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A little under two weeks ago Accor came out with a press release that ranked as one of the most pointless press releases I’ve seen in a while. The press release told us that the hotelier was planning to revamp its loyalty program but, aside from letting us know that the program would be known as “Accor Live Limitless” (ALL), it told us absolutely nothing else about what to expect.
Well, we still have no official information about what to expect from ALL but it looks like AUBT has got a scoop on a few details that will be of interest.
New Status Tiers
Accor’s current loyalty program (LeClub Accor) has three status tiers but, with the launch of ALL, Accor will be adding two more status tiers to take that number up to five.
Here’s what the tiers will look like:
- Silver – 10 nights or 2,000 Status Points
- Gold – 30 nights or 7,000 Status Points
- Platinum – 60 nights or 14,000 Status Points
- Diamond – (unknown number of nights) or 26,000 Status Points
- Black – Invitation only status
New Benefits On The Way
According to what AUBT has been able to unearth there will be no cut to the benefits extended to the current three status tiers but members can expect to see new benefits added.
Here’s what a LeClub Accor Platinum member can expect at the moment:
- Members’ rate: up to 10% extra off
- Advance access to private sales on accorhotels.com
- Priority Welcome
- Welcome drink
- Online check-in, fast check-out
- Free internet access worldwide
- Premium wifi (where available)
- Early check-in and Late check-out
- Access to the Executive Lounge (where available)
- Upgrade to the next room category subject to availability
- Turndown service
- Dedicated Le Club AccorHotels customer care line
- Guaranteed room up to 2 days before arrival
- Rewards points are earned on every euro spent
With the launch of ALL members will be able to earn ‘suite night’ upgrade certificates for use on future stays with the first certificate earned at 14,000 Status Points (the requirement for Platinum level elite status) and subsequent certificates earned for every 4,000 Status Points earned thereafter.
For the bulk of its mainstream properties Accor awards 2.5 Status Points per Euro spent (approximately 2.19 Status Points per dollar) so, after earning the first suite night upgrade certificate, each subsequent certificate will require €1,600/~$1,826 of spending.
No details appear to be available to let us know how the suite night certificates will work or if there will be any limitations to their use (e.g. certain properties where they won’t be accepted) but I think it’s reasonably safe to assume they’ll work in a similar way to how Marriott’s certificates work now – 1 certificate is good for a 1 night upgrade.
New ‘Best Price Guarantee’ Discount
Later this year Accor will be improving the refund it offers for successful challenges under its Best Price Guarantee policy.
As things stand, if you book direct through Accor and then find a cheaper rate available elsewhere within 24 hours of booking, the hotelier will match the lower price and throw in an additional 10% discount as well.
From Q4 2019 the discount will be increased to 25%.
Bottom Line
It will be very interesting to see how Accor handles the changes it is proposing to push through when it launches “Accor Live Limitless” later this year.
It’s easy to say that there will be no cuts to existing benefits but we’ll have to wait and see how that pans out in the real world.
Right now there’s no tier above Platinum so a Platinum member who has earned 14,000 Status Points has the same upgrade entitlement as a Platinum member with twice that many points but, thanks to the new Diamond tier, that’s not going to be the case going forward – I’m sure there will be quite a few Platinum members who consider that a cut in benefits.
Still, we’re still at a very early stage of development here and, as I mentioned at the very beginning, none of this information has been made public though any of the official Accor channels so the situation could still be fluid – things may change before the final unveiling of the new program.
If there are any LeClub Accor Elites reading this I’d love to get your thoughts on these changes that may be coming your way – let me know what you think in the comments below.
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What a load of rubbish, some Accor hotels don’t even speak English and they are working in an international hotel, all they know is “sorry”.
Spain was one of the countries we visited and was terrible. No service at all and very rude despite being a platinum member for more than 10 years.
Accor hotels on Spain, who trained the staff. Why are they so rude and slow. Believe me, they don’t gives a toss about customer.
The way they served you as if they are working for their family owned hotel where they don’t even care what you think.
The person who trained them need to be sacked…some even said, “I don’t understand English!” Why do you work in an international hotel when you don’t understand English.
So so so disappointed.