If you want to get a free night at an IHG hotel, there is a clever way to make it happen.

InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) offers a Best Rate Guarantee that allows you to book a night for free. If you book a stay using IHG.com, then find the exact room for a better rate after taxes on a different site such as Kayak, Expedia etc, IHG will give you a FREE night.

Taking advantage of BRG takes some work and determination and it’s never guaranteed that you will be able to get a free night, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

How to Get a Free Night

After you select a few dates that are available at the IHG location you want to stay in, look up the same room reservation on Kayak.com for example. Kayak is a good start because it compares rates from several sites. It also includes rates for InterContinental hotels directly from IHG’s website, so this can be useful for just searching for BRGs in a city.

Important: Keep in mind that everything about the reservation on the IHG website has to be an EXACT match to the competing website’s search results. This includes the cancellation policy or whether breakfast is included. If not, then your claim will be denied.

Once you find the same room with a better rate on Kayak, take a screenshot of the policy, the room and reservation information, but make the reservation through the IHG Best Available Price search. The better rate has to be at least $1 less than the rate booked through IHG.

Per IHG Best Rate Guarantee policy, you have 24 hours to make a claim. 24 hours is reasonable because as the days go by, hotel rates tend to go up and the IHG will inevitably be more expensive than what you find on Kayak.

Link to the BRG Claim Form

If your just browsing for BRG stays and not sure if you want to book a night unless you get the free night, once you find a potential BRG you’ll want to book a refundable rate with IHG just in case they don’t accept the BRG claim. This way you can always cancel your reservation if you don’t end up using it.

Example:

Search Results from Kayak.com

Search Results from IHG.com

Both results were for the Crowne Plaza in Redondo Beach, Calif. for the same room, same reservation and same dates through Kayak.com and IHG.com Both websites charge about $26 in taxes, but the total rate including taxes was still cheaper through Kayak.com by $14. This would qualify for a free room based on the BRG claim requirements!

Before you fill out the claim form, let’s go over a checklist to make sure your reservation qualifies for IHG BRG:

1. Was the reservation made through IHG Best Available Price search at one of these properties: InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Express® Hotels, Hotel Indigo® Hotels, Staybridge Suites® Hotels and Candlewood Suites® Hotels.
2. Did you choose the lowest IHG Best Available Price per the room type?
3. Did you find the same room, for the same nights and same policies for a better rate on a competing site within 24 hours of making the reservation?

If you answered ‘yes’ to all three questions, then you can submit a claim. Does that mean your claim will be approved? Yes and no. If there is a slight difference with your reservation and the better rate you found, your claim will be denied. If everything is the same then it’s likely to be approved. There are also reports that if you don’t hear back from IHG within 24 hours of making your claim, your claim will be considered approved.

What if the Claim is Denied?

If your BRG claim is denied, then you will have to pay for the reservation out of pocket unless the reservation has the option to be cancelled. With that said, you should book a refundable room so that in case your claim is denied, then you won’t be locked into the reservation should you decide to not use it.

If you end up finding a match for a different BRG through IHG, you can change your reservation. After you change your reservation you must resubmit a claim with your updated reservation and the better rate. Remember, the better rate has to be at least $1 or 1% more than the reserved rate.

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