speed.skater

delete

stimpy

I do not find Accor any cheaper in the 3-4 star range than IHG. But yes there is better coverage here in Europe. IHG has a rather well functioning program, certainly in comparison to Accor. And I get free breakfast more often than not with IHG. And with top status I get a full cocktail or top shelf whiskey instead of just a beer or wine. Due to coverage I do use Accor from time to time, but will generally choose IHG if I can.

kaizen7

Does bilingual members get 3 SNU ?

One thing that I quite happy with Accor is Status point qualification.
I regularly book multiple rooms and/or higher level room or even suite.

At Marriott Bonvoy, $70 Courtyard room is giving me exactly same night credit like $2000 tent at Al Maha A Luxury Collection Desert Resort Dubai.
The room rate start make a difference if I passing 75 nights and reach Ambassador qualification which I need US$20k spending.

jiunsoh

It is clearer now.

IMH

We really need some insight into the internal guidelines. Maybe there will be a link to the appropriate manual in due course...

If there's no difference between Diamond and Platinum (and Gold!) when it comes to upgrades ("upon arrival and upon availability") then it's really hard to see why people would make the effort to secure Platinum. Many of us have zero interest in spas and rarely dine in hotels.

Juntima

I agreed. I do not see much differences between Diamond and Platinum; considering to reach Diamond, one needs to spend almost double the amount of reaching Platinum, so why bother goes for Diamond. Still pissed at Free breakfast on weekends benefit too.

speed.skater

As for upgrades, I think practice is more important than rules. Currently, Plats get much better upgrades than Golds. From both LCAH as well as other programs, it stands to reason Dias will get even better upgrades.

But I voiced my opinion above. I do think other thinks are broken in Accor's program. What they're doing improves the situation a bit for high spenders (e.g., frequent Fairmont stayers). Other than that, the improvements are marginal and do little for those of us who stay in the below luxury level brands (Mercure, Novotel, Pullman, Swissotel, Sofitel, MGallery, and so on).

Dav77

Ubud

My post-merger upgrade experience as a Plat at Fairmonts has been underwhelming to say the least, e.g. no upgrades at Whistler, Mayakoba or Singapore. Pre-merger, it usually required the suite certificates to get a decent upgrade, which is why their loss is particularly annoying. One or two suite nights as a replacement hardly makes up for that.

Bottom line is that the loyalty experience at Fairmonts has been gutted and even the Diamond level is a poor replacement.

CanadaDH

I'm not really sure that it improves anything for high spenders either. They added another tier, which is only based on spending, but it doesn't really improve the situation in any appreciable way. The only thing that Diamond offers that Platinum doesn't, is a stupid free breakfast on weekends, which is worthless to me and probably many others, because I'm normally booking a rate that either includes breakfast anyway, or am on the Gold floor that also includes breakfast, and it's only on 2 of 7 days I'm there! I don't know why they even bother to add it as a benefit. That basically leaves the 100 Euros of dining certificates as the only additional benefit of Diamond. I don't see how an annual credit of 100 Euros worth of dining credits is going to motivate anyone to spend the extra 4,800 Euros to go from Platinum to Diamond. It's really rather stupid of them. If I happen to hit Diamond accidentally, I'm obviously going to take their 100 Euros, but it doesn't actually motivate any purchasing behaviour on my part. And if a benefit doesn't motivate customer behaviour, then it's just a cost and not a good loyalty incentive for any company to offer. Accor should just save the expense and not bother adding the Diamond tier. I honestly believe that anyone who reaches Diamond will get there accidentally based on travel that would have happened anyway, and not because the program incented them to direct more business toward Accor to attain it.

IMH

I think this is exactly right.

I'm going to end the year around 85% of the way to Diamond and am not even slightly inclined to shift spend to Accor. In contrast, if I was this close to Hilton Diamond I'd be very tempted, based on some very pleasant suite upgrades when I had HH Diamond in the past, and am pretty sure the same would apply if I was within spitting distance of IHG Spire.

kaizen7

Supposedly platinums get better treatments overall and hotel usually more generous with upgrades.
However without these written on t&c all just become guessworks and based on the "generosity" of the hotel.

Anecdotally, as a gold I always get 1 cat upgrade on half of my stays ... no upgrade on the rest.
However, a friend of mine who was a platinum got better upgrade rate (unless staying at IBIS properties) and on some occasions got few categories upgrade.

wkndtraveler

speed.skater

You know, I gotta admit I'm not really a high spender so take this FWIW.

I believe the suite night upgrades are most valuable at luxury-level properties. You know, as a Plat I do get upgraded to suites now and then. That could happen to me at a brand such as Novotel or Pullman. Clearly, it's nice to get a suite there. But, I imagine, the value is nowhere near the value of a suite upgrade in a Fairmont, Raffles, Sofitel Legend and such.

So you are aware that you earn additional suite night awards as you progress past the threshold for Platinum? I thought those awards are valuable for you Fairmont and co. guys.

Again, this is just my 2c. I rarely get to stay in anything better than a Sofitel.

CanadaDH

But those suite upgrades are not part of the Diamond status, are they. Therefore, I maintain my previous position that Diamond is nothing of value to strive for. You get weekend breakfast and 100 Euros of dining. That's total crap compared to every other hotel chain out there. Anybody who would actually be motivated to spend more just to get 100 Euros and some breakfast on 2 of 7 days, needs to take another look at their math in the ROI calculation.

As for those suite upgrades, which are a Plat benefit, not a Diamond benefit, we don't know the details of them yet. Do you upgrade from base room to entry suite? Can you upgrade from a higher room to an even higher suite? Are they really just for a night or two? I can't imagine being able to use that. A typical stay for me somewhere is 7 to 10 nights, and I would normally book a Gold room or signature suite of some sort, which I suspect would probably be outside the terms of these certificates. So do I book a 2-night stay somewhere, and suck it up and stay in a junior suite, just so I can say I made use of the certificate?