Not really.

1.) I don't regard Accor's claim to be "adding new benefits" as an example of clear communication. Accor could simply have written to CdA members and announced the change to the Le Club status they would enjoy in future. No one with a serious interest in Accor would have been surprised or upset.

2.) Three months' notice isn't really "ahead of time" for announcing changes to qualification requirements over a twelve month period.

I'm with most people here in not objecting to the core change at all. Free or easy Platinum cards dilute the status. But there should be some kind of transitional arrangement for CdA Platinum members in good standing.

One (easy) option would be to simply delay the downgrading to Gold for a year for those already in the CdA as at 1 March this year. Another would be to lower CdA members' Platinum target for 2015 by 30 nights and 10,000 points (i.e. the 'value' of the new CdA Gold status). That would be fair to CdA members with a reasonable track record of spending money with Accor and incentivise some of those who have been 'coasting'.

Do we have anyone's ear at Accor these days?