The award traveler’s information to Accor Stay Limitless

Accor does not get a ton of press amongst factors and miles lovers, in all probability as a result of it has simply over 100 properties in North America, making it an impractical funding for many of us residing on this aspect of the pond.

Nonetheless, the chain is surprisingly outstanding in the remainder of the world, with greater than 5,100 properties throughout 100-plus nations. Its biggest focus of properties is in Europe and Asia — and it has lodges that high your bucket listing, whether or not you recognize it or not. Now that Capital One has added Accor as a switch companion, it is a lot simpler for many people to earn and redeem Accor factors.

Let’s study the interior workings of Accor’s loyalty program, Accor Stay Limitless.

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What’s Accor Stay Limitless?

You might have whizzed previous Accor lodges (and even stayed in a single) with out realizing it. Accor has 55 manufacturers, starting from price range to high-end experiences. A couple of Accor properties that TPG has reviewed embrace the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, Sofitel Legend Casco Viejo Panama Metropolis and Raffles Boston.

Should you keep in Accor lodges with any frequency, you are throwing cash away should you’re not a member of its loyalty program. Per TPG’s October 2024 valuations, Accor Stay Limitless factors are price 2 cents every — greater than every other resort forex. Apart from incomes factors that you could redeem without spending a dime nights, you will additionally earn standing factors and nights towards ALL’s 4 elite standing tiers. Here is an outline of every degree.

Accor elite standing

Members who be part of Accor Stay Limitless get Traditional standing, which supplies them entry to discounted member charges, unique gives, free Wi-Fi, on-line check-in and quick checkout. The perfect half, as with all base ranges, is that you’re going to earn factors in your Accor stays (extra on that later).

Past Traditional, ALL has 4 elite tiers of standing. You’ll be able to earn standing by finishing a sure variety of nights or spending a specific amount at lodges. The required spending is in euros, so preserve that in thoughts should you’re hoping to earn ALL standing that means.

Silver (800 euros spent or 10 nights)

Members earn Silver elite standing after accruing 2,000 standing factors (i.e., spending 800 euros, or about $886) or staying a minimum of 10 nights. When you get to this degree, you will take pleasure in the next perks:

• Precedence check-in
• Late checkout
• A welcome drink

Gold (2,800 euros spent or 30 nights)

You may attain Gold standing if you earn 7,000 standing factors (2,800 euros, or about $3,100 in spending) or keep a minimum of 30 nights. You may get all the advantages of Silver standing, plus the next:

• A assured room when reserving as much as three days earlier than check-in
• Early check-in or late checkout
• An area-available improve to the following room class

Platinum (5,600 euros spent or 60 nights)

Platinum standing requires 14,000 standing factors (5,600 euros, or about $6,199 in resort spending) or 60 nights. Whenever you attain this degree, you’ll robotically obtain two Suite Night time Upgrades, every of which might be utilized towards one night time. You’ll be able to earn extra Suite Night time Upgrades for each 4,000 standing factors earned, as much as 12 occasions per 12 months. Listed here are the additional advantages Platinum members obtain:

• A assured room when reserving as much as two days earlier than check-in
• Govt Lounge entry
• Premium Wi-Fi

Diamond (10,400 euros spent)

Accor’s top-tier Diamond standing is exclusive in that you need to earn 26,000 standing factors, which requires spending 10,400 euros (about $11,512) to succeed in it. There isn’t any choice to earn it through stays. At this degree, you will get the next extra advantages:

• Complimentary breakfast on weekends
• 4 25-euro (about $28) Eating & Spa Rewards
• The power to present Gold standing to another person

Contemplating how tough it’s to earn Diamond standing, we anticipated extra substantial advantages from this degree. Breakfast is just free on weekends, which isn’t spectacular when in comparison with a program like Hilton Honors, which gives mid-tier Gold elites free breakfast (continental or through a credit score) day by day of the week.

When does elite standing expire?

Whenever you attain the variety of nights or euros wanted to realize a brand new standing tier, you will preserve that standing for the rest of the 12 months through which you earned it and everything of the next 12 months.

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Easy methods to earn Accor factors

Given Accor’s sizable resort portfolio with so many nice properties, having Accor factors can turn out to be useful. Listed here are all of the methods you may earn Accor Stay Limitless factors.

Lodge stays

Accor awards nonelite members 5 to 25 factors per 10 euros (about $11) spent on eligible resort spending, relying on the model. Elite members earn a bonus, starting from 24% for Silver members to 100% for Diamond members, who can earn as much as 50 factors per 10 euros spent.

If this sounds complicated, don’t fret. Accor has a neat device to calculate the factors you will earn in your subsequent resort keep in response to elite standing tier, resort model and room price that you could find on the underside of this web page.

You may earn factors in your room charge (earlier than taxes) and most different belongings you pay for on the resort, together with spa therapies, minibar gadgets, TV purchases and meals. Try the total listing of Accor eating places right here.

Guide a day room

Accor provides you the choice to e-book a day room should you merely want a spot to relaxation through the day. This may be helpful, particularly between lengthy flights. Whenever you e-book a room for the day, you should utilize all resort facilities, such because the bar, the sauna, the pool and the fitness center, and you may earn factors in your keep.

In experimenting with this, we discovered day rooms typically are dearer than merely paying for an evening on the resort, so this feature might not all the time be price it.

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Store on-line

Like many loyalty applications, Accor Stay Limitless gives a buying portal. You need to use Collections by ALL to earn Accor factors on on-line purchases you’d make anyway. The location has all kinds of fashionable shops, reminiscent of Apple, Adidas, Etsy and Temu.

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Switch factors from different applications

Each Capital One and Citi rely Accor Stay Limitless amongst their switch companions. You’ll be able to flip your Capital One miles and Citi ThankYou Rewards factors into Accor factors at a 2:1 ratio, that means 2,000 miles or factors will develop into 1,000 Accor factors.

It is hardly price noting, however you may not directly switch factors to Accor from the opposite main versatile factors applications: Chase Final Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Wells Fargo Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy. All these applications switch to Flying Blue, the loyalty program of KLM and Air France, at a 1:1 ratio. From there, you may switch Flying Blue miles to Accor at a 4:1 ratio (extra on that in a second). Whereas turning 4 transferable factors into 1 Accor level is not one of the best worth, it is nonetheless good to know your choices.

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Airline companions

Accor Stay Limitless companions with 13 airline loyalty applications, permitting you to transform the miles you earn if you fly into Accor factors. Primarily based on these conversion charges, we do not advocate changing your miles to Accor factors until you’ve gotten “orphan miles” that you just wish to unload.

With a few of these companions, Accor additionally lets you convert Accor factors into airline miles, earn miles on lodges stays or earn Accor factors on flights. See Accor’s companion web page for particulars.

Rental automobile companions

Accor Stay Limitless companions with a couple of rental automobile businesses, permitting you to earn Accor factors in your subsequent rental and providing you with entry to different financial savings and perks.

This could translate into first rate financial savings. For instance, since Accor factors are price 2 cents every (per TPG’s October 2024 valuations) and you may earn 3 factors per 1 euro ($1.11 on the time of writing) spent at Hertz, you will successfully obtain 5.4% again in your rental automobile (to not point out the factors you will earn by paying in your rental with one of many high journey rewards bank cards).

Journey and buying companions

Should you’d slightly e-book a trip rental than a resort room, you may earn 1 Accor level per euro spent at Onefinestay, basically a luxurious model of Airbnb that is solely obtainable on the world’s high locations. You may discover its jaw-dropping properties and villas within the U.S., Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America.

With Membership Eurostar, the loyalty program of the Eurostar practice community, you’ve gotten the choice to transform the rewards you earn at a charge of 500 Membership Eurostar factors to 1,000 Accor factors.

ALL has an assortment of different journey companions with which you’ll be able to earn Accor factors, from premium tour corporations to parking reservation websites to Precedence Go lounges. It’s also possible to earn bonus Accor factors if you e-book actions and occasions by Fever, convert Rakuten rewards into Accor factors and extra. Try ALL’s companion web page for a full listing.

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Occasion planning

You may earn 1 Accor level and 1 standing level per 2 euros (about $2) spent if you plan an occasion at considered one of 30 Accor manufacturers. Eligible occasions embrace enterprise conferences, conferences and receptions.

Different methods to earn Accor factors

There are a number of extra choices for incomes Accor factors, however they’re extraordinarily obscure or irrelevant for many of us. For instance, you may:

• Convert financial institution rewards in case you have an account at numerous non-U.S. banks.
• Dine at collaborating eating places and bars within the Asia-Pacific area.
• Earn factors by visiting open-air buying facilities primarily situated in China and Europe.
• Take surveys to earn factors at an abysmal charge.

None are attractive, nor are they handy.

When do Accor factors expire?

Accor factors expire after one year of inactivity. In accordance with this system phrases and situations, you will must earn factors from resort stays to reset the clock — incomes via one of many many different choices outlined above will not reduce it. In consequence, should you solely end up at Accor’s doorstep each couple of years, you might battle to seek out worth in your factors.

Easy methods to redeem Accor factors

Now for the enjoyable half! Accor has hundreds of lodges in prime places around the globe, however that is not your solely redemption choice. Here is a have a look at all of the methods you may redeem your Accor factors.

Motels

Accor doesn’t have an award chart with tiers, so there aren’t any “candy spots” to talk of. As an alternative, the factors you earn are price a flat charge for resort stays, at about 2 cents every.

This does not imply accumulating Accor factors is a foul transfer — there are nice offers to unearth. Simply know that you’re going to by no means obtain outsize worth in your factors until ALL introduces a brand new redemption or promotion. It additionally implies that Accor factors might be easier and simpler to redeem and, thus, extra sensible for a lot of vacationers since you do not have to fret about maximizing every level.

You do not want enough Accor factors to cowl your complete resort invoice, however you need to have a minimum of 1,000 to redeem and you may redeem them in multiples of two,000, which gives you 40 euros (about $44) off your keep. For instance, in case you have 4,540 factors, you may select to redeem 1,000, 2,000, or 4,000 factors.

To make use of factors towards a resort keep, you may offset the price of your invoice by:

• Logging into your ALL account and reserving with factors via this web page
• Instructing reception to make use of your factors in your keep at checkout
• Calling Accor and telling a Buyer Care Advisor that you just’d prefer to e-book with factors

Should you cancel your room, your factors will likely be refunded.

Notice that not all Accor lodges take part within the Accor loyalty program. You’ll be able to see a listing of excluded properties right here.

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Airline miles

ALL lets you switch your Accor factors to miles at 31 airline companions, with switch ratios various from first rate to dismal. Notable choices embrace:

• Air France and KLM: 2,000 Accor factors equals 2,000 Flying Blue miles
• Iberia: 3,000 Accor factors equals 3,000 Iberia Avios
• Qantas: 2,000 Accor factors equals 2,000 Qantas factors
• Virgin Australia: 4,000 Accor factors equals 4,000 Velocity factors

There’s potential to obtain good worth from a couple of different airways on the listing, however these 4 stand out. For instance, you could possibly switch Accor factors to Flying Blue at a 1:1 ratio, then e-book an financial system flight to Europe for under 30,000 Flying Blue miles round-trip. Since this flight might simply price $1,000-plus if paid with money, you’d get a worth of nicely over 3 cents per Accor level.

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Journey and buying companions

You’ll be able to redeem your Accor factors with most of the similar companions that allow you to earn them. For example, you should utilize factors towards a Onefinestay voucher to use to your property or villa reserving, however you will solely obtain about 1.5 cents per level (relying on the worth of the euro relative to the greenback). That is notably worse than redeeming your factors for Accor resort stays.

It’s also possible to use your factors to lease a automobile with Hertz or e-book actions via Fever and convert your factors into Membership Eurostar factors. Try the “Use my factors” tab on Accor’s companion web page for extra info on every redemption choice.

You’ll be able to redeem Accor factors for merchandise through ALL’s buying companions, specifically by changing your Accor factors to rewards at numerous buying applications. Probably the most well-known of those is TPG-favorite Rakuten, the place you may flip 2,000 Accor factors into 1,600 Rakuten factors. Others embrace On a regular basis Rewards, Share Rewards and Livelo.

These companion redemptions might not present one of the best worth in your factors, however they might be good choices should you do not frequent Accor lodges and your factors are set to run out quickly.

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Backside line

Whereas Accor factors are price quite a bit in comparison with different resort currencies, they’ve traditionally been tough to earn. Accor does not supply a cobranded bank card, it offers unfavorable switch charges from lots of its companions and incomes factors via stays is sluggish, even with its most prestigious elite standing. On high of that, Accor is especially concentrated in Europe, so anybody from the U.S. could have problem racking up factors without spending a dime stays.

Nonetheless, should you’re a frequent worldwide traveler who could make use of Accor properties usually, there’s loads of worth available within the ALL program. And now that each Citi and Capital One supply Accor as a switch companion, it is simpler than ever to redeem your factors without spending a dime stays at Accor’s portfolio of lovely properties around the globe.