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Old Jul 18, 2023, 2:25 pm
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Last edit by: gdoubleu
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Last Revision Date: November 29th 2023

Updates
  • 202404 Update: Accor Customer Care seems to process BPG claims switfly, usually within 24 hours!
  • 20231129 Update: The BPG form now has a checklist for your to ensure you have cross checked information.
  • 20231110 Update:
    - Looks like Accor Customer Service has rolled out a more "hands off" posture to making sure BPG's (when approved) are reflected. The language is now like: "The BPG was approved, the follow up with the hotel, contact..."
    - Properties in Macau are not part of the BPG program anymore


Introduction
Welcome to Accor's Best Price Guarantee ("BPG") policy, one of the industry's most generous price matching and discount policies!

I have had dozens of Accor bookings price-matched successfully across many brands, and of course a few of them being denied. I wanted to write about my experience as it could be quite frustrating and time consuming to get it right, read on!


What is the Accor BPG?
The Accor BPG allows you:
- to have your Accor.com rate price matched after sighting of a cheaper rate on a third-party website
- AND to receive either a 10 or 25% discount on the third-party rate (see Discount Rate)
All of that under certain conditions.

You can read the full Accor BPG terms in English at: https://all.accor.com/information/be...tions.en.shtml


Brands Eligible for the BPG

Per Article 2 of the BPG:
"The hotels covered by “Best Price Guarantee” are as follows:

All hotels in the Accor Group (Fairmont, Raffles, Swissôtel, Sofitel, So Sofitel, Sofitel Legend, Pullman, MGallery, Mövenpick, Grand Mercure, The Sebel, Novotel, Novotel Suites, Mercure, Adagio, Adagio Access, Jo&Joe, Ibis, Ibis Styles, Ibis budget, HotelF1, hôtels Orbis, 21C Museum Hotel, Orient Express), and hotels of certain partners (i.e. Mama Shelter, Hypark by Adagio)"

The following are not eligible for "Best Price Guarantee": 25Hours, Angsana, ArtSeries, BanyanTree, BreakFree, Cassia, Delano, Dhawa, Elan, Greet, Hanting, Hi inn, Hyde, Ji, Mantis, Mantra, Manxin, Mondrian, Onefinestay, PepperS, Rixos, Sbe, SLS, Starway, The House Of Originals, Tribe.

“Best Price Guarantee” does not apply to hotels in the Macao special administrative region."

Note that Banyan Tree maintains its own 20% price matching guarantee that's available at https://www.banyantree.com/best-price-guarantee
Learn more on the Banyan Tree Price matching at Banyan Tree Best Price Guarantee


Discount Rate
The discount rate is 25% for all properties included in the Brand Eligibible, except for Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel, which attract a 10% discount.


Data Points: third-Party Sites known to work for the BPG

I had claims approved for the following sites:

BPG 101

For your BPG claim to be accepted, the BPG Article 1.1 states that matched property on the third-party site needs to be "for the same hotel, for the same date(s), the same length of stay, at the same rate conditions (i.e. refundable or non-refundable, prepayment and deposit requirements, room only or with breakfast included, booking cancellation and change condition), the same type of room (identical category, size, beds, view or location) and the same number of people in the room"

Accor's Customer Service pays great attention to the conditions attached to your third-party booking, down the to the actual time (not just only the date) of the cancellation policy (e.g.: your claim may not be approved if the cancellation policy says September 28th, 18:00 on Accor.com and September 28th, 17:59 on the third-party website). Occupancy is also often overlooked. Even if for some region, the occupancy on your booking does not impact the room pricing, the occupancy needs to match, in writing, between your Accor.com booking and your third-party price.


BPG Process

To lodge a claim, you need to submit screenshots of a third-party booking site, that has the same room for the same dates (and other conditions, see BPG 101), at a lower price. These screenshots will need to who clearly the URL of the third-party site, as well as the time when they were taken. There is a 24-hour grace period between your Accor.com booking and the sighting of the cheaper rate on the third-party website.

Once submitted, your claim has a claim number (which is just a Customer Service ticket number), which you receive by email. Accor Customer Service then follows up to let you know of the status of your claim. There is no guaranteed time as to when Customer Service is due to get back to you.

If your claim is approved, Customer Service generally lets you know. They inform you they have requested the price-matched property to update your booking rate. Once the property does that, you receive an email with the subject: "Modification of your reservation <Name of Property> <Booking ID>" with the details of the new rate.

The application of the new rate usually follows the following rules:
  • The discount (either 10 or 25%, see Discount Rate) is applied on the "naked room rate", that is the rate free of government taxes, resort fee, "taxe de sejour", etc... Taxes are then applied on the discounted rate per the tax requirements in each country/region/location.
  • After applying the discount on your booking rate, the Property usually linearize the rate over the days on your booking so that the same rate will apply to all the nights in your stay even if the rate fluctuated in your original booking.


Q&A
  • Can I use the BPG if I have an Accor traveler card (e.g.: ALL PLUS Voyageur)? The BPG applies to ALL PLUS Voyageur Card holders, provided the third-party rate complies with the BPG requirements (See BPG 101). Given the discounts you may already benefit from with ALL PLUS, the chance of finding a third-party rate is slimmer, but not nonexistent. It may make economic sense to submit a BPG claim using "just" the Accor member rate.
  • Until when can I submit a BPG Claim? Per Article 4.2, "requests must be submitted within 24 hours following confirmation of the Eligible Booking [Accor.com booking] and no later than 48 hours before the planned arrival at the hotel.". "48 hours" here means that you can lodge a claim until 23:59 two days before your check-in date.
  • What happens if my BPG Claim is not processed prior to my stay starting? Should you have lodged on time and your BPG came to be approved after your stay has started, Customer Service will be in touch to organize a refund via the Property where you stayed (and paid full price)
  • What can I do if my claim is not answered within 2 weeks? You can:
    • Resubmit the same claim mentioning the Claim # of the original claim with the original documents
    • Send an email to [email protected] or [email protected] – they will sometimes create a new claim on your behalf or influence the original one
    • Send an email to [email protected] – Since 2023, these are the folks that Customer Service escalates claims to
  • I can't lodge a BPG Claim, my browser show a red banner when I submit one, what should I do? Lodge your BPG again in an Incognito or private browser window, that will fix it.
  • What if my claim isn't responded to by the time I check out? This is last resort, but I advise you lodge a chargeback with your credit card company. I had success doing that.


Beware: Accor Customer Service
I encountered countless time when Customer Service was negligent when process BPG claims:
- Rates from the third-party website are misread ("naked room rate" vs total amount, currency...)
- Customer Service tends to apply a blanket 10% discount on bookings (ignoring that most brands attract a 25% discount)

Some other times, the property would play some tactics:
- I had one property tell me that I could have booked a cheaper rate on Accor.com (but that was still higher than the third-party rate), effectively reneging the application of the BPG Claim (I did not push further).
- I had one property crediting a rate difference post-checkout via Accor points.



Tips & Tricks
  • If a claim has not been answered promptly (within 7 days), Accor Customer Service sometimes issues 2,000 Reward points. I keep asking every time this happens, and this is not always granted, but you can try.
  • If you have an Accor Traveler Card (e.g.: ALL PLUS Voyageur), to increase your chances of finding a lower rate, you can book the regular Accor member rate on Accor.com by signing out from your Accor account on the room selection page. The booking will still be attached to your Accor.com account (same email) AND you will receive the benefits attached to your status.
  • For your screenshots, make sure that a time shows. I always make sure that time shows in the menu bar of my OS, along with the timezone.
  • Using Skyscanner.com has greatly reduced the time for me to do searches.
  • I was able to get a BPG claim approved for a rate showing as "Complimentary Breakfast on Weekends" which is provided by the Accor status, but could be ground for rejection.


BPG Claim Sweet Spots
There are several brand sweet spots for BPG claim should you want to optimize, they all receive a 25% discount over your third-party sighting:
  • Sofitel
  • So Sofitel
  • Pullman


Common Pitfalls
I am able to reach a 95% success rate with my BPG, and this is my checklist:
  • Room type: are the room types strictly equivalent? Beware of the small variation in room type names (like street view, vs park view). Twin beds room or King bed room are two different types in the eyes of the BPG
  • Room rate: the room rate, that is the price of your booking exclusive of any government/local/resort taxes needs is what gets compared for the claim. Accor sometimes calculates taxes differently from third-parties (go figure!) and third-parties are also sometimes not including some taxes into the displayed price.
  • Occupancy: when you make a booking on Accor.com, you specify an occupancy (i.e.: the number of people who will stay in the room). That occupancy needs to show the same amount of adults on the third-party sighting.
  • Booking currency: make sure you are comparing stays with the same currencies. I submitted USD vs AUD (Australia Dollar) claims by mistake, leading to rejection.
  • Cancellation Policy Penalty: for when you compare cancellable bookings, the Accor BPG will apply all the way to the penalty. If Accor.com says the penalty for cancelling after a certain day/time is 1 night, the 3rd-party needs to have the same penalty.


Things I have not tried
  • Submitting a BPG for a Suite Night ("SN") booking


Banyan Tree Best Price Guarantee
Banyan Tree properties is not included into Accor's Best Price Guarantee, that means you cannot submit a claim for a BPG from Accor.com, following you booking a Banyan Tree property on accor.com. That being said, Banyan Tree has its own BPG for when you book on banyantree.com. There are few caveats though:
  • Banyan Tree BPG policy starts as soon as you find a lower rate (same room, same cancellation policy...). That means findings a rate that's lower by just $1 (or the local currency equivalent) will trigger the policy
  • Banyan Tree, when applying the policy, will shave off 20% off your rate, but will wave all Accor benefits should you be in an Accor tier. They may or may not let you know. You will also not be allows to earn/burn points from when the policy is applied.
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Accor/ ALL: experiences with best price guarantee

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Old Jan 22, 2023, 10:14 am
  #361  
Accor Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Saint Brieuc
Programs: HHonors, Accorhotel Platinium, Nordic Choice Platinium
Posts: 967
Originally Posted by VikingOnTheRoad
Contacting the hotel directly works sometimes. But...
This rate is not bookable without creating an account I think. And that is stated in the T&C, it should be a public rate, without member or new subscriber reductions
The rate on Trip.com is bookable without creating any account
nrouxel is offline  
Old Jan 22, 2023, 10:39 am
  #362  
 
Join Date: Jul 2022
Posts: 22
Originally Posted by nrouxel
The rate on Trip.com is bookable without creating any account
Then they have to honour it. Best to mail the hotel
VikingOnTheRoad is offline  
Old Jan 27, 2023, 5:51 pm
  #363  
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: BRU
Programs: A3 *G & FB G
Posts: 640
New to Accor, moved from Hilton & Marriott to Accor and got disappointed quickly. I Tried BPG for the first time and got denied because there was no timestamp visible on my screenshot. The better rate is still widely available but they hide behind this timestamp rule..
unusualtravelblog is offline  
Old Feb 15, 2023, 4:56 am
  #364  
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Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Saint Brieuc
Programs: HHonors, Accorhotel Platinium, Nordic Choice Platinium
Posts: 967
Originally Posted by nrouxel
I booked Pullman Brussels for 3 nights next february for 490,62€ (including local taxes). The same day I found a better rate on trip.com : 466,16€ (including local taxes)

I submited a BRG to Accor.
The first answer from CS was: "the Best Price Guarantee cannot apply as the rate found is a Special promotional offers giving rise to an additional discount"
The “BEST PRICE GUARANTEE” GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS says "Special promotional offers giving rise to an additional discount after booking confirmation" which is not the case.
So I wrote back to Accor's CS
The second answer was: "As indicated in the previous answer, we would like to point out that the base rate indicated on the screenshot of your screen is 501.84 Euros"
Nowhere in the T&C is there any reference to a "base rate", but only to "a lower public price and available for booking, this price being calculated in an identical manner, on the same basis as the total cost of the stay with the same inclusions (taxes, VAT, services)",
I will not give up and sent a third message back to Accor.
Maybe I should contact the hotel directly?
After many back and forth with customer service, my request was refused on the grounds that the price I found on Trip is a price with a "special discount" (which is not indicated anywhere in T&C), and my case has been closed
nrouxel is offline  
Old Feb 15, 2023, 12:48 pm
  #365  
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Join Date: May 2015
Location: RBA / TBS
Programs: AF Gold / Accor Gold / Hilton Diamond / TP Silver / A3 Gold
Posts: 2,751
Originally Posted by unusualtravelblog
New to Accor, moved from Hilton & Marriott to Accor and got disappointed quickly. ..
Cause of BPG only ?

Originally Posted by unusualtravelblog
I Tried BPG for the first time and got denied because there was no timestamp visible on my screenshot. The better rate is still widely available but they hide behind this timestamp rule..
Hilton also will be picky about BPG , got denied twice for stupid reasons , its an industry trend to motivate you to book directly from them and not from 3rd parties
gioannis13 likes this.
fifty_two is offline  
Old Feb 15, 2023, 1:21 pm
  #366  
 
Join Date: Sep 2020
Posts: 188
Accor wouldn't accept the details of the photo with date and time stamp, AWFUL.
sdm1985 is offline  
Old Feb 28, 2023, 2:01 am
  #367  
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Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Saint Brieuc
Programs: HHonors, Accorhotel Platinium, Nordic Choice Platinium
Posts: 967
Originally Posted by nrouxel
After many back and forth with customer service, my request was refused on the grounds that the price I found on Trip is a price with a "special discount" (which is not indicated anywhere in T&C), and my case has been closed
Although Accor's customer service refused my request for a guaranteed best price, the Pullman Brussels offered to apply this guarantee during our Checkout.
I'm very happy with this ending. the receptionist at the Pullman also did not understand why the claim had been denied by customer service.
nrouxel is offline  
Old Mar 8, 2023, 3:38 am
  #368  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: MEL
Programs: QF Gold, FB Plat, Accor Diamond, Hilton Gold, Marriot Gold – ex-UA 1k, ex-AA Plat, ex IHG Plat
Posts: 148
Having price matched dozens of bookings with Accor, I found the creativity (lack of training?) of certain Customer Service folks to be over the top. In the last instance, I submit a BPG claim using trip.com as a 3rd party, it has the same information as it usually does.

I am told: "The application we received [...] could not be processed, as according to the Terms and Conditions of this offer, there were some missing details for our investigation to take place.

For more information and future reference, please click here to find out more about the eligibility conditions related to this offer."

No detail on what's missing Oh and it took them 3 weeks to let me know!
kyushuman likes this.
gdoubleu is offline  
Old Mar 24, 2023, 8:32 am
  #369  
 
Join Date: Dec 2022
Posts: 17
I filed a BRG Claim for Sofitel in the Fijis and used super.com for my claim. After one week the claim was approved via email mentioning the new price after discount clearly, however the rate in my booking was not changed when I checked online. One more week later I got a sencond E-Mail denying my claim.

"Unfortunately, after a deeper investigation, we confirm that the Best Price Guarantee can not apply in so far as the website you used to compare (super.com) with the Accor website is not an online booking site."

I find it quite unprofessional to confirm the BRG first an then deny it one week later. Do I have to accept this?
Kapi04 is offline  
Old May 13, 2023, 9:02 am
  #370  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: YYZ
Posts: 380
trying Accor BRG first time and i can't submit my request. any other means of contacting them for a BRG request?
sxc234 is offline  
Old May 15, 2023, 4:57 am
  #371  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: MEL
Programs: QF Gold, FB Plat, Accor Diamond, Hilton Gold, Marriot Gold – ex-UA 1k, ex-AA Plat, ex IHG Plat
Posts: 148
Originally Posted by sxc234
trying Accor BRG first time and i can't submit my request. any other means of contacting them for a BRG request?
If the problem you have has to do with a red section appearing with no error message when you press the Submit button, you need to leave the page, clear your cache, and resubmit the claim.
sxc234 likes this.
gdoubleu is offline  
Old May 15, 2023, 5:40 am
  #372  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: YYZ
Posts: 380
Originally Posted by gdoubleu
If the problem you have has to do with a red section appearing with no error message when you press the Submit button, you need to leave the page, clear your cache, and resubmit the claim.
really? Wow - thanks for the tip!
sxc234 is offline  
Old Jul 18, 2023, 2:35 pm
  #373  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: MEL
Programs: QF Gold, FB Plat, Accor Diamond, Hilton Gold, Marriot Gold – ex-UA 1k, ex-AA Plat, ex IHG Plat
Posts: 148
I have just added a wiki post about the whole claim process, sweet spots, tips and more.

I can't find how to edit the post though 🤦‍♀️
gdoubleu is offline  
Old Jul 19, 2023, 9:29 am
  #374  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: HEL
Programs: SPG LTP, hotels, OWE, STE+, *G, Octopus
Posts: 5,788
Originally Posted by gdoubleu
I have just added a wiki post about the whole claim process, sweet spots, tips and more.

I can't find how to edit the post though 🤦‍♀️
There is an "Edit" icon below the wikipost preview.

Nice job with the post! Any chance you could share your success rate?
remymartin is offline  
Old Jul 20, 2023, 9:59 am
  #375  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: MEL
Programs: QF Gold, FB Plat, Accor Diamond, Hilton Gold, Marriot Gold – ex-UA 1k, ex-AA Plat, ex IHG Plat
Posts: 148
Originally Posted by remymartin
There is an "Edit" icon below the wikipost preview.

Nice job with the post! Any chance you could share your success rate?
This was not accessible to me, I had to have the Gods of FT intervene I could edit and I have a good first version of that WikiPost, hope you'll all like it. It's quite a hidden gem.
gdoubleu is offline  


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