Guide · Last verified July 10, 2026

Hotel & Travel-Portal Best Rate Guarantees

A plain-English map of the top hotel and travel-portal “best rate / price match” guarantees — who has one, what you actually get, and how to win a claim. We checked 27 hotel programs and 14 travel portals, and pulled the terms from each company’s own official pages. Programs change often — check the official link before you rely on any rate.

Quick takeaways

Best overall: Marriott & Hilton — match + 25% off.
Best cash reward: Best Western — match + $100 gift card.
Best points option: Marriott & Hyatt — match + 5,000 points (or take the % off).
Tightest minimum gap: Accor — competing rate must be 5% (or €5) lower.
Most flexible travel portal: Capital One Travel — 100% of the difference on flights, hotels and cars.

One thing up front: a “best rate guarantee” is not a guarantee you’ll get a lower price. Approval depends on meeting every requirement in that chain’s official terms — matching room type, dates, occupancy, cancellation policy, taxes/fees, and live availability. Miss one and it’s denied.

How to actually win a best rate guarantee

Book direct first (as a loyalty member where required).
Claim within 24 hours of booking (some chains also require a set number of days before check-in).
Match everything — same hotel, room, dates, occupancy, and especially the same cancellation policy. Refundable-vs-prepaid mismatch is the #1 reason claims are denied.
Use a public, bookable rate — no member-only, login, coupon, opaque, package, or group rates.
Compare room rate only, net of taxes and resort fees, and mind the minimum gap (usually $1 or 1%; Accor needs 5%).

Want the full playbook? See How to Actually Win a Best Rate Guarantee — 31 tips pulled straight from the fine print.

Hotel best rate guarantees

Hotel program	You get	Claim window	Verdict	Official terms
Marriott Bonvoy	Match + 25% off OR 5,000 pts	within 24h, ≥24h before check-in	⭐ Excellent	Terms ↗
Hilton Honors	Match + 25% off	within 24h	⭐ Excellent	Terms ↗
World of Hyatt	Match + 20% off OR 5,000 pts	within 24h	⭐ Excellent	Terms ↗
IHG One Rewards	Match + 5× points (max 40,000)	within 24h, ≥24h before check-in	Good	Terms ↗
Choice Privileges	Match + $50 card (US) / free night (intl)	within 24h, ≥48h before arrival	Good	Terms ↗
Wyndham Rewards	Match + 3,000 pts	within 24h, ≥48h before check-in	Good	Terms ↗
Best Western	Match + $100 gift card	within 24h, ≥48h before check-in	⭐ Excellent	Terms ↗
Accor (ALL)	Match + 25% off (10% Fairmont/Raffles)	within 24h, ≥48h before arrival	⭐ Excellent	Terms ↗
Radisson Rewards	Match + 25% off	within 24h, ≥48h before arrival	⭐ Excellent	Terms ↗
The Langham	Match + 10% off	within 24h, ≥24h before check-in	Good	Terms ↗
Preferred / iPrefer	Match + upgrade/wifi/checkout perks	within 24h	Good	Terms ↗
Shangri-La Circle	Match (no bonus)	within 24h	Fair	Terms ↗
SLH (Best Rate Promise)	Match (no bonus)	within 24h, ≥3 working days before	Fair	Terms ↗
Club Med	Match + 10% off	same day (by 11:59pm EST)	Good	Terms ↗
Barceló	Match + 10% off	within 24h, ≥72h before arrival	Good	Terms ↗

Bahia Principe rides on Hyatt’s guarantee (match + 20% or 5,000 pts) now that it’s part of World of Hyatt.

No consumer best rate guarantee: GHA Discovery, Sonesta, Sandals, Disney Vacation Club, Stash. These chains may offer member discounts or opaque pricing, but no consumer-facing best-rate claim process.

Travel-portal price guarantees

Hotel BRGs and portal price guarantees are different animals. A hotel BRG compares your direct booking against other sites. A portal guarantee compares a price you booked through that portal, and — importantly — most portal “refunds” come back as travel credit, not cash to your card.

Portal	You get	Claim window	Verdict	Official terms
Capital One Travel	100% of difference as travel credit (flights, hotels, cars)	within 24h	⭐ Best card portal	Terms ↗
Amex Travel	refund the difference (hotels only)	before stay (30 days after, pay-later)	Good (FHR excluded)	Terms ↗
Booking.com	refund the difference	offer must still be live	Good	Terms ↗
Priceline (VIP)	100% of diff (200% Express Deals)	within 24h	Good	Terms ↗
Agoda	Match or AgodaCash	by 11:59pm day before check-in	Good	Terms ↗

Chase Travel (provisional): Sapphire Reserve / J.P. Morgan Reserve cardholders have reported an in-portal price match on prepaid hotels. Chase publishes no public terms page for it, so check inside your own portal and confirm before relying on it— we’ll add the details once we can verify them from an official source.

Ending soon: Expedia has announced its Hotel Price Guarantee will end July 28, 2026. If you’re reading this after that date, verify it’s still available before relying on it. Hotels.com’s price match is now limited to One Key members who joined before Oct 31, 2025.

No portal price guarantee: Citi Travel, Bilt Travel, Costco Travel, Kayak, Trivago, Orbitz, Travelocity, Google Hotels.

This guide is for general information; every guarantee is governed by the official terms linked above, which the chains can change at any time. Not affiliated with any hotel or travel company. Questions? See our hotel program pages.