Originally Posted by
margarita girl
I will also give up on Fairmont after this year. I'll keep the memories of many fantastic stays, staff and hotels. I have one more amazing stay to come where I have been pre-upgraded to a penthouse suite on a BRG rate. Fairmont always came through for me when it mattered, and I offered my loyalty in return.
I have no interest whatsoever in the Accor program. I have limited experience but the few times I tried to use them, NO ONE answered the phone lines and I was unable to apply my points to room rates because they were on sale. And I had Platinum status thanks to my Amex Plat card. No thanks.
This pretty much mirrors our plans. My wife has a few more nights this year to Platinum but I don't think we're going to bother. I already have my Platinum for next year so we'll go out in a blaze of glory with the certificates we have left plus the new ones I'll get for next year.
We also had Platinum status with Accor as a result of Amex Platinum and had a few stays in Asia under that program. The benefits for Platinum were, to put it mildly, underwhelming and, no, we were not afforded the upgrades at check-in notwithstanding what appeared to be availability per the hotels' websites.
On the upside, we're hoping to utilize our personal relationships with various VIP Concierges at some of the properties to attempt to secure what we have come to know as "guaranteed" suite upgrades. We are definitely not interested in being subjected to some front desk person's discretion as to whether to hand out upgrades at check-in. That's just not going to work for us.
There's one Accor fan posting here that lost me with the anecdotal stories about how Fairmont suites "are not that great". My one BR suites overlooking the Bow River at the Banff Springs, my Riviera Suite overlooking the Mediterranean and the harbour in Monte Carlo, and my1 BR suite overlooking Lake Geneva in Montreux, as only a few examples, say differently. Some seem to be happier with lower standards. We are not among them.
RIP FPC
