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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 May 12, 2021, 3:36 pm
  #331  
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Programs: A3 Gold, Le Club Gold
Posts: 210
To start with, you probably didn't pay a "Best Price Guaranteed" rate. To use the BPG scheme, you need to book a hotel via one of the approved channels first, then find a cheaper offer on a third-party website and submit your request. Not the other way round.
Also, the BPG rate should be 10% or 25% cheaper than the third-party booking.

In principle, if you booked your stay directly with the hotel, you should get the points and the benefits.
But perhaps they used an usual rate that is not eligible for points (without informing you properly).

I'd ask the hotel to explain what rate was used for your new booking and then try to reason/argue with them (again) so that you get your points.
testman is offline  
Old May 12, 2021, 3:52 pm
  #332  
 
Join Date: May 2021
Posts: 2
Originally Posted by testman
To start with, you probably didn't pay a "Best Price Guaranteed" rate. To use the BPG scheme, you need to book a hotel via one of the approved channels first, then find a cheaper offer on a third-party website and submit your request. Not the other way round.
Also, the BPG rate should be 10% or 25% cheaper than the third-party booking.

In principle, if you booked your stay directly with the hotel, you should get the points and the benefits.
But perhaps they used an usual rate that is not eligible for points (without informing you properly).

I'd ask the hotel to explain what rate was used for your new booking and then try to reason/argue with them (again) so that you get your points.
100% agree with you! But when I go to my booking on Accor website, it’s says “BEST RATE GUARANTEE”… I don’t know what are the specs of this rate. I’ve asked more details by email to the hotel and expecting their feedback. Will let you know! If anyone recently had this BEST RATE GUARANTEE I would be curious to know what’s the specs.
Faks is offline  
Old May 13, 2021, 11:10 am
  #333  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: C2, BTS, VIE
Programs: A3 *G, AA Exec Plat Pro, Accor Silver, IHG Plat, HH Diamond, PP
Posts: 321
Originally Posted by testman
To start with, you probably didn't pay a "Best Price Guaranteed" rate. To use the BPG scheme, you need to book a hotel via one of the approved channels first, then find a cheaper offer on a third-party website and submit your request. Not the other way round.
Also, the BPG rate should be 10% or 25% cheaper than the third-party booking.
Actually, It happens to me often, that I email the hotel directly (preferably the GM or upper management), send them the link for the 3rd party, politely ask for a match and actually get a match + 25% discount.
It does not work always, but more than often it does. I mention in the email, that I prefer to contact the hotel directly regarding a BPG and I had the feeling that hotels are often glad that I do... Maybe because they get come reprehension from Accor HQ when a BPG is actually confirmed?
matio_svk is offline  
Old May 20, 2021, 4:50 am
  #334  
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 180
Tried to get a Sofitel to match an expedia quote directly - but they referred me to the Best Price Guarantee on their website. My concern is - the rate I am looking for is non-refundanble (and cheaper on Expedia). If I book directly via Accor - and then the claim is rejected - am I stuck with a higher rate booking or will they allow me to cancel?
unknown786 is offline  
Old Jun 17, 2021, 12:22 am
  #335  
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 170
ALL / Best Price Guarantee / Experience / Poor customer service / Platinum customer.

After booking a 10 night stay on the ALL app, I went by curiosity to see some reviews of the hotel and some pictures of the hotel on the internet. I realized at that moment that the hotel reservation was much cheaper on "Hotels.com" with the same conditions.
So I submitted a complaint within 24 hours via the Best Price Guarantee form. The next day I received an email from ALL Customer service telling me :

Thank you for contacting ALL - Accor Live Limitless customer service.
I hope you are doing well.
I have checked your screenshots and can say that your Best Price Guarantee claim may be valid.
Just to be on the safe side, I will pass it on to the hotel who will deal with your request and get back to us with a final answer.
I will get back to you as soon as possible.
For any other request, I am at your disposal.
Accor thanks you for your preference and your confidence in our services.
I wish you a good day.


After 6 days, I sent back an email to Accor Live Limitless customer service, indicating that the hotel is currently closed and that I have noted that according to article 5 of the general conditions a return will be made within 7 days.

Still not having any answer, I decide to call Accor Live Limitless customer service - I was informed that the waiting time was 18 minutes. I had to wait for 1 hour and 22 minutes before to get someone on the line. He found my request and told me that he will inform his supervisor and that he would get back to me within the day.

The next day, still no answer from ALL. I decided to call again Accor Live Limitless customer service. The customer service tells me
- He doesn't understand why I still haven't received a return.
- He cannot process this type of request at his level.
- My request is being processed by his supervisor, but he cannot commit to a return date.

For his information, I remind him that according to the general conditions, a return within 7 days is foreseen (article 5).

This experience clearly shows that ALL delays returns on guaranteed price requests, most likely to discourage people.
The poor quality of customer service which cannot handle these requests.
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Slc2012 is offline  
Old Jun 17, 2021, 10:20 am
  #336  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: YYC
Programs: AC SE
Posts: 2,342
Unfortunate experience, but it sounds similar with how Accor handles the Suite Night program: Publish a benefit that sounds good (Best Price Guarantee sounds great), but put in so many terms and conditions to make it practically useless. Make it difficult to talk to an actual person, and then remove all authority from your frontline customer service staff so the request goes into a black hole. Infuriating as a customer, but it seems to be the Accor way.
gcashin is offline  
Old Jun 18, 2021, 1:01 am
  #337  
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 170
BPG approved

Originally Posted by Slc2012
ALL / Best Price Guarantee / Experience / Poor customer service / Platinum customer.

After booking a 10 night stay on the ALL app, I went by curiosity to see some reviews of the hotel and some pictures of the hotel on the internet. I realized at that moment that the hotel reservation was much cheaper on "Hotels.com" with the same conditions.
So I submitted a complaint within 24 hours via the Best Price Guarantee form. The next day I received an email from ALL Customer service telling me :

Thank you for contacting ALL - Accor Live Limitless customer service.
I hope you are doing well.
I have checked your screenshots and can say that your Best Price Guarantee claim may be valid.
Just to be on the safe side, I will pass it on to the hotel who will deal with your request and get back to us with a final answer.
I will get back to you as soon as possible.
For any other request, I am at your disposal.
Accor thanks you for your preference and your confidence in our services.
I wish you a good day.


After 6 days, I sent back an email to Accor Live Limitless customer service, indicating that the hotel is currently closed and that I have noted that according to article 5 of the general conditions a return will be made within 7 days.

Still not having any answer, I decide to call Accor Live Limitless customer service - I was informed that the waiting time was 18 minutes. I had to wait for 1 hour and 22 minutes before to get someone on the line. He found my request and told me that he will inform his supervisor and that he would get back to me within the day.

The next day, still no answer from ALL. I decided to call again Accor Live Limitless customer service. The customer service tells me
- He doesn't understand why I still haven't received a return.
- He cannot process this type of request at his level.
- My request is being processed by his supervisor, but he cannot commit to a return date.

For his information, I remind him that according to the general conditions, a return within 7 days is foreseen (article 5).

This experience clearly shows that ALL delays returns on guaranteed price requests, most likely to discourage people.
The poor quality of customer service which cannot handle these requests.
After 10 days, I finally received the approval from the hotel. It's a shame to wait to much time. It's doesn't help to keep a positive image of the ALL program.
Have a nice day.
Slc2012 is offline  
Old Jun 21, 2021, 4:41 am
  #338  
 
Join Date: Jun 2021
Posts: 4
Accor's best price guarantee

Hi Guys,

I just want to share something with you..
I live in indonesia, there is some accor properties here.. what i dont understand is why accor hotels in indonesia give a very2 nice rate to local travel agents.. sometimes even half the rate that i got from app and a call directly to the hotel. They cant give me a same rate as they give to local TA. I told the hotel already whats the benefit of accor member if they cant get the best rate, they seems dont care about it.. and its not just one accor hotel, many of them do like that..
I do understand maybe because of the pandemic.. but at least give the ALL member same rate.. thats what i thought..
Is accors best price guaranteed is not guaranteed anymore ? can I claim it ?

Has anyone else expericence same thing ?
hotel_user likes this.
johnwick is online now  
Old Jun 29, 2021, 4:55 am
  #339  
 
Join Date: May 2018
Programs: Flying Blue, BAEC, VAFC, IHG Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond
Posts: 389
Can anyone with a bit of experience of price matches let me know what to expect, please?

I've booked an Ibis Styles via ALL, but I know it's cheaper via hotels.com under identical conditions.

I've submitted the form and the screenshot (on Friday), but I've heard nothing back as yet, not even acknowledgement of a claim.

Do I just sit tight and wait. Will they email me to say if the claim is being honoured? Do they usually turn it round in a week?
DeeGee26.2 is offline  
Old Sep 14, 2021, 5:04 am
  #340  
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: SYD
Programs: QF Platinum (LTG), OW Emerald, Accor Platinum; Hyatt Explorist.
Posts: 2,165
Question Best Rate Guarantee Question

I've been successful in a BRG claim with Accor. Am I still able to pay with points the new lower rate at checkout or maybe even call Accor and see if they can deduct the points to reduce the new rate further prior to my stay?
Thanks.
Cedar Jet is offline  
Old Dec 19, 2021, 2:52 am
  #341  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: AMS
Posts: 579
Does Accor reply to BPG requests these days? I've submitted 3 of them in the last few months yet to receive a single response.
maxvor is offline  
Old Dec 19, 2021, 9:29 pm
  #342  
 
Join Date: May 1998
Location: australia
Posts: 5,762
Originally Posted by Cedar Jet
I've been successful in a BRG claim with Accor.
Originally Posted by maxvor
Does Accor reply to BPG requests these days? I've submitted 3 of them in the last few months yet to receive a single response.
Cedar Jet has already gotten the one available BRG claim this year. Try submitting a claim at 1 minute past midnight on Jan 1 - you might get lucky
maxvor likes this.
3544quebec is offline  
Old Jan 12, 2022, 3:35 pm
  #343  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: MEL
Programs: KL Plat, Accor Diamond, Hilton Gold, Marriot Gold – ex-UA 1k, ex-AA Plat, ex-QF Gold, ex IHG P
Posts: 144
Just got a BPG guarantee claim approved, against hotels.com and a Pullman property.

It took couple of days before the claim submission, and someone from Accor reaching out. Interestingly, there are no claim submission acknowledgment when submitting the claim. It also took couple of back and forth, as Customer Service seems defensive with these claims.

Beware that you do need so see a system time on one of these screenshots you are submitting. I had a stock of screenshots, and I could not upload them all at once during the submission so my claim was initially rejected. Upon submitting all of them in the email thread, it was approved. However, I was given a price match and a 10% discount on the daily hotel rate, but it was supposed to be 25% per their T&C. I will follow up on that.

There was no reissue of the hotel confirmation.
remymartin and TravelinSperry like this.
gdoubleu is offline  
Old Jan 16, 2022, 7:10 pm
  #344  
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: WAW
Programs: FB plat, M&M FT
Posts: 140
hi guys,

wish I read this thread before finding out myself the BPG is useless. Booked a hotel, found it considerably cheaper on booking.com app, took a screenshot, sent it. Got an answer 24 hours later (should I consider myself lucky?) saying that there is no date on the screenshot saying when it was taken. I'll just cancel the booking, but honestly, this just very efficiently (double) destroyed the trust I had in accor.
TravelinSperry likes this.
Dominikkk is offline  
Old Feb 17, 2022, 2:21 pm
  #345  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: BR
Programs: TudoAzul Diamante, Smiles Diamante, Latam Gold
Posts: 102
Originally Posted by Cedar Jet
I've been successful in a BRG claim with Accor. Am I still able to pay with points the new lower rate at checkout or maybe even call Accor and see if they can deduct the points to reduce the new rate further prior to my stay?
Thanks.
From my experience, everytime I had to pay for the stay at check-in I was able to do so redeeming ALL points, even if the reservation was made on a promotional price that did not accepted points as a payment method online. Plus, you are able to pay in blocks of 1.000 points instead of 2.000 points. So, I think you won't get any resistance from the hotel if you wish to pay with points.

I have a doubt if the BPG would be honored if I prepay for the stay with points+money. Anyone know the answer for this?
psbaj is offline  


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