Accor Plus is a paid subscription program from Accor. Complementing the Accor Live Limitless program, it offers a range of money-saving discounts. The discounts on offer revolve around accommodation and dining discounts at Accor Hotels in Australia and other countries across Asia Pacific.
The program unlocks a range of money saving benefits when travelling around the Asia Pacific region. And because Accor is one of the largest hotel operators in the region, there are many opportunities to take advantage of the offers.
The key Accor Plus membership benefits include:
- an annual complimentary hotel night. This in itself could help pay the annual membership fee. (Not included with Accor Plus traveller)
- an ongoing 10% discount on accommodation.
- up to 50% discount on room rates through the ‘red hot deals’ offer.
- up to 50% savings when dining out at participating Accor restaurants.
- a bonus of 20 Status nights each year. This gives you immediate Silver status and puts you on the fast track to Gold or Platinum ALL status.
All up, the savings available could easily cover the cost of your annual membership.
A Brief History
In 1994, Accor launched the Accor Advantage Plus program, initially supporting hotels in Australia. Since then it has evolved into a program spanning 11 countries in Asia Pacific.
In 2008, following the launch of Le Club AccorHotels (or at the time A|Club), it began to link into the program. Deeper integration followed, with the AccorPlus now largely merged into the Accor Live Limitless program. The two programs now operate with the same card and account number. This allows members to take advantage of both programs.
Program Basics
Accor Plus is a paid membership scheme providing a range of benefits across a range of AccorHotels. As AccorHotels expands across Asia Pacific, so does the range of hotels where you can take advantage of the benefits.
With the expansion of AccorHotels, the program offers benefits at the following chains:
- Fairmont,
- Sofitel Legend,
- SO Sofitel,
- Sofitel,
- MGallery by Sofitel,
- Pullman,
- Swissotel,
- Grand Mercure,
- Quay West,
- The Sebel,
- Novotel,
- Mercure,
- ibis, and
- ibis Styles
- Banyan Tree
- Cassia
- Angsana
The benefits are mostly around dining and accommodation at participating locations. Some hotels do not participate in specific parts of the program. In particular, the complimentary room night is not available at some of the new brands.
It operates alongside the Accor Live Limitless loyalty program, with the latter providing points and status benefits. For example, these include free Internet Access, welcome drinks, or Executive Lounge access for elite members.
There are three levels within the program, as shown in the following table.
| Membership Type | Standard Price |
|---|---|
| Traveller | $249 |
| Explorer | $399 |
| Discovery | $498 |
The Traveller level gets you all the ‘universal benefits’ of the Accor Plus program. These include
- Ongoing 10% discount on room rates
- Access to Red Hot Rooms (up to 50% discount)
- Up to 50% off meals
- 15% off drink bills in Asia
- 20 bonus Status Nights per year
If you opt for the Explorer level, you get all of the above, plus one complimentary room night per year. The Discovery level adds additional Cruise, Tour and Wine offers.
Countries covered by an Accor Plus membership
The Accor Plus membership covers what is generally called Asia Pacific. This specifically covers Australia, Cambodia, China, Fiji, French Polynesia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Accor Plus benefits
Complimentary Room Night (Explorer Level)
The big selling point of Accor Plus us that it comes with a free overnight stay each year their choice of selected Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Grand Mercure, Novotel, Mercure, Ibis and Ibis Styles properties. Depending on the property, this can go a substantial way toward paying for the membership fee. Note that the holder of the supplementary card does not get this particular benefit.
Accommodation Discounts
Ongoing 10% discount
The program offers a 10% discount off the Best Available Rate at any participating Accor hotel on paid stays. There is generally a reasonable availability of these nights. In addition, when sales are on, Accor Plus members often receive an additional discount on the sale rates.
Red Hot Rooms
Red Hot Rooms is a feature that offers up to 50% discount off rooms at selected hotels. This is an awesome offer and is the one that provides me with the greatest benefit.
Red Hot Rooms are usually released on Fridays. In many cases, they offer discounted rooms over the next two or three weeks, As such, this is a great offer if you need to book last minute.
As examples, I have recently found Novotel properties offering room rates of under $100 a night. However, you can find discounts across the full range of brands, including Sofitel, Pullman, and Ibis.
Dining Discounts
The program also offers discounted dining at Accor Hotels. While you do not need to be staying in-house at the hotel, you do need to present your card at the time of dining. While the discount covers the food portion, in Australia it does not extend to beverages. In Asia, beverages are discounted by 15%.
The discount is based on a sliding scale. A solo traveller gets a 25% discount, a couple gets 50% off, while a trio will get a 33% discount. Once the group gets to four or more diners, the discount offered is 25%.
On the downside, the discount does have some blackout dates and is not available on days such as Christmas Day or Mothers Day.
Experiences
Members are also eligible to attend members-only events. These events cover a wide range of experiences and include such things as dining with winemakers, swimming with dolphins or cooking with celebrity chefs. These are typically packages that include accommodation and other inclusions and are organised in various cities.
Accor Live Limitless Status
Accor Plus members are granted a bonus of 20 Status nights per year, which are paid into your account after your annual renewal. This gives you an immediate boost to at least Silver status, and puts you on the fast track to Gold, or even Platinum status.
Even better, if you do manage to achieve Gold, or Platinum, you could hold onto that level for longer than you would if you were not a member.
The reason for this is that Accor Plus follows a modified way of determining status for Accor Plus members. In the case of you standard ALL – Accor Live Limitless program, status is determined based on calendar years. So any downgrade occurs on December 31. Furthermore, you are only assessed based on the year that has just passed.
However, Accor Plus status is maintained until your membership renewal. When you renew, they will look at two timeframes:
- What status you have achieved in the current calendar year
- What status you achieved in the previous calendar year,
This opens up an interesting opportunity for those that have an Accor Plus anniversary late in the year. They may only need to qualify for a higher status level every second year.
You can find further information about the program on the dedicated website.
[Updated for change to grant 20 Status Nights per year]