Do I get loyalty points for booking via Egencia?

If I book direct with hotels or via Egencia with I get loyalty points?

Quick answer: Depends. Booking direct, of course you get points. However, if you book via Egencia, you can also get points but you must choose the right classification of booking.

When I reached out to the Egencia team, they mentioned that they would suggest:

For future reference we would suggest to book the following rates Egencia Preferred Rates, Negotiated Rates, Published Rates, Hotel Collect (Egencia Preferred Rate) to earn loyalty points.

Here is more information on the rate classifications that Egencia use, so please take note of these when making a booking via Egencia, if you want to ensure you get the best price and also loyalty hotel points.

Details on the rate from Egencia

*Egencia Preferred Rates

You will see this rate after the search page below the hotel name highlighted in Gray or after you selected your preferred hotel and it is located on the top left corner of the specific room and it is named as "Egencia Business Rate" Egencia". These rates allow travelers to earn loyalty points. Egencia is the merchant of record, so Egencia collects the payment automatically collected on the morning of check-in.

*Expedia Special Rates

You will see this rates after you click your preferred hotel usually it is named as "Expedia". These rates DO NOT allow travelers to earn loyalty points. Egencia is the merchant of record, so Egencia collects the payment automatically collected on the morning of check-in.

*Negotiated Rates

These rates allow travelers to earn loyalty points. The hotel is the merchant of record, which means the hotel collects the payment at check-out

*Published Rates

These is also called as "Worldspan". You will see this rates after you click your preferred hotel. These rates allow travelers to earn loyalty points. Hotel is the merchant of record, which means the hotel collects the payment at check-out.

*Hotel Collect (Expedia Special Rates) 

You will see this rates after you click your preferred hotel usually it is named as "Expedia Hotel Collect". These rates DO NOT allows travelers to earn loyalty points because Expedia Special Rates do not allow loyalty points. Hotel is the merchant of record, which means the hotel collects the payment at check-out.

*Hotel Collect (Egencia Preferred Rate)

You will see this rates after you click your preferred hotel usually it is named as "Egencia Hotel Collect" . These rates allow travelers to earn loyalty points because Egencia Preferred Rates allow loyalty points. The hotel is the merchant of record, which means the hotel collects the payment at check-out.

You will also noticed the hotel that you are trying to book is eligible for loyalty points by checking on the room type there is like a gift wrapped logo that says "Eligible for Hotel Loyalty Points". We apologize for any confusion this has caused you.

We checked that the reservation is non-refundable and cannot be changed. For future reference we would suggest to book the following rates Egencia Preferred Rates, Negotiated Rates, Published Rates, Hotel Collect (Egencia Preferred Rate) to earn loyalty points.

Let us know for any clarifications or questions.

If you have questions regarding this matter or require further assistance, please reply to this e-mail or contact our 24-hour support desk. Our customer support representatives are available to assist you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Customer Support Team

Egencia
An Expedia, Inc. Company
Corporate Travel As You Know It Has Changed: http://www.egencia.com

What does the direct hotel say about loyalty points?

When I reached out to Egencia directly to also understand this further, as I reached out to SPG, both over the phone and via email.  As I wanted to understand this further for one of my recent bookings with a Starwood SPG hotel in India.

Here's what they had to say.

SPG perspective on booking their hotel via Egencia

If you're wondering, Terms & Conditions of the Starwood Preferred Guest Program, Section 2.1D details the following:

2.1 Earning Opportunities at SPG Participating Hotels.

• 2.1.a. Eligible Charges. An SPG Member will earn:

• i. two base Starpoints for Eligible Charges at SPG Participating Hotels for each US dollar or the currency equivalent that is incurred and paid for by the SPG Member if he/she is not a Gold Preferred Guest or a Platinum Preferred Guest as of the date that Starpoints are posted to the SPG Member's account;

• ii. two base Starpoints and one bonus Starpoint for Eligible Charges at SPG Participating Hotels for each US dollar or the currency equivalent that is incurred and paid for by the SPG Member if he/she is a Gold Preferred Guest or Platinum Preferred Guest (and has not earned a minimum of 75 Eligible Nights in a Qualifying Period) as of the date that Starpoints are posted to the SPG Member's account; or

• iii. two base Starpoints and two bonus Starpoints for Eligible Charges at SPG Participating Hotels for each US dollar or the currency equivalent that is incurred and paid for by the SPG Member if he/she is a Platinum Preferred Guest (and has earned a minimum of 75 Eligible Nights in a Qualifying Period) as of the date Starpoints are posted to the SPG Member's account.

• An SPG Member may only earn Starpoints for Eligible Charges pursuant to one of Section 2.1.a.i, Section 2.1.a.ii or Section 2.1.a.iii.

• A. "Eligible Charges" are:

• (1) charges incurred during a stay in a guest room at an SPG Participating Hotel by an SPG Member on his/her folio for up to three guest rooms, including, without limitation:

• (a) Eligible Rates for Stays;

• (b) food and beverage (excluding alcoholic beverage where prohibited by law) and excluding charges incurred at restaurants that are not located within or adjacent to SPG Participating Hotels;

• (c) direct-dialed in-room telephone and direct-dialed in-room fax;

• (d) laundry/valet; and

• (e) in-room movies and video games;

• provided that the SPG Member provides his/her SPG Member number at the time of reservation or at check-in and stays in one of the reserved guest rooms and pays for the charges. Eligible Charges do not include any complimentary services, SPG Awards, SPG Promotion Rewards or any other fees or charges including, without limitation: (A) charges for banquets, meetings or other functions, with the exception of Starpoints earned in connection with an Eligible Event; (B) other fees paid including, without limitation, parking, business center, high-speed internet access, retail stores, spa products and services and greens fees; and (C) taxes, gratuities, service charges, mandatory or automatic charges (e.g., resort charges) and other applicable charges; or

• (2) charges incurred by the SPG Member, when an SPG Member is not staying in a guest room at an SPG Participating Hotel, for food and beverage (excluding alcoholic beverage where prohibited by law) at restaurants located within or adjacent to SPG Participating Hotels if:

• (a) the restaurant permits guests to charge food and beverage on their folios;

• (b) the charges are greater than $10 USD (excluding taxes and gratuities);

• (c) the food and beverage is not in connection with a banquet, meeting or other function that is excluded from Eligible Charges as provided in Section 2.1.a.iii.(A)(1); and

• (d) the SPG Member provides his/her SPG Member number at the time of payment.

• B. A "Stay" is a stay of one or more consecutive nights at the same SPG Participating Hotel by an SPG Member who: (A) provides his/her SPG Member number at the time of reservation or at check-in; (B) pays an Eligible Rate or redeems an SPG Award or an SPG Promotion Reward for the stay; and (C) stays in one of the reserved guest rooms. If an SPG Member checks out of a guest room and then checks back in to a guest room at the same SPG Participating Hotel on the same day, it will count as a single stay for purposes of calculating Stays. An SPG Member may only earn Starpoints, Eligible Nights and Eligible Stays for up to three guest rooms during any Stay if he/she stays in one of the reserved guest rooms and pays an Eligible Rate or redeems an SPG Award or an SPG Promotion Reward for all of the guest rooms.

• C. An "Eligible Stay" is a credit awarded pursuant to these SPG Program Terms that counts towards earning the respective "Eligible Stay" thresholds for Elite Preferred Guest Membership Status (as described in Section 8.2 and Section 8.3), SPG Lifetime Gold Status (as described in Section 8.4.a.) or SPG Lifetime Platinum Status (as described in Section 8.5.a.).

• D. An "Eligible Rate" is the rate an SPG Member pays for a stay in a guest room at an SPG Participating Hotel unless:

• (1) the guest room was booked through a tour operator, online travel channel or other third-party channel including, without limitation, expedia.com, hotwire.com, priceline.com, orbitz.com, booking.com, travelocity.com, ctrip.com, and elong.com;

• (2) the guest room was booked at a group rate as part of an event, meeting, conference or organized tour, and the SPG Member does not directly pay the SPG Participating Hotel for such room;

• (3) the guest room was booked at a tour operator, wholesaler, or crew room rate including, without limitation, STARNet and STARPRO;

• (4) the guest room was booked at an employee or friends and family rate or a Starwood business rate;

• (5) the guest room was provided complimentary; or

• (6) a voucher or third-party award (e.g., Aeroplan room award, Air Miles room award) was redeemed for the guest room.

Egencia is owned by Expedia, Inc. 

Egencia is owned by Expedia, Inc. They are the corporate version of Expedia.com which you are probably quite familiar with. Egencia aims to give business travelers access to hotels, flights and car hire. The rates offered vary and are negotiated rates that are made available at a price that is meant to be corporate rates to use the services.

Moreover, hotels will always see bookings in their system as booking by "Expedia, Inc"and not "
Egencia, Inc". So hotel policy references to www.expedia.com bookings being excluded applies here.

Here's also some useful information on the Egencia program from a statement of their representatives, on their role in the industry.

Egencia offers different rate plans to travelers including negotiated rates your company has secured with a hotel, published or rack rates that a hotel makes publicly available, Egencia's business preferred rates and Expedia's special rates. Each rate has its own advantages and our goal is to allow you to choose the best rate type for your trip.
The Expedia Rate can be up to 40% lower than the public rates; these low rates or “special rates” are made available by removing some features such as hotel loyalty points - this is due to the discount at which the hotel allows us to sell the rooms. These rates are designed for those that prioritize price over points.  Source: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marriott-rewards/1236390-egencia-special-rate-blues-i-hate-these-people.html

I hope that helps you make an informed decision. Please feel free to also share your experiences.