A Best Rate Guarantee (BRG) is a program offered by many hotels where they’ll match and beat rates found on competing booking sites like Hotels.com, Expedia, Orbitz, etc. These competing sites have become popular since you can often find better rates than those that are offered directly through the hotels. But that doesn’t mean you should jump on the deal right then and there. Hotels offer the BRG service as an incentive to get you to book your reservations directly through them. When you book a reservation through a competing travel site, the hotel doesn’t make as much money. It’s basically like telling a salesman you found a cheaper price somewhere else and if they want to make a sale, then they’ll match the price and beat it.

There are a few details to be aware of and they play a role in whether or not your BRG requests will be validated. Generally, sites like Priceline and Hotwire, where they offer a name-your-own-price format, are not accepted since rates can be well below normal. Here’s a run down of how to go about finding a BRG rate:

• Have flexible travel dates – This will increase the chances of finding a favorable rate. If your dates are fixed, try to look as far in advance as possible so there’s time to find rates you can use towards a BRG.
• Check rates – Determine which hotel you want to stay at and look up rates for your preferred dates.
• Visit a travel site like Kayak.com – Kayak lists several rates at competing sites all at once and this will give you a nice overview of rates to compare against your hotel’s rates.
• Verify the room and rate information is identical – Once you’ve found a better rate, make sure all of the reservation information is the same as on the hotel’s site, like dates, bed type, number of guests, etc. The details must be identical for the BRG to be validated.

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