Hyatt Clarifies Their Best Rate Guarantee Changes

I think they actually back pedalled their original intention. Given the negative publicity. Why else would they change it in the first place?

So you still have to book a nonrefundable rate if you want to do BRG with nonrefundable rate. Major deprecation.

Hyatt brg has always worked in that manner, same rate type. It has not been a problem when one can call and brg, though agent would tell you that the brg is nonrefundable. It has not been a problem when you can brg online in advance of actual booking. So only change is now you cannot brg without booking.
Looks like a small change but the problem is they have more strict rules on one aspect and looser rules on the other aspect, and overall it's still looser. Now the looser rule part is gone and they are in all aspects more strict. And that is when we feel the problem.

It's still a useless program because of all of the loopholes that they use to try and get out of matching anything. If you go read the thread on FT, it's truly astounding the excuses that get used. I'm not sure why they even have the program at this point. All it does is drive ill will towards them from anyone that submits a claim. I really like Hyatt, but they should actually be ashamed of they way they handle BRG requests.

I'm dealing with a nightmare after booking a room through Tripadvisor's new booking service. We scheduled a three night stay at a Four Points Sheraton, but the day before our trip, we lost a loved one. I called the Sheraton, and they were willing to re-schedule, but the booking agent, getaroom.com, said the booking was nonrefundable.

How does the nonrefundable rate work if I had this same scenario with Hyatt? Is it possible to re-schedule for an unplanned emergency?

I mean, what if I had booked directly with Hyatt and used the BRG with the Tripadvisor price?