel booking websites, mainly for three reasons:

• You collect credits towards free hotel nights via Hotels.com’s Rewards program. When you book and stay 10 nights at eligible hotels, you’ll get 1 night free to redeem at another. Hotels.com works out the average value of all the 10 nights you’ve collected and gives it back to you as a free night. All you need to do is make a free Rewards account and login into your account before making any bookings.
• You can often apply 10% discount coupons. Unfortunately, almost all of the world’s major hotel chains are excluded from the list of hotels for which you can use a discount coupon (except for Four Seasons; more on that below).
• Hotels.com also has an excellent Best Rate Guarantee (BRG) program: If you find a cheaper price, Hotels.com will match that rate (and refund you the difference) after you submit an online BRG claim. The Hotels.com BRG is available only for exact itinerary matches, including property, room type, and dates of travel (as is the case with all other BRG programs). The BRG also includes an identical cancellation policy (which can make it harder for your BRG claim to be approved).

Those three advantages work very well when booking a stay at a Four Seasons hotel. As mentioned above, Four Season does not have a loyalty program, so you may as well book the room via Hotels.com instead of the official website so that you will get some of your money back in the end (by investing it towards free hotel nights). In addition, as mentioned above, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts is the only major hotel brand that is most of the time eligible for discount coupons on Hotels.com, almost guaranteeing you a 10% discount on every Four Seasons booking. For example, right now, Hotels.com is offering a 10% discount for bookings made via its UK website by applying the code EML1109UK. However, the coupon is only valid when you click through from your Hotels.com coupon email to the website (so you must have subscribed to the Hotels.com newsletter) or use the Hotels.com mobile app, and you need to book by October 1st 2017 and travel by April 1st 2018. Keep in mind that when you use a 10% discount coupon, your stay will not earn credits in the Rewards program.

3. Book the room via Virtuoso

Virtuoso is not your classic hotel booking engine website. It’s the industry’s leading network of luxury travel advisors, spanning over 26 countries and 9,000 travel advisors. So when you book your holiday with Virtuoso, most of the time, you will be in touch with a Virtuoso travel agent and not make the booking online yourself. There are some Virtuoso travel agencies though that offer an online booking tool, such as Classic Travel, which has an excellent website and is my overall preferred Virtuoso travel agency.

Booking a room at a Four Seasons hotel via Virtuoso instead of via another hotel booking website has the following advantages:

• The single best reason to book a Four Seasons stay through a Virtuoso travel agent is that it means value for money as it will get you access to special, complimentary VIP amenities and perks, such as room upgrade, free dinners, spa treatments and/or unique luxury travel experiences. almost all Four Seasons properties are covered by the Virtuoso perks.
• In most cases, the Virtuoso rate is identical to the Best Available Rate (BAR) found on the official Four Seasons website, which is a flexible rate that can be cancelled without penalty. For that reason, you’re leaving money on the table if you book a paid stay at the best available rate (BAR) via the Four Seasons website and not via Virtuoso.

It’s important to emphasize that early booking discount rates, special promotional packages, corporate rates, group rates, and other discounted rates do not qualify for Virtuoso benefits. Therefore, I always recommend to check the lowest, often discounted rate on the aggregator websites Trivago and Hotelscombined, and then weigh up the pros and cons before deciding whether to book via Virtuoso (best available rate with free benefits) or not.

4. Book the room via your credit card company

When you own an American Express credit card, you can book almost any Four Seasons hotel via Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts. This will offer you the same benefits as when you would book a Four Seasons hotel via a Virtuoso travel agent:

• Room upgrade upon arrival when available
• Daily (continental) breakfast for two people
• Guaranteed late 4pm check-out time
• Noon check-in when available
• A spa, food, and/or beverage credit (valued at a minimum of US$ 100 USD)

Holders of a Visa Signature credit card can also benefit from Virtuoso-like extra perks at most Four Seasons hotels & resorts when they make the booking via their credit card travel office and/or pay with their credit card. Contact your local VISA credit card company to find out whether they offer this travel service.

When you own a Citi Prestige Card (USA citizens only) you can make use of the fourth night free benefit: when you book a four night stay at a Four Seasons property, you get reimbursed the cost of the fourth night, minus any taxes and service fees. The fourth night benefit is calculated based on the average nightly rate of your complete stay. Reservations must be made through Thankyou.com or the Citi Prestige Concierge and you must pay for your stay with your Citi Prestige Card, ThankYou points, or a combination of the two.

5. Don’t book the room via the official Four Seasons website

You’re leaving money on the table when you book a stay at a Four Seasons hotel directly via the official hotel website, and here’s why:

• Four Seasons doesn’t have a revenue based loyalty program, so you cannot earn credits with the company towards free hotel nights. The lack of a loyalty program was explained by Four Seasons’s CEO Allen Smith as a decision based on customer feedback that showed that “Four Seasons guests are far less concerned about accumulating points to be redeemed for rewards as they are being in a position where they’re recognized and we understand their preferences and can serve them in that highly personalized way they’ve come to expect”. Well, they certainly never asked for my feedback when staying at Four Seasons hotels (and I stay at them a lot). The only way to make your stays at Four Seasons hotels count for some kind of loyalty scheme is by making the bookings via Hotels.com, where you can invest into a free hotel night for every ten nights booked (which can be spent at other Four Seasons hotels).
• IMHO, Four Seasons offers the worst Best Rate Guarantee program in the industry. If you find a lower qualifying rate within 24 hours of making your reservation on the official Four Seasons website, Four Seasons will match the lower rate but you won’t receive any additional discount (which is standard policy with most other hotel brands). You may as well book via Hotels.com, which offers the same kind of BRG and at least allows you to participate in a great loyalty scheme.
• Never book a flexible ‘best available rate’ on the Four Seasons website. Once again, as explained above, you’re leaving money on the table if you book a paid stay at a Four Seasons hotel that is a Virtuoso member via the hotel website and not via Virtuoso, because you can’t receive Virtuoso benefits (such as breakfast, free upgrade, and a resort credit) by booking directly with the hotel.

It’s utterly weird that Four Seasons isn’t rewarding loyal consumers who book directly via the company’s official website, but that you can score free stays at Four Seasons hotels by booking via Hotels.com or get very nice benefits at Four Seasons properties (as if you would have elite status) by booking through Virtuoso or your credit card company. The only exception to the rule are holders of the ‘Four Seasons Card’. These guests are invited by Four Seasons into a program where they are given a personalized card with a unique 9 digit ID – as well as a supplemental card for their luxury travel advisor – that provides an exclusive phone number and email address to use when making Four Seasons hotel reservations. It’s not a reward credit card nor does it allow you to earn or redeem hotel points. The Four Seasons Card program was developed to ensure that the brand’s most loyal guests consistently receive an exceptional level of care and attention when they travel to any of the Four Seasons properties around the world.

That said, it is rumored that Four Seasons will launch a reward based loyalty program soon.

Enjoy the weekend and stay tuned for Monday when I reveal a new top 10 travel list.

*** Follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for a daily moment of travel inspiration ***

The post How to book Four Seasons hotels at the cheapest rate? appeared first on the Luxury Travel Expert.

Today (April 15th, 2016): travel tip: how to stay for free at InterContinental hotels?

I previously published my tips for staying for free at luxury hotels. One of your best chances for scoring a free night at a luxury hotel is to make use of a Best Rate Guarantee at an InterContinental hotel, which I explain in depth today.

For those of you not familiar with the brand: the Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) is the largest hotel company in the world by number of rooms, with around 600,000 rooms in over 100 countries. It operates a diverse portfolio of brands across multiple economic segments, including Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn. InterContinental Hotels and Resorts is the flagship of IHG, and is designed to cater to international business and leisure travelers in the upper upscale segment of the hotel industry.

If you want to stay for free at an InterContinental hotel, you will need to find a lower rate on non-IHG website and submit an online claim, all within 24 hours of completing a reservation on the official InterContinental website. If your claim is approved, InterContinental will provide the first night’s room price free and match the lower average nightly room price found for that stay for the remainder of your stay (in case of a prepaid room, the difference in price will be refunded). So if you only stay one night, then that night will be for free. I have done it multiple times before, and this is how you can do it as well:

• Step 1: Make up your mind on what InterContinental hotel you want to stay at. There are around 150 hotels in major cities and leisure destinations in over 60 countries under this brand, so there’s a good chance that an InterContinental hotel is located along your upcoming travel itinerary. You can access a list with all InterContinental hotels on the official Intercontinental website. The overall quality of InterContinental properties ranges from poor (e.g. InterContinental Muscat) to excellent (e.g. InterContinental Bordeaux, San Francisco, and Bora Bora).

• Step 2: Try to find a lower rate than the one displayed on the official IHG website for your preferred travel dates (it helps if your travel dates are flexible). Finding a lower rate may seem a complicated process if you are not familiar with travel tricks, however this is not difficult at all as I have previously explained in this blogpost. All you need to do is verify the hotel rate on the aggregator websites Trivago and Hotelscombined, which check at once the price of a hotel room at hundreds of other sites (e.g. Booking.com, Onhotels.com, Otel.com, Hotels.com, Expedia, Hotelopia.com, etc…) and then show you where you can book the cheapest rate. Try it out for yourself here (and find out how easy it is):

• Step 3: Once you found a lower rate on another website, you need to make a booking on the official InterContinental website. Make sure that you book a refundable rate (so that you can still cancel your reservation in case your claim is denied).

• Step 4: After you completed the booking, you need to submit an online Best Rate Guarantee (BRG) claim. This only takes one minute and must be done within 24 hours of making your booking.

• Step 5: Now all you can do now is wait for the response from InterContinental (which will follow by email within 24 hours after submitting your claim) and hope that your claim will be approved, resulting in a free hotel night. How cool is that!

There are some catches though, so be sure to take the following into consideration when trying to score a free night through the InterContinental BRG program:

• You can only submit a BRG claim after making a reservation. Always make sure that you book a refundable rate, so that you can cancel your reservation in case your BRG is not approved.

• Only the lowest type of rate is eligible for a BRG. In other words, if an InterContinental hotel offers a pre-paid, non-refundable rate, then this is the only type of rate at that hotel which is eligible for a BRG. So, in this case, you would need to book a non-refundable rate in order to be eligible to submit a BRG claim and if it’s not approved, then you will be stuck with a pre-paid rate (that is why I advise against submitting a BRG claim for a prepaid, non-refundable rate).

• The BRG is only available for the exact same room type and same view. For example, if you book a king bed with a sofa bed room type and with a view (e.g., ocean) on an IHG website, and are comparing it to a non-IHG website, you must find a price with the same king bed with sofa bed room type and with a the same view on the non-IHG website.

• All terms of the comparison room reservation, including, but not limited to pre-payment, deposit, cancellation policy, number of guests, or other requirements must be equal in all respects to the terms found on an IHG website for your claim to be valid. For example, when you book a room that may be cancelled without penalty on an IHG website, you may not compare it to a room with a pre-paid or non-refundable price on a non-IHG website.

Enjoy the weekend and stay tuned for Monday when I reveal a new top 10 travel list.

*** Follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for a daily moment of travel inspiration ***

The post Travel tip: how to stay for free at InterContinental hotels? appeared first on the Luxury Travel Expert.

Friday newsletters always feature luxury travel contests, tips, series, or news.

Today (August 15th, 2014): Travel Tip: 8 reasons why I love Hotels.com to book luxury hotels & save money.

Disclosure of interests: this post is not commissioned and solely based on my own experience.

Hotels.com is one of my favorite hotel engine booking websites, as you can read in my tips for getting the best deal at a luxury hotel (besides booking through Jetsetter or booking directly on the hotel website using a Best Rate Guarantee). You can save lots of money when you book a luxury hotel through Hotels.com and here are 8 reasons why:

• Hotels.com allows payment in your own currency (the choice of currency can be adjusted at the top of the website). As such, you avoid paying the sometimes heavy foreign currency taxes (up to 3%) that come with most credit cards (a hidden cost that many are not aware of).

• Hotels.com has almost permanently discount coupons available (subscribe to their newsletter or simply search for them on google). Discounts on hotel bookings vary from 10% (most of the time) to a rare 15%. Unfortunately, almost all of the world’s most luxurious hotel brands are excluded from the list of hotels for which you can use a discount coupon. However, surprisingly, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts is the only ultra-luxurious hotel brand that is most of the time eligible for discount coupons on Hotels.com (almost guaranteeing you a 10% discount on every Four Seasons booking).

• They have a simple but excellent loyalty program, called “Welcome Rewards”. When you book and stay 10 nights at eligible hotels, you’ll get 1 night free to redeem at another. Hotels.com works out the average value of all the 10 nights you’ve collected and gives it back to you as a free night. Unfortunately, hotels stays that are booked using a discount coupon do not count towards the Welcome Rewards program.

• At first, you may think it does not matter to participate to the Welcome Rewards program: one night free for every 10 hotel stays is identical as applying a 10% discount for every hotel booking (since coupons are widely available anyway). But, contrary to the ordinary 10% discount coupons, the coupon(s) you receive through the Welcome Rewards program (after accomplishing 10 eligible nights) can be used for big discounts at almost all hotel chains, including the world’s most exclusive hotel brands. This is especially a lucrative business when you use Hotels.com for both company & leisure travel: you collect Welcome Rewards coupons through business stays, while you spend them on personal travel.

• Hotels.com also has an excellent Best Rate Guarantee (BRG) program: If you find a cheaper price, Hotels.com will match that rate (and refund you the difference). And finding that cheaper price is not difficult nor time-consuming at all: just use the aggregator websites Hotelscombined and Trivago, which both verify hotel prices at hundreds of other sites (e.g. Expedia, Bookers, Otel.com, Hotels.com, Hotelopia.com, Booking.com, etc…) and show where you can book the cheapest rate.
  • The Hotels.com BRG is available only for exact itinerary matches, including property, room type, and dates of travel (as is the case with all other BRG programs). The BRG also includes an identical cancellation policy (which can make it harder for your BRG claim to be approved).
  • A major and unique advantage of the Hotels.com BRG program is that you can submit a BRG claim from the moment of reservation until 23:59 (PST) the day before your stay (this large time span is unique in the world of BRG programs).
  • Another advantage is that hotel bookings that were matched for a better price remain valid for the Welcome Rewards program (when no discount coupon was used).
  • Tip: Use the UK or USA site to submit a BRG claim since their response rate is remarkably faster as compared to Hotels.com websites of other countries.

• From time to time, double Welcome Reward coupons are available and you will earn double Welcome Rewards for stays booked with this type of coupon (e.g. a 2 night stay will result in a 4 Welcome Rewards credits). This is one of the best deals in the hotel industry as it means that you will receive a free night after completing just 5 nights  (valid for almost all hotels, including luxury hotel chains).

• After completing a stay, you will be invited by Hotels.com to leave a rating. As a gesture, you will sometimes be rewarded with a 10% off or double Welcome Rewards coupon for your next booking. Contrary to the widely available discount coupons mentioned above, a 10% off discount coupon earned through a hotel review is available for almost all hotels, including luxury hotel chains. It takes less than a minute to leave a review and you can even do it from your mobile device.

• Hotels.com gives freedom in your hotel choices. Member of hotel loyalty programs (such as Hyatt, SPG, Marriott, …) tend to stay at hotels of those brands in order to receive the extra perk associated with their elite status, but that way they often pay more and miss the opportunity to stay at the very best hotel in the area. And while elite status perks are great, they can often be achieved using other tricks.

CONCLUSION:

• When not booking your luxury hotel stay through Jetsetter or the website of your preferred hotel group (using a Best Rate Guarantee), make your booking on Hotels.com.

• Participate to the Welcome Rewards program (when you make not use of the widely available 10% discount coupons) and start collecting free hotel night.

• When applicable, submit a Best Rate Guarantee (after verifying prices on  Hotelscombined and Trivago).

Reviews of hotels that I booked through Hotels.com with (huge) discounts:

• Hotel review: Jade Mountain (St Lucia)
• Hotel review: Gili Lankanfushi (Maldives)
• Hotel review: The Resort at Pedregal (Cabo, Mexico)
• Hotel review: The Langham Chicago (USA)
• Hotel review: Raffles Le Royal (Phnom Penh, Cambodia)
• Review: Alila Villas Uluwatu, Bali’s most spectacular hotel

*** Follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for a daily moment of travel inspiration ***

The post 8 reasons why I love Hotels.com to book hotels appeared first on the Luxury Travel Expert.

Today (March 28th, 2014): Travel tip: book a hotel room with a BRG.

Best Rate Guaranteed (BRG) programs are increasingly used by hotels chains around the world to guarantee that a hotel guest is given the lowest available rate for a night or a multiple-night stay. If means that if you find a better, publicly available rate on another website than the official hotel website, you can submit an online BRG claim. If your claim is approved, not only will the lower price be matched, but you will also receive an additional 10 to 25% discount (depending upon the hotel chain). Important: a BRG will only be approved for a booking of an identical room type, date and length of stay, and reservations must be made directly on the hotel websites (not on third-party websites). Finding a better rate than the one on the official website is not difficult at all, as you can read in my tips for finding the lowest hotel price.

I hereby present you a list of the BRG programs of the major luxury hotel chains (including their details and links to the BRG claim forms). For a summary, click here.

STARWOOD 

• Luxury hotel brands: St Regis, W hotels, The Luxury Collection.
• BRG: If you find a better, publicly available rate on a non-Starwood site, not only will that price be matched, but you will also receive either an additional 20% discount or 2,000 Starpoints.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on a Starwood website.
• Disadvantage: Starwood used to have one of the very few BRG programs that allowed you to submit a claim before making a booking (a major advantage in the case of a non-refundable rate). Unfortunately, they changed their policy in 2015, and now you need to make a booking before submitting a BRG claim. So always make sure that you book a refundable rate in case that your claim is not approved and you want to cancel the booking.
• Link: BRG program of the Starwood hotel group.

HYATT

• Luxury hotel brands: Park Hyatt, Andaz.
• BRG: If you find a better, publicly available rate on a non-Hyatt site, not only will the price be matched, but you will also get $50 USD toward your next stay.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on the Hyatt website.
• Disadvantage: Hyatt used to offer one the best BRG programs in the industry with a 20% discount on all nights, but that all changed in August 2017. Hyatt’s current BRG program is poor compared to other hotel groups and its $50 USD voucher towards a future stay is pathetic compared to the room discount you used to get (especially for a multi-night stay).
• Link: BRG program of the Hyatt hotel group.

KEMPINSKI

• BRG: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation at Kempinski.com, Kempinski will match the lower rate found and will discount it even further by an additional 25%. In addition to that, you’ll be upgraded to the next higher room category, subject to availability at the time of check in at the hotel.
• Terms & conditions: You must email the Kempinski group within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on the Kempinski website.
• (Dis)advantage: Kempinski offers the most generous BRG program of all luxury hotel chains, with a 25% discount and (potential) room upgrade, but you can only submit a claim after making a reservation.
• Link: BRG program of the Kempinski hotel group.

MANDARIN ORIENTAL 

• BRG: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation at mandarinoriental.com, Mandarin Oriental will match the lower rate found and will discount it even further by an additional 10%.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on the Mandarin Oriental website.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation.
• Link: BRG program of the Mandarin Oriental hotel group.

COMO HOTELS & RESORTS

• BRG: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation directly with COMO hotels, the lower rate found will be matched and it will be further discounted by an additional 10%.
• Terms & conditions: You must email the COMO hotel group within 24 hours of booking your hotel room.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation.
• Link: BRG program of the COMO hotel group.

JUMEIRAH

• BRG: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation directly with Jumeirah hotels, the lower rate found will be matched and it will be further discounted by an additional 15%.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room directly with Jumeirah hotels.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation.
• Link: BRG program of the Jumeirah hotel group.

TRUMP HOTELS

• BRG: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation directly with Trump hotels, the lower rate found will be matched and it will be further discounted by an additional 10%.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim from within 24 hours of booking your hotel room.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation.
• Link: BRG program of the Trump hotel collection.

INTERCONTINENTAL

• Luxury hotel brand: InterContinental.
• BRG: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation at IHG.com, IHG will provide the first night’s room price free and match the lower average nightly room price found for that stay for the remainder of your stay (in case of a prepaid room, the difference in price will be refunded).
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on the IHG website.
• Disadvantage: you can only submit a claim after making a reservation, and not all rates are eligible for a BRG.
• Link: BRG program of the IHG group.

HILTON

• Luxury hotel brands: Waldorf Astoria, Conrad.
• BRG: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation through an official Hilton Worldwide booking website, Hilton will match the lower rate found and take an additional 25% off the room rate for each night of your stay.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on an official Hilton Worldwide booking website.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation.
• Link: BRG program of the Hilton hotel group.

MARRIOTT

• Luxury hotel brand: JW Marriott
• BRG: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation using any Marriott reservation channel (Marriott.com, Marriott Hotel Telephone Reservations, or directly at a hotel), Marriott will match the lower rate found and will discount it even further by an additional 25%.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on an official Marriott reservation channel.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation. Some Ritz-Carlton hotels are excluded.
• Link: BRG program of the Marriott hotel group.

LANGHAM

• BRG: If within 24 hours of your booking on the Langham website, you find a lower rate on each night of the stay, for the same accommodation on another website, Langham will match it. Plus, they will award you an additional 25% off.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on the Langham website.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation.
• Link: BRG program of the Langham hotel group.

FAIRMONT

• BRG: Should you find a lower rate on another website, within 24 hours of completing a reservation directly with Jumeirah hotels, the lower rate found will be matched and it will be further discounted by an additional 10%.
• Terms & conditions: You must call the Fairmont reservation center when you want your price to be matched.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation.
• Link: BRG program of the Fairmont hotel group.

FOUR SEASONS

• BRG: If you find a lower qualifying rate within 24 hours of making your reservation, Four Seasons will match the lower rate.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim within 24 hours of booking your hotel room on the four µseasons website.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation. And you don’t receive any additional discount.
• Link: BRG program of the Fours Seasons hotel group.

ACCORHOTELS

• Luxury hotel brand: Sofitel.
• BRG: If you make a reservation at a Sofitel hotel through the Sofitel website and find the same offer in the same hotel at a better rate within the next 24 hours, Sofitel will give you a 10% reduction on that rate.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim from within 24 hours of booking your hotel room.
• Disadvantage: You can only submit a claim after making a reservation.
• Link: BRG program of the Sofitel hotels.

HOTELS.COM

• BRG: If you find a cheaper price, hotels.com will match that rate (and refund you the difference).
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim after booking your hotel room via hotels.com.
• Disadvantage: The BRG is available only for exact itinerary matches, including property, room type, and dates of travel (as is the case with all other BRG programs) but also includes an identical cancellation policy (which makes is harder for your BRG claim to be approved).
• Major advantage: You can submit a BRG claim from the moment of reservation until 23:59 (PST) the day before your stay (this large time span in unique in the world of BRG programs).
• Link: BRG program of hotels.com.

EXPEDIA

• BRG: If you find a cheaper rate on your hotel reservation up to two days before your check-in, Expedia will refund the difference and give you a $50 travel coupon for future travel.
• Terms & conditions: You must submit an online claim after booking your hotel room via Expedia.
• Disadvantage: The BRG is available only for exact itinerary matches, including property, room type, and dates of travel (as is the case with all other BRG programs) but also includes an identical cancellation policy (which makes is harder for your BRG claim to be approved).
• Major advantage: You can submit a BRG claim from the moment of reservation until 2 days before your stay .
• Link: BRG program of Expedia

OVERVIEW 

Click here for a larger view of the table.

 *** Follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for a daily moment of travel inspiration ***

The post Book a hotel room with a Best Rate Guarantee appeared first on the Luxury Travel Expert.