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In an earlier article, we briefly compared nine of the best rate guarantees that are offered across the major hotel chains. In this article we look at Marriott’s Best Rate Guarantee in detail.
Marriott’s Best Rate Guarantee says that if you find a lower rate elsewhere, Marriott will match it and give you a discount or Bonvoy points. You get the matched rate plus your choice of 25% off (20% at Design Hotels) or 5,000 Bonvoy points.
What follows are the terms that matter taken from the full published terms and conditions. It’s more detail than you’ll find on the marketing page, but these claims are usually won or lost on a technicality, so it’s worth knowing where the pitfalls lie.
The short version
| What you get | Match lowest rate + your choice of 25% off (20% at Design Hotels) or 5,000 Bonvoy points |
| How far below Marriott’s own rate the rate you find must be | More than 1% (2% if a currency conversion is involved) |
| Deadline to file claim | Within 24 hours of booking |
| When you cannot claim | Within 24 hours of standard check-in time |
| Same currency required? | No, currency conversion will apply |
| Must you book their lowest rate? | Yes, the Bonvoy Member rate |
| Can you claim without booking? | No |
The basics that apply to every chain
These terms are shared across all the major guarantees. They’re worth knowing before you go any further, because most failed claims fall down on one of them.
- The lower rate must be for an identical booking: same hotel, same room type, same number of guests, same dates, same length of stay, same inclusions, same guarantee and cancellation policies, and same booking conditions. Even the slightest of differences and a claim is likely to be denied.
- Comparisons are made net of taxes, gratuities, and other fees.
- The lower rate must still be publicly available and bookable at the moment the chain checks it, not merely when you found it. This is the term that brings down a lot of claims.
- One claim per stay, and consecutive nights count as one stay.
- Changing the booking after approval will generally void it.
- Opaque and auction sites, unitemised packages, discount-code rates, and rates that aren’t immediately bookable are excluded everywhere.
A difference in cancellation policy is the most common reason a claim gets rejected, and that remains the case even when the rate you’ve found has the more generous policy. Ridiculous? Yes. But it happens.
The Marriott terms in detail
In summary:
If you find a lower rate for the same hotel, same room type, and same reservation dates on a non-Marriott website or non-Marriott Bonvoy app and your claim is approved, Marriott will match the Comparison rate AND give you your choice of either an extra 25% discount on the room (20% discount for Design Hotels) OR 5,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
Eligibility:
To be eligible to make a ‘best rate guarantee’ claim you must make a reservation using any official Marriott reservation channel (Marriott.com, Marriott Bonvoy App, Customer Engagement Centers, or directly with a hotel) and within 24 hours of your booking, and at least 24 hours before the standard check-in time at the hotel, submit a claim request with Marriott if you have found a publicly available and immediately bookable rate on the internet for the same stay that is more than 1% lower than the comparable rate on the Marriott website.
The terms that you really need to know (and focus on):
The best rate guarantee does not apply to:
- Ritz-Carlton Montreal, The Ritz London, Ritz-Carlton Residences, The Ritz-Carlton Club, Marriott Vacation Club, Marriott’s Grand Residence Club, or any other properties operating under Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation brands, its subsidiaries and its affiliates.
- Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy, Sheraton Vacation Club, Westin Vacation Club, or any other properties/units owned or managed by Vistana Signature Experiences, Inc. its subsidiaries and its affiliates.
- All-Inclusive properties and Elegant Hotels branded properties.
- The Coral at Atlantis, The Cove at Atlantis, and The Royal at Atlantis.
- The Mystique Holbox by Royalton, A Tribute Portfolio Hotel.
- MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy properties.
Also excluded are rates requiring specific residency, a government-issued ID, or a credit card from a particular country; rates negotiated for extended stays; rates under Marriott’s Stars and Luminous travel agency programs; government-funded tourism stimulus rates; and rates on sites that don’t pass reservations to Marriott’s central reservation system.
Comparing Marriott channel rates to those found during later searches on Marriott channels are not eligible for the guarantee.
For Design Hotels Partner Hotels, rates found on the Design Hotels Website, Design Hotels Mobile App and any individual Design Hotels standalone Website & Mobile App are not eligible for the guarantee.
Rate disparities primarily attributable to fluctuations and/or differences in currency exchange rates are excluded from the guarantee.
All approved claim rewards (either points or discount) will only be available for up to three guest rooms.
The comparison rate is only checked for up to 2 guests. Family bookings with more than two people in the room are effectively outside the comparison.
The claim must be submitted at least 24 hours before the standard check-in time at the hotel or the claim will be dismissed (clearly, this will affect last minute bookings only)
Marriott does not require the competing rate to be in the same currency as the one booked through Marriott, but where a conversion is required the difference between the two rates must be at least 2% rather than 1%.
You must reserve the lowest publicly available rate for that room type on a Marriott channel for a claim to be considered, and that explicitly includes the Marriott Bonvoy Member rate.
Rates that have coupons, vouchers, “cashback” or promo codes applied by the comparison site don’t qualify, and neither do prepaid, advance purchase or non-refundable rates on Qunar, eLong, Meituan Travel, Ctrip/Trip.com and its affiliates, WeChat or Fliggy (all specifically mentioned by Marriott in the t&cs).
You must be a Marriott Bonvoy member to claim (and to book the Bonvoy member rate as required by the terms), and the reservation must carry your membership number. The name and number on the claim form have to match the booking.
You have to choose whether you want the points or the discount if you claim is successful at the point of submitting the claim. This choice can’t be changed afterwards and if you choose points, you can expect them to post 7 to 10 business days after checkout.
Claims against only part of your stay won’t be honoured. Multiple claims for two or more nights in the same week at the same hotel, or at Marriott hotels in the same city, may be treated as a single claim even if booked separately (this can really catch people out).
Any change to the reservation after approval, including a name change, may invalidate it and can result in a rate change, cancellation of the booking, or loss of the award.
Opinion
In the good old days, You only had to find a $1 difference between the Marriott rate that you booked and a competing rate for your claim to be considered, but that option was removed a few years ago.
What we have now is an exclusion list that goes on for what seems like forever, so while the option of a 25% discount matches what Hilton offers, this guarantee isn’t as useable as Hilton’s guarantee (but it’s better than IHG’s offer of points).
Here’s a link to the full terms and conditions. Read them carefully before assuming you can make a valid claim.
Related: Nine hotel best rate guarantees compared – see how Marriott stacks up against the other eight
