Henry III

OK, so I now realize that Accor Hotel bookings made on third-party websites do not count for stays and points.

I've even received an email from customer services about my recent problems booking a Merure Budapest, with only Mastercard and VISA credit cards accepted (no AMEX, no debit cards = no booking possible for me). The email stated that AMEX is accepted, except for a few countries (such as Hungary).

Well, I eventually booked an IBIS in Budapest, on the Accor website, using my AMEX!!

Now, I've just tried to book the Novotel Firenze Airport: same problem, only VISA and MasterCard. But, this time, the IBIS (next door to the Novotel) also refused AMEX.

I'm getting a bit fed up with this! The problem may be with the payment processing company (ogone) - but, checking their webiste, I see that they do support both AMEX and debit cards.

If this isn't fixed soon, I think I'll have to move to another Hotel group: something I really don't want to do (I'm earned Gold and may even make Plat, if this company would only let me give them money).

Does the Accor company rep still follow this forum?

-- Henry

Goldorak

Dear Henry III
it's very interesting that you start this thread because I was about to start one on the same subject.
I was at Sofitel Angkor these last days and had a wonderful stay as usual. But when I checked out, they declined my Amex card and said that they just canceled their contract with Amex. To be precised, they accepted my Amex card at check-in for guarantee but they cancelled the contract just after that and I had to pay with my Visa card.

I agree with you, Amex acceptance has always been a general Accor policy and it's not acceptable that they cancel this contract or that some hotels do accept it and some other don't.

SouthWesterner

I've also noticed this problem when attempting to prepay for Accor hotels in Budapest.

I always thought it odd, as both the hotels I was attempting to book for (the Sofitel Chain Bridge and the Mercure Budapest Buda) do actually accept Amex at the hotel. The Ogone system does accept Amex for all of the other countries I've ever booked in too.

So, I really cannot understand the reason for this.

nicolas75

An international hotels chain not accepting Amex or any other major credit card is like a vase not accepting water.

Henry III

The crazy thing is that, for the hotel I'm looking at (Novotel, Italy), I can use AMEX if I go for the "best unrestricted rate" (i.e. where the card is not actually charged until checkout - just used for guarantee). However, if I select the "best rate" (prepayment, no cancellation, etc), I get the Ogone page that only takes VISA/MasterCard credit cards.

Madness!

-- Henry

Thanh Viet

We stayed there during the first opening week last December. They couldn't use Amex either, but that was put on the opening effect. I could pay with Amex plastic at the Budapest Korona Mercure for the previous night.

I couldn't use Amex in Guinea Ecuador either...

stimpy

No problems using Amex at a Novotel and Ibis in Spain last week. FWIW.

Henry III

I can also book with AMEX online for a Mercure in Germany. It seems that it's only in some countries they don't accept it, including Hungary and Italy (the latter accepts it for unrestricted rates). Strange.

-- Henry

RTW1

What I find strange is that there are companies that accept AMEX with the ridiculous rates they charge. And since most customers will also be carying Visa or Master....

stimpy

The problem with Visa/MC are the foreign exchange fees. I have both US$ and € Visa cards, but when outside of those currency zones, I only use Amex which in my case has no foreign exchange fees. So I would probably not stay in a hotel that doesn't take Amex in those cases.

Plus my € Visa doesn't earn meaningful points so I don't want to use that for significant expenses in any case.

AccorHotels Concierge

Hi everyone,

I've had a look at the Accorhotels terms and conditions, specifically relating to payment options (available here: http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/bookin...tions.html#s16).

"Customers shall provide their bank details as a guarantee of the reservation except for special conditions or rates, using a credit card or retail card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club etc. according to the selected hotel)"

I gather from "according to the selected hotel", and from the different experiences related on this thread, to mean individual hotels will have different policies regarding AmEx cards. When in doubt I would recommend contacting the hotel itself beforehand to make sure there are no complications upon arrival.

Cheers,

Nathan.

RTW1

That's probably a situation more applicable to the US.... it's no wonder that Amex doesn't charge any foreign exchange fees. They more than make those in their ridiculous transaction charges or on the currency spread.

The last transaction I did with an (EU) Amex card cost me >2% in the exchange rate used, and probably another 3-4% to charged to the merchant.

But I think even in the US Visa/Master card without foreign fees are becoming more plentiful.

MSPeconomist

I find it unrealistic to expect hotel guests to contact each and every property in advance of arrival--or in advance of making a reservation that cannot be cancelled--to verify credit card acceptance policies. I expect major chain hotels to accept all major credit cards with no argument. Rather than wasting my time this way, I'll pick a different hotel.

stimpy

To be fair, not a single one of the major chains has 100% Amex acceptance. There are entire countries that do not have the infrastructure to support Amex. I've run into one or two 3rd world nations where this is the case. That said, hotels in the European Union as the ones listed in this thread really have no excuse other than being cheap. And they will lose business, not just from a few people who don't like the policy, but from corporate travelers who only have corporate Amex cards.

SouthWesterner

Hi Nathan,

I'm afraid that I don't think this deals with the actual problem mentioned at the top of the thread, which has to do with using Amex for prepaid rates booked through the Accor website.

My experience (and it seems to be the experience of others) is that it is perfectly possible to book an unrestricted rate and pay using Amex at checkout, but in certain territories it is not possible to book a prepaid rate at the very same Amex-accepting hotels using an American Express card.

I see this as being more of a problem with the centralised prepayment service provided through accorhotels.com. It's not really a problem with individual hotels.