Deep Rate Discount with Expedia 48 hour sale and Marriott LNF claims

Expedia has a 48-hour sale running through midnight Sunday, July 7 offering 30% off at select hotels. Yesterday, I booked several stays with Marriott brand hotels in Denver, Colorado and then filed Look No Further Best Rate Guarantee claims by phone and web claim form. All of my claims were approved.

Marriott Look No Further approved claims give 25% off the lower rate.

• Marriott website rate = $169.
• Expedia website rate = $118.30 (30% off)
• Marriott Look No Further Rate = $88.72 (25% off $118.30)
• Rate Savings = $80.28 per night; a 47.5% rate discount on the Marriott rate I originally booked for the hotel stay.

Marriott Look No Further Best Guarantee Rate Claim Procedure

1. You must first book the Marriott brand hotel through a Marriott reservation channel, either online or by phone before you can file a Look No Further guarantee.
2. Within 24 hours of making a Marriott channel reservation, the guest can file a Look No Further Best Rate Guarantee claim, by phone 800-771-LOOK (5665) or online if a lower rate is found on a competitive website.
3. Your LNF claim will be processed within 24 hours and if approved the room rate on your reservation will be lowered by 25% off the lower competing rate found. You receive an email with the new lower rate for your hotel stay.

Yesterday I filed three Marriott Look No Further claims based on the Expedia 48 hour sale rate and all three of my claims were approved. (Note: Two of my claims processed in 4.5 hours and third claim processed in 10 hours.)

Basic steps: I loaded up Kayak.com, filtered hotels to only look at Marriott brand hotels, then compared Marriott rates to the Kayak rates. Expedia’s 48-hour sale provided plenty of options for valid Marriott Look No Further claims.

I checked to see the room types were the same and the cancellation policies were similar. I only booked hotel reservations on Marriott.com where I could cancel without penalty if the Look No Further claim was denied.

All three of my claims were approved.

Hotel 1: $129 rate booked on Marriott website. LNF claim submitted based on $90.30 rate (30% discount) on Expedia. Final LNF rate for Marriott brand stay = $67.72.

Hotel 2: $94 rate booked on Marriott website. LNF claim submitted based on $61 rate (35% discount) on Hotels.com. Final LNF rate for Marriott brand stay = $45.82.

Hotel 3: $169 rate booked on Marriott website. LNF claim submitted based on $118.30 rate (30% discount) on Expedia.com. Final LNF rate for Marriott brand stay = $88.72.

• $561 in hotel stays booked on Marriott websites.
• $290.97 final rate for four nights after Look No Further rate adjustment.
• One free Category 1-5 night will be earned with two hotel stays. A second free category 1-5 night will be earned after one more Marriott brand stay before September 2, 2013.

The best part of these Marriott stays is each reduced rate stay on a Look No Further claim qualifies for the current stay twice and earn one free night promotion. Two hotel nights for $115 total rate will earn one free night at a Marriott category 1-5 hotel with my Unexpected Bonus promotion of one free night every two stays from May 15, 2013 through September 2, 2013.

The free night I redeem will almost certainly save more than $115 in room rate when I redeem it sometime over the next year.

My summer travel hotel stays booked so far include $30 hotel nights at Holiday Inn Express and deeply discounted Marriott brand hotel stays using Expedia’s current 48 hour sale discount rates ending today combined with Marriott’s Look No Further Best Rate Guarantee to book Marriott stays at about 50% of the published rates on the Marriott website.

This summer’s road trip is starting to remind me of last summer’s road travels in California and Oregon when I booked several Best Rate Guarantee claims for discount rates and free room nights (IHG and Choice give one free night for successful Best Rate Guarantee claims). I booked free nights, earned 44,000 points from Club Carlson on one discount night hotel stay at Park Inn Fresno, earned $100 gift card from Best Western on a $60 Best Rate Guarantee hotel stay and then traveled to Oregon for three nights to stay at The Lodge at Running Y Ranch, a Holiday Inn Resort for 15,000 points using PointBreaks while I visited Crater Lake.

The Lodge at Running Y Ranch, a Holiday Inn Resort (July 23, 2012)

Ric Garrido, writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests.

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