Originally Posted by
macaron35
Frankly, I would say that if you are new to the program and if you think there is another chain that can fit your expectations and matching the locations you want to stay, go ahead. You're only silver, it's now or never. Don't wait to reach gold, you'll be disappointed and you seem to already be.
For the money you spend, you can definitely find another chain and get quickly a status. Hilton is currently offering a fast track.
Accor's CS is reknown to be a running gag. I have lived it from the inside and now from a customer point of view.
Personally, I would never suggest seeking out any loyalty program. Even if one program has good benefits today, they can change tomorrow, and the Accor program doesn't offer any great benefits that are worth becoming loyal for. If you're going to stay in a hotel, then sure, it makes sense to take advantage of whatever benefits their program offers. Where you can get yourself into trouble, is when you start making decisions about where to stay, because of a loyalty program (which of course is the goal of the program and what the operator wants), because it can lead to having a substandard experience, by choosing a property based on it's program affiliation instead, and skipping over better options in your chosen destination. Every hotel or airline status I have earned and lost over the years, were all accidental, not sought. My regular hotels today happen to be ALL hotels, so that's where my status is. If those properties were to change brands, then my status would shift too (and I really wish they would, so I would no longer have to deal with Accor and it's crappy service, frustrating systems and poor benefits), as I have no loyalty whatsoever to the program itself. If it's good service that you want, then just stay at a good hotel that offers good service, regardless of the brand affiliation. Then just make use of whatever benefits the associated loyalty program happens to have, for as long as you continue to stay with them.
I do the same with airlines. I once earned a status with AF, even though I held AC status. I was visiting a particular African destination that was best served AF, and they had a nice F product (they called it La Premiere at the time, I don't know if that still exists?). I earned a big whack of points flying round trip in F from North America to SE Africa, and picked up a status along the way. But I still haven't set foot on a SkyTeam airline since, because I choose the best provider for the trip I want, rather than choosing a trip based on the providers and their programs. I like to keep a free agent mindset.