Welcome to the Accor Hotels and A-Club “Sticky”.
The purpose of the forum is to discuss Accor Hotels and the corresponding A-Club loyalty programme.
Please read this first as many questions might be answered here. Of course, as with any other loyalty programme, A-Club is evolving and things might change at short notice so this sticky is a work in progress.
Accor
Accor Hotels is one of the largest hotel groups in the world and encompasses the following hotel chains (in order of luxury):
* These chains do not participate in the A-Club programme (though check for some of them in the Mouvango network in France). None of the Ibis hotels in China (except Hong Kong) participate either, neither do a number of hotels in Australia, for a complete list of exclusions check the website.
In addition Accor market Lucien Barriere Hotels in France and Monaco and manage some unbranded properties.
All in all, Accor operate more than 4,000 hotels with 500,000 rooms in 90 countries. The group is particularly strong in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. In North America it is, perhaps, not as well represented, except in the budget market with Motel 6 though some flagship Sofitel Hotels and the odd Novotel can be found in the US and Canada.
Accor own the spa business Accor Thalassa and train caterer Compagnie des Wagonlits.
The group also own Lenôtre, a gourmet shop selling a selection of gourmet gifts, fine foods and other delicatessen. Lenôtre has stores in Paris, Cannes, Nice and some international cities.
Its service divisions also operates meal ticket operations such Ticket Restaurants and associated programmes.
A-Club
A-Club is a relatively new loyalty programme for most Accor hotels and has been in operation since the autumn of 2008. Previously Accor operated a Sofitel only programme called Sofitel Privilege.
The website for the programme is www.a-club.com
Sign up
You can sign up at the reception of any participating hotel or online. You will receive your card after the first hotel stay.
Earning points
Hotels
You get 2 points for every euro spent at Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel and Adagio.
You get 1 point for every euro spent at Ibis and all seasons.
At Ibis hotels in France you earn points only for weekend stays (including Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday night).
Non-euro bills will be converted by Accor’s official exchange rate.
Points are awarded on the net hotel rate (taxes do not earn points).
Eligible rates and expenditure
You will only earn points for bookings either made online via accorhotels.com or the respective chain’s website or direct with the hotel but not for prepaid rates made through travel agents or consolidator websites such as Expedia, Priceline etc.
Extra services such as hotel restaurant, bar, room service etc also earn points. Make sure to charge them to your final room bill. If settled directly they will not earn.
Some services such as parking, business centre services, high-speed Internet access, in-store purchases, spa products and services, hairdresser or barber, beauty parlour, and golf green fees do not earn points.
Points will only be credited for a maximum of 30 day continuous stays.
Thalassa
You get 2 points for every euro spent at an Thalassa sea & spa Institute when staying at a Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel or Mercure hotel and 1 point for every euro spent at an Thalassa sea & spa Institute when staying at Ibis or Allseasons.
Earning partners
You can also earn A-Club points at the following A-Club partners:
Lenôtre (France only)
You get 1 point for every euro you spend at any Lenôtre boutique in France, in the restaurant and School of Cooking and Pastry at the Lenôtre Pavillon Elysée in Paris
Europcar
250 points per car rental but only if booked via the A-Club website, rates include a 20% reduction for A-Club members. You might get a cheaper rate if booked directly with Europcar, though you won’t earn any points then.
Clubmed
1 point per euro spent when booked via clubmed.com, the call centre or the Club Med agencies in Europe or the US. Maximum of 3000 points per booking.
Mouvango Network (France only)
You will earn points at all participating Mouvango loyalty partners in France. These are:
- Total petrol stations; 2,5 points for every 20 litres of petrol and 1.5 points for every 3 € spent in the shop
- Courtepaille restaurants, 5 points for every 10 € spent
- Autogrill motorway restaurants, 5 points for every 10 € spent
- ixair helicopter rides, 20 points for every 10 € spent
- Etap Hotel & Formule 1 hotels, 10 points for every 10 € spent, only applies to week-end stays (Friday, Saturday or Sunday nights)
- 118712 directory inquiries, requires pre-registration on the website, 1 point per call
Missing points
While the crediting of points in theory should be automatic, especially with Accor Hotels, this is not always the case. Make sure to keep a copy of your final invoice for all transactions at hotels and partners. Points can be retro-credited via the website. Missing points for hotels are usually credited then within 24h but partners tend to take longer. You can claim missing 6 months after check out.
Points Expiry
A-Club points are valid for 12 months and will remain valid thereafter provided you have another hotel earning transaction within 12 months.
Spending your A-Club points
Hotels
You can spend your points at any participating hotel. To do so you have to order an electronic voucher to redeem at check out. These vouchers cannot be used for pre-paid rates. Think of them as cash when settling the bill. They can also be used for extras such as room service, restaurant etc. Vouchers are accepted at Ibis hotels in France only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
How many points do I need for a free night?
2,000 points give you voucher worth either 40 € or 60 US$ (you can choose which currency when ordering them on the website).
Example:
You booked a regular rate of € 250 for one night at the Sofitel Lisbon. You will need 12,000 points for € 240 worth of vouchers and pay the rest of €10 in cash. If you overpay in vouchers you will normally not get the change back in cash (though there have been reports of this happening).
Vouchers are not tied to the member and can be given to any member of your family or friends. They are valid for 6 months after issue.
Airlines
A-Club points can be converted to air miles with the following airlines:
• Air Berlin
• Air Canada
• Air France – KLM
• British Airways
• Delta
• Lufthansa and partners’ Miles & More
• Qantas
• Singapore Airlines
• TAM
• TAP
• Thai
• US Airways
To do so you have to fill in the form on the A-Club website. Rates vary, more details on the website.
Europcar
Only at participating rental stations in Europe
Same points to € or $ value as hotels but vouchers will be mailed.
Lenôtre
Same points to € or $ value as hotels but vouchers will be mailed, only at participating outlets.
Clubmed
Same points to € or $ value as hotels but vouchers will be mailed.
Charity
2,000 points are needed for a €40 donation to the Institut Pasteur. Donations can be made on the A-Club website.
Elite levels
A-Club has three elite levels: silver, gold and platinum. The following are the official guidelines for elite levels. A-Club has been known to offer elite levels for less. Your points per year can be viewed on the website, the total number of nights stayed unfortunately seem to have vanished from the website.
Silver
You will become silver member after staying 10 nights (that is nights, not stays) or earning 2,500 A-Club points over a period of 12 months.
Perks: 50% bonus points at hotels; welcome drink and gift (usually chocolate) at Sofitel hotels
Gold
You will become gold member after staying 30 nights or earning 10,000 A-Club points over a period of 12 months.
Perks: 75% bonus points at hotels; welcome drink and gift (as above) at Sofitel (excluding Thalassa sea & spa), Pullman and MGallery hotels.
Also at these hotels:
- Guaranteed room availability with 5 days notice
- Room upgrade at check-in (depending on availability and upon request)
- Late check-out until 4:00 pm (upon request)
Platinum
You will become platinum member after staying 60 nights or earning 25,000 A-Club points over a period of 12 months.
Perks: 100% bonus points at hotels; welcome drink and gift (as above) at Sofitel (excluding Thalassa sea & spa), Pullman and MGallery hotels.
Also at these hotels:
- Guaranteed room availability with 3 days notice
- Room upgrade at check-in (depending on availability and upon request)
- Late check-out until 4:00 pm (upon request)
- One Thalassa sea & spa Institute beauty & treatment product offered when staying at a Sofitel Thalassa sea & spa hotel
- A welcome gift for minimum 10-night stays at Adagio hotels, and late check-out (subject to availability)
Platinum members also have a dedicated help desk, which now can handle both A-Club and reservations. The number for the Platinum help desk is +33 1 56 20 29 29 (Monday to Saturdays 9 am – 6pm CET).
General perks issues: Make sure to request upgrades and make sure you are handed your drinks vouchers and get your gift. Experiences have shown that these are only offered reluctantly at some hotels. Upgrades are definitely not done automatically and frequently require gentle persuasion. No elite perks are offered at Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Ibis, AllSeasons and Adagio hotels, except the bonus points. (Platinum members get a welcome gift for minimum 10-night stays at Adagio)
Where is my new card?
So you have reached your new elite level, what now? In theory a new card should be sent out to you once you reach the respective elite level. In 2009 Accor had huge problems with sending out new cards at the end of the membership year. If you have not received your card print out your online account which should state the correct elite level and call customer service asking for your card.
Other ways to gain elite level:
The paid for Favourite Guest Programme offers similar perks to the Gold level
Accor Advantage Plus (Asia Pacific only)
Paid for programme with a number of perks and automatic A-Club silver status
Club des Actionnaires
If you own 50 Accor shares you can register for the Accor shareholder club which provides you with a Platinum card. On 2 February 2010 you would have had to pay € 1858.50 for 50 Accor shares.