Accor has just announced that they will be extending members’ status through to the end of 2021. In addition to the free extension, there is a range of other benefits that will help members over the next year.
These new changes are in addition to the gift of bonus nights and reward points members received earlier this year.
Status Extension
Accor is now offering members the ability to keep their status through to the end of 2021. That means any status you earned in 2019 will now be good for two years. Accor ALL will be extending the current status. Instead of expiring at the end of this year, it will expire at the end of next year.
Roll-Over Status Nights / Points
An interesting new feature is the announcement of a rollover of status nights and status points. In order to encourage some stays in the second half of this year, any status nights and points earned between July 1 and December 31 this year will be rolled over into next year. As such, you will get a head start on your status chase during 2022. It means that you will basically get an 18 month period in which to earn your status.
Suite Night Award extensions
If you are a Platinum or Diamond member, you may have been issues with Suite Night Awards. Accor will extend the validity of these through to the end of 2021.
Pause on Points Expiration
Finally, Accor has announced that they will be pausing points expiration. As it stands, they will not be expiring any points until 15 December 2020. I am not sure where that date came from, but it is good to see points expiration being paused.
Thoughts
It is good to see Accor take this extra step. While they had effectively given a six-month head start on status this year, it has become clear that the current situation is not going to clear up quickly, We will not be back to normal any time soon.
An interesting addition is the rollover of status points and nights into next year. This will basically give you eighteen months to achieve or renew your status next year.
Having said that, it is unclear if Accor Plus members will be receiving anything extra. At this point, they have been given a six-month extension. It remains to be seen if this will be made a full-year extension, or not.