how to use expedia's best price guarantee

when it comes to hotels, i don’t really need the expensive, fancy places. i’m content with the regular two-star hotels that are close to things and that are clean. in expensive cities, the brand name groups (intercontinental, marriott, hilton, etc.,) are usually priced out of my range, so i don’t mind booking these two star hotels.

this is where expedia.com’s (not expedia.ca) best price guarantee comes in for me. most websites have a best price guarantee (BPG), but expedia’s is particularly generous. within 24 hours of booking, if you find another hotel on a different website for a lower rate, expedia will match it. but more than that, they will also “drop” a 50$ coupon into your account for use immediately for your next hotel purchase. that’s like a 50$ reward for reporting a lower price.

of course, there are some rules involved. the competing website must be in English and in USD. the room that is offered on the competing website must be exactly the same as the one you’ve booked on expedia.com. in other words, they have to have the same terms and conditions. refundable vs. non-refundable? breakfast included vs not? city view vs. mountain view? king bed vs. queen bed. special memberships required vs not?

it’s not always easy finding cheaper rates on competing websites. i find that you’ll typically get lower rates on smaller, independent hotels’ own websites. some markets have lots of these, others don’t. the aqua resorts in hawaii, for example, typically have lower prices on their own website than on expedia.

step 1: find a hotel on expedia.com that has a competing website with a lower rate. remember, this is where your small, independent hotels come into play.

step 2: if you have a multi-night hotel booking, break it into individual nights.

step 3: purchase your first night.

step 4: go to expedia.com and fill in the BPG application online.

click on the best price guarantee on the lower left hand corner

select the BPG application

fill in the details -- takes 3 minutes to do

step 5: you will get a partial refund (price match) and a 50$ coupon will be dropped into your account. use this coupon to book your second night.

step 6: repeat steps 4-5 for your second and third nights.

note that you can only get 3 BPG within a calendar month. so for longer trips, i typically wait until near the end of the calendar month so that i can do 6 within a short period of time. i did this just yesterday, and within a few hours, i received this e-mail:

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Thank you for contacting us about the Best Price Guarantee for your reservation. We have great news!

We have approved your request and initiated a refund in the amount of USD17.90 to the original form of payment used during your purchase. The time it takes to post to your account will depend on how quickly your credit card company processes this fund.

Meanwhile, due to system restrictions, we are unable to issue a Best Price Guarantee $50 Coupon via email. In this case, please call the Expedia Customer Service Team at the numbers below at a suitable time. Please have your itinerary number and email address available when you call.

If this does not answer your question or solve your problem, feel free to reply to this message or call us at 1-800-EXPEDIA (1-800-397-3342) or 1-404-728-8787 (for callers outside the U.S. and Canada) and reference case ID: x-xxxxxxx.

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i normally book my hotels in hawaii for 80$ base, or 95$ after tax. with this trick, i end up booking hotel room nights for 45-50$ a night. clean, safe, convenient, and all in hawaii. that’s a deal worth celebrating.