{"id":6196,"date":"2013-09-12T22:32:25","date_gmt":"2013-09-13T05:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/?p=6196"},"modified":"2014-04-19T10:02:01","modified_gmt":"2014-04-19T17:02:01","slug":"find-starwood-best-rate-guarantee-get-2000-starpoints-every-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2013\/09\/12\/find-starwood-best-rate-guarantee-get-2000-starpoints-every-time\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Find a Starwood Best Rate Guarantee and Get 2,000 Starpoints Every Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

As you know, most of my hotel stays are from Starwood <\/a>hotels since I am trying to hit lifetime platinum and it’s my main loyalty hotel chain. I book Starwood <\/a>hotels with a combination of straight up cash, AAA rates, corporate SET rates, cash & points, and by invoking Starwood’s <\/a>Best Rate Guarantee<\/a> (BRG).<\/p>\n

Basically, if you can find a Starwood <\/a>hotel on sale for a lower price than the main SPG.com<\/a> site, then you are able to invoke Starwood’s Best Rate Guarantee<\/a>. As a BRG reward, you can choose 10% off the lowest rate (that you’ve found on the 3rd party website) or 2,000 Starpoints (I value them at $60 at 3 cents per point).<\/p>\n

So how do you find lower rates and get that 2,000 Starpoint bonus? I use a website called hotelscombined.com<\/a> which is an aggregate site for third party hotels. Hotelscombined<\/a> scours the entire web on multiple websites for the lowest prices available.<\/p>\n

I will give you a step by step picture tutorial on how to find these lower rates and get 2,000 Starpoints in your pocket with every booking.<\/p>\n

Step 1. Have in mind a Starwood property location with your targeted dates. In my example, I am looking for a hotel in Bogota for August.<\/p>\n

\"spgbrg1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Step 2. I am looking at the Aloft Bogota in Colombia. Keep a note of the lowest rate available on spg.com<\/a> with taxes. Always choose a standard room. In my case it is $137+ tax = $169.88<\/p>\n

\"spgbrg2\"<\/a> \"spgbrg15\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Step 3. Fire up Hotelscombined<\/a> and plug in the same dates. Click Search.<\/p>\n

\"spgbrg3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Step 4. Take a look at the left navigation bar to filter out your hotel from the search results. In my case, I typed in Aloft and clicked Filter.<\/p>\n

\"spgbrg4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Step 5. I see that Hotelscombined<\/a> produced a few results for a standard room in the Aloft Bogota which is $149 (taxes included). It is lower than what I found on spg.com so that works. If you get a higher or the same rate as on spg.com, then you will not be able to invoke Starwood’s Best Rate Guarantee. If you found a lower rate, continue to Step 6.<\/p>\n

\"spgbrg5\"<\/a> \"spgbrg6\"<\/a> \"spgbrg8\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Step 6. Invoke Starwood’s Best Rate Guarantee<\/a> by using this Claim form link.<\/p>\n

\"spgbrg9\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Step 7. Fill out the appropriate information. Note that you do NOT need to have a reservation from Starwood, so leave the Confirmation # blank since it is NOT required for a BRG.<\/p>\n

\"spgbrg11\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Step 8. Make sure you fill in the comments what rate and room type you found on spg.com and the third party website.<\/p>\n

\"spgbrg12\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Step 9. Click on “Claim” and you should receive an e-mail confirmation from Starwood saying that they received your claim.<\/p>\n

\"spgbrg13\"<\/a> \"spgbrg14\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Step 10. Within 24 hours, you will receive an e-mail from Starwood’s Best Rate Guarantee<\/a> team notifying you of a BRG approval or denial.<\/p>\n

Step 11. Book your hotel at SPG.com using the same dates as in Step 1. This time instead of looking for the lowest price rate, look for a rate called “Flexible Rate”. Ignore the rate even if it’s higher because the SPG BRG team will be modifying your rate accordingly. The only reason to book a “Flexible Rate” is to ensure that you can cancel your reservation just in case something comes up. You do not want to be stuck on a pre-paid reservation.<\/p>\n

\"spgbrg15\"<\/a> \"spgbrg16\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Step 12. Reply to the e-mail from Step 10 and include your new SPG.com hotel confirmation number from Step 11.<\/p>\n

Step 13. You should receive an e-mail reply within 24 hours from the Starwood BRG saying that everything is all set.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re eligible to request Suite Night Awards and you will receive full Platinum benefits on a SPG Best Rate Guarantee reservation. After your completed stay, you will receive 2,000 Starpoints! If you haven\u2019t, be sure to notify the SPG BRG team.<\/p>\n

Happy booking!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  As you know, most of my hotel stays are from Starwood hotels since I am trying to hit lifetime platinum and it’s my main…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":6189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[49,155,50],"tags":[1519,1521,1518,31,369,7,1520,1522],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Find a Starwood Best Rate Guarantee and Get 2,000 Starpoints Every Time - Points Summary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to Find a Starwood Best Rate Guarantee and Get 2,000 Starpoints Every Time, Starwood Best Rate Guarantee, Starwood, BRG, Starwood BRG, Starpoints, SPG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2013\/09\/12\/find-starwood-best-rate-guarantee-get-2000-starpoints-every-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Find a Starwood Best Rate Guarantee and Get 2,000 Starpoints Every Time - 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