I must admit that apart from the initial automatic points posting problems I have had a very good experience with A-Club and Accor in general. Customer service is always excellent and I'm only Gold (nearly Platinum).
50% automatic upgrade and 50% on request in over 30 stays at Sofitel, Novotel and Mercure worldwide. Also drinks vouchers on arrival.
Even when I had to send invoices via the website points were always posted between 3-24hrs.
The wife and I are off to Australia for 4 weeks next Month and it will be Accor all the way!
As said in a post earlier (different thread) I'm very happy with the choice of hotels within the Accor chain, and feel you get great value for money.
A-Club is a bit of a mixed bag though. When trying to book through A-Club.com for some reason you never get a price indication until you have actually chosen the hotel you want to check in detail. Points doesn't really give you anything other than hotel vouchers when you reach a certain number of nights. I would prefer to get special perks instead.
Going back to the A-club.com web site (not very structured post I'm afraid), the options of prices never include the special rates you find on the chains individual hotels (i.e. Novotel, Mercure etc) which I find annoying, if not close to trying to rip members off.
Programs: AAdvantage Platinum; UA 1K; Marriott Platinum; Hilton Gold / Premium Club
Posts: 286
Sofitel Brisbane not part of A-Club??
This is crazy -- Sofitel Brisbane is not part of the A-Club program? I never knew hotels could choose to be part of a chain's loyalty program. Very poor showing for a brand like Sofitel! Here is an email from the hotel and my response to the regional GM/Hotel
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Many thanks for your reply. I do find it extremely odd that a property that is part of a chain as prestigious as Sofitel would choose not to be part of that global brand's loyalty program. I have never seen an example of this across hundreds of nights and multiple luxury hotel chains. In addition, the A-Club exceptions listing http://www.a-club.com/en/hotels_exceptions.pdf only mentions a few Ibis hotels in China and 4 residence properties in France. You must be the only Sofitel in the world to not participate in A-Club, which Markland I find amazing you even allow.
Sorry, but this makes your luxury property just look cheap and dampers the concept of building a contiguous recognized stay experience across the Sofitel network. I can understanding picking and choosing various service delivery options within your hotel -- but the fact Accor allows you to decline participation in their global loyalty program is quite disturbing.
Regards,
On Nov 4, 2009, at 1:52 PM, Sofitel Brisbane Central wrote:
Bonjour
Thank you for your email. I have noted your early arrival on your reservation - please note that early check ins are not guaranteed and are subject to room availability.
The Sofitel Brisbane Central does not participate in the A-Club program. If you wish to accrue points for your stay you will need to show a Frequent Flyer card.
Location: Seat 1A, Juice pretty much everywhere, Mucci des Coins Exotiques
Posts: 14,932
Quote:
Originally Posted by GlobalSTL
This is crazy -- Sofitel Brisbane is not part of the A-Club program? I never knew hotels could choose to be part of a chain's loyalty program. Very poor showing for a brand like Sofitel! Here is an email from the hotel and my response to the regional GM/Hotel
Uh, don't all hotel chains have this? Starwood certainly does, like the Lanesborough in London. And Hilton either does, or used to, have special rules for hotels like the Waldorf. It's up to negotiations between the owner of the hotel and the chain as to how they will participate.
Location: Newcastle, NSW, Australia: QF WP/OW Emerald, A Club Platinum, HHonours Gold. Travelling from the East to the West in search of that which was lost...
Posts: 1,246
I also made this discovery re: Brisbane when I checked in there last month for the first time since A-Club was launched.
I won't be back - the Hilton & Conrad will get my business from now on.
As I have discovered, there are several hotels in Australia that are non-participating. I know of the Novotel Melbourne On Collins and the Novotel Brighton in Sydney that are non-participating.
It would be good if there list of non-participating properties was complete. Why bother having such a list if you aren't going to publish a complete list.
Pfff... getting fed up with them. Trying to get my Triple Boints bonus on my stay in Fiji now for three months, still not in my account after numberous calls and e-mails. Blablabla we have a backlog, apologies, can't guarantee you anything.
Speaking about quite a large chunk of points here (25K), so that's why I want those points asap.
Location: Newcastle, NSW, Australia: QF WP/OW Emerald, A Club Platinum, HHonours Gold. Travelling from the East to the West in search of that which was lost...
Posts: 1,246
Bypass the central A-Club droids and deliver an email fisting to the hotel directly - has worked for me every time.
