Accor will not honor my Silver status because I booked on Expedia
Oct 4, 2018, 3:43 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 1,603
Accor will not honor my Silver status because I booked on Expedia
I booked a reservation and Accor refuses to add it to my account where I have Silver status, GRRRRR!!!!
Here's the email:
Here's the email:
AccorHotels Customer Care <[email protected]>Thu 10/4/2018, 4:13 PM
Case N°: WSFOLD20181003110036146
Dear Mr. ,
I am contacting you in response to your request regarding the benefit from the Silver status advantages and collecting points after your stay part of the Le Club AccorHotels program.
After looking into this matter, I regret that I am unable to help you with your request.
As mentioned in the terms and conditions of use, you will not earn Status points or Rewards points or the advantages offered to you for stays booked via online travel sites (Expedia, Booking, Ctrip, Tour.Interpark, JALAN etc.).
Please book your next stay directly through the AccorHotels Group via:
* the AccorHotels telephone Reservation Office,
* The accorhotels.com website or AccorHotels Group brand websites,
* the hotel directly,
* traditional travel agencies using a booking system that is automatically connected to the AccorHotels Reservation Office.
Dear Mr. ,
I am contacting you in response to your request regarding the benefit from the Silver status advantages and collecting points after your stay part of the Le Club AccorHotels program.
After looking into this matter, I regret that I am unable to help you with your request.
As mentioned in the terms and conditions of use, you will not earn Status points or Rewards points or the advantages offered to you for stays booked via online travel sites (Expedia, Booking, Ctrip, Tour.Interpark, JALAN etc.).
Please book your next stay directly through the AccorHotels Group via:
* the AccorHotels telephone Reservation Office,
* The accorhotels.com website or AccorHotels Group brand websites,
* the hotel directly,
* traditional travel agencies using a booking system that is automatically connected to the AccorHotels Reservation Office.
Thank you for your trust and let us know if we can be of further assistance.
We look forward to welcoming you to one of our hotels soon.
Aicha
AccorHotels Customer Care
We look forward to welcoming you to one of our hotels soon.
Aicha
AccorHotels Customer Care
Oct 5, 2018, 4:33 am
#4
Join Date: Oct 2016
Programs: Accor, Qantas Frequent Flyer, Virgin Velocity
Posts: 570
Standard practice. Book direct through the hotel website. If Expedia truly is cheaper, you can jump through the hoops of the Best Rate Guarantee (assuming the rooms have the same conditions of sale).
Oct 5, 2018, 6:57 am
#5
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Spain
Programs: ALL Plat, HH Gold, Marriott GE
Posts: 1,142
Agree, its with the Accor terms of service.
However some organisations will not accept paid receipts from employees from hotels not booked through an approved OTA or other method. It could be in this case.
It may be worth a short e mail to the hotel GM and plead your case ?
However some organisations will not accept paid receipts from employees from hotels not booked through an approved OTA or other method. It could be in this case.
It may be worth a short e mail to the hotel GM and plead your case ?
Oct 5, 2018, 8:07 am
#6
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2017
Programs: M&S, Radisson
Posts: 758
Hotels cannot afford to or don't want to provide status benefits if people don't book direct. If someone books a chain hotel via a direct booking channel, the hotel has to pay the chain a fee in the amount of around 4% of the room rate. However, if the booking is done via OTA, the commission the OTA gets for the product distribution service it provided is in the ballpark of 20% of the room rate.
That's a huge difference in cost. It's not financially sensible to grant status perks to OTA guests. Besides, hotels want to incentivize people to book direct. You don't do that by rewarding people booking via OTA.
Oct 5, 2018, 8:27 am
#7
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Spain
Programs: ALL Plat, HH Gold, Marriott GE
Posts: 1,142
Totally agree.
If you want the "soft perks" with status you should use the hotel booking direct. That's what you pay the hotel for ( indirectly by saving them some money ) I don't know of any good status programs run by booking.com for example
All I was trying to say was that it may not be possible to book the hotel direct for other reasons.
If you want the "soft perks" with status you should use the hotel booking direct. That's what you pay the hotel for ( indirectly by saving them some money ) I don't know of any good status programs run by booking.com for example
All I was trying to say was that it may not be possible to book the hotel direct for other reasons.
Oct 6, 2018, 2:12 am
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 1,603
That’s exactly the case, I used the citi typ portal to book. I was not aware that hotel reservations are unlike airline reservations as far as loyalty programs. Is this something new or particular to Accor?
Oct 6, 2018, 2:31 am
#9
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Spain
Programs: ALL Plat, HH Gold, Marriott GE
Posts: 1,142
No, as far as I am aware, most hotels only confer the soft status benefits if you book with them, or an approved agent or route. There are some niche OTA that do offer perks and Status benefits, but not Expedia, and these tend to be for the top range properties in a hotel group.
Oct 6, 2018, 3:58 am
#11
Join Date: Sep 2015
Programs: Accor Platinum, IHG DA
Posts: 664
Oct 7, 2018, 2:54 pm
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 1,603
Oct 7, 2018, 4:35 pm
#15
Join Date: Jun 2012
Programs: BAEC Silver, L'Accor Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Platinum
Posts: 328
boboqui - I sympathise. If you don't book a lot of hotels then the rules on loyalty card recognition can be confusing especially because airlines don't have that issue. I made the same mistake myself with a Starwood property a few years ago and it can be doubly confusing because some employers use corporate travel agents to make bookings where your status is recognised (certainly this was the case with my previous employer who used a corporate travel agent to book Accor hotels and all brands except Ibis would recognise status and give loyalty and status points for stays).
It's a frustrating lesson but now you know it and can move on.
1F
It's a frustrating lesson but now you know it and can move on.
1F