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Accor/ ALL: experiences with best price guarantee

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

Old Mar 15, 2019, 7:37 am
  #286  
Fyd
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: SFO, MNL, SIN, HAM
Programs: UA GS, SQ PPS, IHG Plat Amb, Marriot Gold, Hilton Gold, Club Carlson Gold, Accor Plat
Posts: 488
Originally Posted by Dav77


no. It’s modifiable booking until 6.00 PM day of arrival.

Unfortunately my mental limits don’t allow me to waste 1 minute more of my time for an issue that (on my opinion and my mental limits) would be already managed and solved

i understand it’s my problem, as it’s my problem to reject immediately all what let me feel teased

As it’s also my problem to expect something more as customer, at least to deal with someone with 50 IQ (mine is 49)

world is plenty of hotels to replace Accor ones and plenty of customers to replace me

just to clarify, never asked to honor a guarantee to Accor in 5 years (even if there were dozens of time when there were assumptions to ask for it) ... this was the first (and last) time, only because the gap was from 100 to > 200 euro on 3 nights.

I WANT/DEMAND completely different attitude/answers/treatment from a company I spend 20 k euro per year (always due to my mental limits)

I think the challenge is that you (rightfully) expect to be treated as a person, considering all your business and history with Accor.
Unfortunately, the call center staff is trained and paid to look at this transaction, regardleas of history or person... Sad but true for most high-volume service centers...
Fyd is offline  
Old Mar 15, 2019, 8:40 am
  #287  
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Italy
Programs: Accor Gold, Marriott Titanium, IHG Diamond , Amex Platinum
Posts: 1,484
Originally Posted by Fyd
I think the challenge is that you (rightfully) expect to be treated as a person, considering all your business and history with Accor.
Unfortunately, the call center staff is trained and paid to look at this transaction, regardleas of history or person... Sad but true for most high-volume service centers...
for me basically nothing change to be treated as a person or a customer, even if of course I would like to be treated as person/quite valuable guest.

what I don’t like is to be teased and treated as one who was trying to “save 150 euro” (even if I was, but on a different perspective)

since on my opinion i’ve been teased* and i’m Not available to be teased (well or bad trained employee is not my problem, since Accor allow him to work and act on their name) from a company I pay with good money , I prefer to solve my problem quickly going elsewhere

*explanation about why I think i’ve been teased:

-booked directly a room with 2 queen bed (modifiable until 6.00 PM same day without any fee)

-booked on booking.com same kind of room / same conditions of sales, just preferring king bad

-provvided screenshot from Booking.com with same kind of room and same rate for 1 king or 2 queen

> rejected “because the room I’ve booked was different”

​​​​​​-written 2 emails directly to the Hotel

> no answers

-written 3rd one email directly to the Hotel (Fairmont)

> been told they could apply rate in the middle between “price guarantee” and reservation made by booking but changing conditions of sales (payment in advance/not refundable instead modifiable until 6.00 PM same day)

-same day, on Amex travel, same room/same bed/same conditions of sales (not refundable) was at more than 10% less than their proposal.

End of story > booked at St. Regis having rate at double than this Fairmont (that’s why I have written I was trying to save 150 euro on a different perspective)

Dav77 is offline  
Old Apr 2, 2019, 1:13 pm
  #288  
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Italy
Programs: Accor Gold, Marriott Titanium, IHG Diamond , Amex Platinum
Posts: 1,484
Just to add a last ridiculous detail more.

Actually the rate by booking directly on Accor, for this Fairmont, has dropped down...and now it’s lower than the first one I made by Booking.com (refundable and with exactly same bed - then cancelled)

well done 👍😂
Dav77 is offline  
Old Apr 20, 2019, 5:37 pm
  #289  
Accor Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Spain
Programs: ALL Plat, HH Gold, Marriott GE
Posts: 1,128
Well after four e mails .... and four screen shots showing the cheaper rate I finally got my Best Price Guarantee accepted ( 2 months ) but prior to arrival at hotel.

https://nustay.com gives slightly cheaper rates - Hint do not register or 1) Accor will not accept and more important 2) price increased on both hotels I looked at ....

So when we check out I will now by 6.44€ better off ( well it did take about 3 h of my time ) so prob will not even think about it in the future but just wanted to see how difficult it was. Hotel has been asked to give me this in cash at departure.
hotel_user is offline  
Old Apr 24, 2019, 8:22 am
  #290  
Hilton 25+ BadgeMarriot 100+ Badge
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Homeless
Programs: Hyatt Glob; Hilton Dia; Marriott AMB; Accor Dia; IHG Dia Amb; GHA Tit
Posts: 4,820
What are normally response times for Accor BRG claims? I am used to <24 hour turnaround with Hilton and Marriott, and recently 48 hours for Hyatt.

I just filed an Accor BRG claim for the first time and I am a bit surprised that I have not heard back anything for more than 72 hours. Is this fairly standard?
escape4 is offline  
Old Apr 24, 2019, 9:53 am
  #291  
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Italy
Programs: Accor Gold, Marriott Titanium, IHG Diamond , Amex Platinum
Posts: 1,484
Originally Posted by escape4
What are normally response times for Accor BRG claims? I am used to <24 hour turnaround with Hilton and Marriott, and recently 48 hours for Hyatt.

I just filed an Accor BRG claim for the first time and I am a bit surprised that I have not heard back anything for more than 72 hours. Is this fairly standard?
what is 72 hours compared to eternity? 😃
Dav77 is offline  
Old Apr 24, 2019, 9:59 am
  #292  
Hilton 25+ BadgeMarriot 100+ Badge
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Homeless
Programs: Hyatt Glob; Hilton Dia; Marriott AMB; Accor Dia; IHG Dia Amb; GHA Tit
Posts: 4,820
Originally Posted by Dav77
what is 72 hours compared to eternity? 😃
You mean I might never get an answer?
happygolucky_nomad and Dav77 like this.
escape4 is offline  
Old Apr 29, 2019, 5:31 pm
  #293  
Hilton 25+ BadgeMarriot 100+ Badge
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Homeless
Programs: Hyatt Glob; Hilton Dia; Marriott AMB; Accor Dia; IHG Dia Amb; GHA Tit
Posts: 4,820
I got a response to my BRG claim about 2 days after posting in the thread here, so total 4-5 days. Maybe not as quick as competitors, but at least it's good to know that requests are not just falling through the cracks.
escape4 is offline  
Old Apr 30, 2019, 12:49 am
  #294  
Accor Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Saint Brieuc
Programs: HHonors, Accorhotel Platinium, Nordic Choice Platinium
Posts: 958
I posted my last and good experience with accor's BRG here : #20
nrouxel is offline  
Old Apr 30, 2019, 4:27 am
  #295  
Hilton 25+ BadgeMarriot 100+ Badge
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Homeless
Programs: Hyatt Glob; Hilton Dia; Marriott AMB; Accor Dia; IHG Dia Amb; GHA Tit
Posts: 4,820
Originally Posted by nrouxel
I posted my last and good experience with accor's BRG here : #20
Thanks for sharing!
escape4 is offline  
Old May 7, 2019, 8:46 am
  #296  
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 166
BRG: Novotel Moscou Airport

I have submitted a form to Accor concerning a stay at Novotel Moscou airport for a stay in August 2019. The price was on Accor Hotel 92 Euros for a standard room 24m² (cancellation room) with an Accor business card. I checked the description of the hotel and they have 3x type of rooms at the hotel: standard, superior and Deluxe. I found a standard room 24m², on Trip.com at 65 Euros (cancellation room).

I received an answer from Accor Hotel BRG that the standard room booked can receive 4x people even if I booked for 2x people (there is an additional sofa inside the room). The room from Trip.com was for 2x people. It’s normal because I request a room for 2x people as we are only 2.

If I saw the previous discussion from DAV77, BRG is always give funny explanation. I cancelled the room and I will book somewhere else.

If BRG change their position, I will see if I will come back to the Novotel.
Dav77 likes this.
Slc2012 is offline  
Old May 7, 2019, 12:38 pm
  #297  
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Italy
Programs: Accor Gold, Marriott Titanium, IHG Diamond , Amex Platinum
Posts: 1,484
Originally Posted by Slc2012
I have submitted a form to Accor concerning a stay at Novotel Moscou airport for a stay in August 2019. The price was on Accor Hotel 92 Euros for a standard room 24m² (cancellation room) with an Accor business card. I checked the description of the hotel and they have 3x type of rooms at the hotel: standard, superior and Deluxe. I found a standard room 24m², on Trip.com at 65 Euros (cancellation room).

I received an answer from Accor Hotel BRG that the standard room booked can receive 4x people even if I booked for 2x people (there is an additional sofa inside the room). The room from Trip.com was for 2x people. It’s normal because I request a room for 2x people as we are only 2.

If I saw the previous discussion from DAV77, BRG is always give funny explanation. I cancelled the room and I will book somewhere else.

If BRG change their position, I will see if I will come back to the Novotel.
i have done recently a booking at an Angsana

on Accor website the rooms name is completely different than the rooms name on Booking.com

just to avoid any BPG request 😃
Dav77 is offline  
Old May 7, 2019, 4:26 pm
  #298  
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Paris and around the WW
Programs: AF/KLM Club2000 Ultimate / M&M HON Circle / ALL Diamond / Hertz President Circle
Posts: 1,028
Originally Posted by Dav77


i have done recently a booking at an Angsana

on Accor website the rooms name is completely different than the rooms name on Booking.com

just to avoid any BPG request 😃
I was in Angsana Marrakech 10 days ago and I confirm this is completely different

Had to complain a lot to change rooms as it was not closed at all with the description
and they don't care at all whether you are Accorhotels Plat or not
Dav77 likes this.
matmatlr is offline  
Old May 8, 2019, 1:53 am
  #299  
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Italy
Programs: Accor Gold, Marriott Titanium, IHG Diamond , Amex Platinum
Posts: 1,484
Originally Posted by matmatlr
I was in Angsana Marrakech 10 days ago and I confirm this is completely different

Had to complain a lot to change rooms as it was not closed at all with the description
and they don't care at all whether you are Accorhotels Plat or not
good to know ...thanks for this information 👍
Dav77 is offline  
Old May 13, 2019, 8:46 pm
  #300  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: YYC
Programs: UA 1K, Accor Platinum, Marriott Gold, Delta Silver, Hilton Gold
Posts: 361
Smile Good experience with Fairmont Dubai

Last week they were offering a flexible rate ~40% cheaper on 3rd party sites like Booking.com and Expedia.

Booked a reservation, submitted screenshots and 24h later received a reply rejecting my claim.
It was my fault though, I hadn't noticed I was logged into the Expedia website when I took the screenshot.

I immediately replied the email with a new screenshot (now on incognito mode) and the claim was reevaluated and sent to the hotel 30 minutes later.
Today I got the confirmation and the reservation was updated with the matched rate + 10% discount.

The entire process took 4.5 days (counting the weekend) but it was successful. Happy with my first best price guarantee experience.
leoo is offline  

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