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Accor/ ALL: experiences with best price guarantee

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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
  • 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 Oct 1, 2013, 11:47 am
  #76  
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Originally Posted by TravelinSperry
After my horrible experience with them I emailed the CEO directly. His email is [email protected].
Denis Hennequin is not anymore the CEO of Accor since April 2013, so it seems quite normal he did not respond
Goldorak is offline  
Old Oct 1, 2013, 4:05 pm
  #77  
 
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Originally Posted by Goldorak
Denis Hennequin is not anymore the CEO of Accor since April 2013, so it seems quite normal he did not respond
Hahaha! Well there you go!
TravelinSperry is offline  
Old Oct 1, 2013, 4:18 pm
  #78  
 
Join Date: May 1998
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Originally Posted by Goldorak
Denis Hennequin is not anymore the CEO of Accor since April 2013, so it seems quite normal he did not respond
Come on - continuing to answer emails is the least he could do for his no doubt not insubstantial pension
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Old Oct 1, 2013, 6:53 pm
  #79  
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Accor/ Le Club: experiences with best price guarantee

I've found another contract which I may try. The senior VP of Sales. Also in charge of the website..

Last edited by gilbertaue; Oct 6, 2013 at 6:25 pm
gilbertaue is offline  
Old Oct 4, 2013, 10:45 am
  #80  
 
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Originally Posted by gilbertaue
I've found another contract which I may try. Ms isabelle birem. She's the senior VP of Sales. Also in charge of the website.. She was up to early 2012 managing AF's flying blue... Hmmmmm
Don't bother contacting anyone. Accor clearly does all it can not to honor best rate guarantees. 20 days after I submitted my online best price guarantee (yes, you read correct, 20 days), I finally received a response declining my claim. Here's what they said:

"After study, it appears that your request does not meet one condition of the ‘Best Price Guarantee’. The rate that you have booked is a promotional rate (Le Club 20% off rate) which has no equivalent rate from any other website. As stated in the conditions, the rate booked should be equivalent with the rate found on another website. In this case, the conditions of the "Best Price Guarantee" cannot be applied."

I just can't get my head around this response. The rate is supposedly a good deal (by the mere fact that it's discounted 20% off their rate), however it isn't the lowest rate available. That I found on a competing third party website (getaroom.com). However, they will not honor the best price guarantee - because the 20% off rate isn't bookable at getaroom.com? Huh?!!?!? So, if I had booked their standard, albeit higher, best available rate, would they have honored it then? Are they then suggesting we all must book rack/best available rates via their website (and not the lowest one's we see) as only those are eligible?

With 20 days to respond and an answer like this, I'm not hopeful. It's clear they provide any feeble excuse to decline my claim.

I should've just booked direct with getaroom.com in the first place. Now I'm stuck with their higher rate (due to their 20 day delay, the 3rd party rate is gone).

One more upset customer Accor. Why run a program like this? What purpose does it serve you? Just shut it down. I was happy with Accor prior to this fiasco.
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Old Oct 6, 2013, 6:30 pm
  #81  
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Exclamation

TravelinSperry, you may have "had enough". But can I suggest that you get in touch with Nathan (Accor Concierge). I'm sure he will be able to help and he is keen to do so as well.

I can CONFIRM that my claim has come through. It took a bit of emailing, but it did come through.
I have also been assured that the long wait is NOT the norm and that they are working on improving that.

I can also confirm that Snr Management of Accor is reading and following the Le Club Accor thread. So voice it all out!
gilbertaue is offline  
Old Oct 7, 2013, 3:17 pm
  #82  
 
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You are being naive. Out of curiosity I have submitted these claims several times. Some replies came after 2 weeks, some after 3. All denied. Some claims received no response ever. I don't know a BRG run worse than Accor's.
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Old Oct 7, 2013, 6:18 pm
  #83  
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Accor/ Le Club: experiences with best price guarantee

I'd rather see it as being an optimist considering I've heard it straight from the source. Adding to that the recent positive changes to the loyalty programme I'm willing to give this a chance. I have several nights coming up and have told Accor Snr management that I will test the system.
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Old Oct 22, 2013, 8:29 pm
  #84  
 
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Fingers crossed

I gues I read this a little too late. I submitted a claim earlier today after finding a better rate on www.travelocity.ca. I also booked Accor's -20% rate which was their lowest available. If they don't honor their policy This might be my last stay with Accor and I spend at least 100 nights x year at hotels. This isn't how you make business. Ripping loyal guests? Wrong.
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Old Oct 29, 2013, 4:04 pm
  #85  
 
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It has now been a week since I submitted a BPG claim. Today I received a generic email from them telling me that they can't read the form (it's their online form) and that I need start over. Accor clearly doesn't care about its guests. Now I remember why I moved my business to SPG and Hyatt years ago. Accor's customer care is a joke!
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Old Oct 29, 2013, 4:20 pm
  #86  
 
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Originally Posted by Charlesatlarge
It has now been a week since I submitted a BPG claim. Today I received a generic email from them telling me that they can't read the form (it's their online form) and that I need start over. Accor clearly doesn't care about its guests. Now I remember why I moved my business to SPG and Hyatt years ago. Accor's customer care is a joke!
Clearly. Don't bother. Just don't bother. They have the most ridiculous best price guarantee people working for them in the industry. I'd fire the 100% of them if I was the CEO of Accor and start over.
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Old Oct 29, 2013, 11:21 pm
  #87  
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
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Originally Posted by TravelinSperry
Don't bother contacting anyone. Accor clearly does all it can not to honor best rate guarantees. 20 days after I submitted my online best price guarantee (yes, you read correct, 20 days), I finally received a response declining my claim. Here's what they said:

I just can't get my head around this response. The rate is supposedly a good deal (by the mere fact that it's discounted 20% off their rate), however it isn't the lowest rate available. That I found on a competing third party website (getaroom.com). However, they will not honor the best price guarantee - because the 20% off rate isn't bookable at getaroom.com? Huh?!!?!? So, if I had booked their standard, albeit higher, best available rate, would they have honored it then? Are they then suggesting we all must book rack/best available rates via their website (and not the lowest one's we see) as only those are eligible?

I should've just booked direct with getaroom.com in the first place. Now I'm stuck with their higher rate (due to their 20 day delay, the 3rd party rate is gone).

One more upset customer Accor. Why run a program like this? What purpose does it serve you? Just shut it down. I was happy with Accor prior to this fiasco.
Just to share with you. 2 years ago, I booked 1 month stay in one of Accor hotels. I saw a rate online that is 50% cheaper than the rate on Accor website (my rate was Adv+ which is AN Additional 10% discount). I sent an email to Adv+ and contacted the Accor Concierge (Dieu Anh) at that time, trying to get them to match my rate.

I did not even ask them to provide me with additional discount on top of the rate I found, but just to match the rate I found but I was decline. The GM of the property replied me and mentioned that they cannot match my rate and that it was IMPOSSIBLE for me to get that rate even though I showed him the printshot of my bookings and etc.

In the end, I booked with the website and the savings were substantial since my stay was 1 month. After I stayed in the property for 1 week, I like the place and so I decided to book another month.

Again, I asked the GM whether they can match my rate but I was declined the second time. Then I managed to find another website which is also 50% cheaper than Accor website.

Hahaha. See how they treat their customer with Elite status (since I have a Gold/Plat Adv+ Paid Membership)





Originally Posted by Viks
You are being naive. Out of curiosity I have submitted these claims several times. Some replies came after 2 weeks, some after 3. All denied. Some claims received no response ever. I don't know a BRG run worse than Accor's.
You should be considered lucky to get a reply from them. They will probably be the contender for Worse BRG program is there is any


Originally Posted by Charlesatlarge
It has now been a week since I submitted a BPG claim. Today I received a generic email from them telling me that they can't read the form (it's their online form) and that I need start over. Accor clearly doesn't care about its guests. Now I remember why I moved my business to SPG and Hyatt years ago. Accor's customer care is a joke!
Ya. Accor is an International Joke. I told some Accor properties that I love very much that I will not stay with them since they are with Accor. So it's a pity.


Originally Posted by TravelinSperry
Clearly. Don't bother. Just don't bother. They have the most ridiculous best price guarantee people working for them in the industry. I'd fire the 100% of them if I was the CEO of Accor and start over.
100% ^
happygolucky_nomad is offline  
Old Nov 28, 2013, 7:36 am
  #88  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Miami, FL
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So now I find another problem with Accor's BPG. I found a rate on HotelTravel.com for 10,000 THB less (for 5 nights) than on Accor for a Bangkok Hotel. However all the rates on Accor are non refundable. Based on my prior experience, no way will I book a non refundable rate which is that much more expensive - only to have them not respond or deny it for some absurd reason. Why do they make me book before they'll check the competing rate? On Starwood you can have them check first... booking not required. I'd be fine with booking a refundable rate - but they don't offer one during the dates of my stay (over xmas). Boooooo Accor!
TravelinSperry is offline  
Old Jan 7, 2014, 8:36 pm
  #89  
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 81
Another data point...

I booked 1 night at the Como Melbourne. Rate on accor.com was $212, but I found one for ~$200 on Expedia. Submitted form, but never received any response. On the flipside, the Plantinum benefits the hotel offered were pretty good (very nice suite upgrade, 2pm checkout, free wifi), and not sure I would have received them if I had booked via Expedia.

But anyhow, as everyone says, don't bother with Accor BRG.
flagler1 is offline  
Old Feb 3, 2014, 10:41 pm
  #90  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Miami, FL
Programs: UA 1MM, AA Plat, Marriott LT Titanium, Hyatt Glob, IHG ♢ Amb, Hilton ♢, Hertz Pres
Posts: 6,016
So I took another shot. I figured why not since I'm going to stay at Accor regardless (it's one of the top hotels in a smaller city I'm visiting). Amazingly they responded to my BRG request within 48 hours. Sadly the response asked me to send them a screenshot of the rate. Wouldn't it make more sense to have the Accor rep look it up? If that is a requirement of their program, then why not allow for submission/upload of a screenshot when we fill out the online form. Now I have to wait... again
TravelinSperry is offline  


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