What’s the most efficient way to cheaply earn points to extend validity?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2000
Programs: UA 1k, AA EXPLT, NZ GE, VA PLT Hyatt Diam, Marr Plat, HH Diam
Posts: 3,250
What’s the most efficient way to cheaply earn points to extend validity?
What’s the “best” way to earn points to extend account balance validity? Best being defined as cheap but also high likelihood of actually getting credited (cheapest approaches sometimes aren’t worth the effort needed to ensure the credits actually post).
#2
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 226
At the moment the advent calendar definitely the easiest and free way to achieve points extension. All you need is win 250 points in one of the days and all your reward points will get extended by a year when it is credited to your account.
#3
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 3,673
https://collections.accor.com/
Takes 2 months to credit from the date the transaction shows as pending, which occurs more or less reliably depending on the merchant (0% for groupon, 100% for itunes in my limited experience). If not an Apple user, I recommend ordering a cheap doodad from aliexpress (about 80% success rate on over 20 orders here) on the French website (merchant was removed from US website last week), e.g. a >$1.25 charging cable with free shipping.
If you use the US site, beware that it appears ALL actually credits 1 point per €, not per $, despite the posted rate.
Once you get the 'Your x Points are on the way' email, points reliably post in almost exactly 2 months, 2 days after you get the 'You've collected x Points' email.
If no email within a few days of the transaction, it was not registered properly. Temporarily authorizing all cookies, disabling adblockers etc. helps.
Takes 2 months to credit from the date the transaction shows as pending, which occurs more or less reliably depending on the merchant (0% for groupon, 100% for itunes in my limited experience). If not an Apple user, I recommend ordering a cheap doodad from aliexpress (about 80% success rate on over 20 orders here) on the French website (merchant was removed from US website last week), e.g. a >$1.25 charging cable with free shipping.
If you use the US site, beware that it appears ALL actually credits 1 point per €, not per $, despite the posted rate.
Once you get the 'Your x Points are on the way' email, points reliably post in almost exactly 2 months, 2 days after you get the 'You've collected x Points' email.
If no email within a few days of the transaction, it was not registered properly. Temporarily authorizing all cookies, disabling adblockers etc. helps.
#5
#6
Join Date: Dec 2014
Programs: Flying Blue Gold, Accor Gold, Hilton Diamond, IHG Spire
Posts: 171
#7
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 3,673
#8

Join Date: May 2015
Location: WAW / TBS
Programs: Flying Blue Platinum / Accor ALL Platinum / Hilton Honors Diamond
Posts: 1,883
Then after the checkout date reach accorhotels support and tell them you had to cancel your trip due to covid (for instance XXX shut down borders or forbid citizens from your country to enter, etc .... like in UK for instance ) you do not want reimbursement/vouchers/etc cause you know you won't come back soon .... just to credit the night/points even if you did not check-in (i guess the hotel need to accept but i think its not going to be a problem, as they have their money and you would have receive the nights/points in case you could check-in anyway)
This year i had 2 times such case when corporate trips got cancelled and none of the options available were suitable
Last edited by fifty_two; Dec 22, 20 at 9:20 am
#9

Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: CBR
Programs: LeClub AccorHotels / Accor Plus (Platinum), Qantas Frequent Flyer, Virgin Velocity
Posts: 563
I would be cautious pursuing this strategy. The hotels are under no obligation to provide rewards and status if the guest has not physically stayed at the hotel, regardless if the room is prepaid or not.
#10
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Sacramento
Programs: FB Gold, BA Blue; BW Diamond Select, Hilton Diamond, IHG Gold, Wyndham Gold
Posts: 97
I was just planning to stay one night at the Pullman in Redwood City for around a $100. It is the cheapest Accor, among very limited options, in our region. This brand is mostly for my non-existent Europe travel, sigh.
#11

Join Date: May 2015
Location: WAW / TBS
Programs: Flying Blue Platinum / Accor ALL Platinum / Hilton Honors Diamond
Posts: 1,883
Yes , i do agree , and this is why i mentionned that hotel most probably needs to agree , but covid changed the game , so i just gave OP feedback about what happened to me
#12
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Perth, WA, Australia
Programs: QF Gold, VA Plat, IHG Plat Amb, LCAH Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,782
#13
#14
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2000
Programs: UA 1k, AA EXPLT, NZ GE, VA PLT Hyatt Diam, Marr Plat, HH Diam
Posts: 3,250