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Important Change to Your Fairmont President's Club Membership

Important Change to Your Fairmont President's Club Membership

 
Old Dec 13, 2017, 9:59 am
  #61  
 
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Originally Posted by Yul_voyager
Well, looks like the major concern of everyone is the loss of suite upgrade certificates.
Points could more or less replace the free night and the dining certificate, upgrades based on availability could more or less make for the loss of room upgrade certificates,
I don't agree with that either. Points calculator shows that with my corporate rate that for every 10 nights above the initial 30 that I will earn about half of the value I earn today in Fairmont free night certificates.
Dining certs are a pure loss. No extra value from above calc to cover dining/spa.
Don't forget even more cert goodies for Platinums... $100 cert, Local Dining exp.
Card benefits we already lost.

The real comparison is against other major chains. On the surface it may appear comparable but from what we hear from Accors experiences, they fall short of what the other majors execution is on benefits.
e.g. Hyatt and SPG have suite upgrade certs. Hyatt promises best available upgrade. All provide lounge access everywhere. Some give "guaranteed" late checkout until 4pm.
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 11:44 am
  #62  
 
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Originally Posted by Yul_voyager
Well, looks like the major concern of everyone is the loss of suite upgrade certificates.
Points could more or less replace the free night and the dining certificate, upgrades based on availability could more or less make for the loss of room upgrade certificates, however suite upgrade certificates were really the most valuated benefit and nothing is offered in exchange.
So Fairmont/Accor if you are listening...
Bingo!

Confirmed suite upgrade on booking is the one big feature I value most. Upgrades on availability at check-in is just a lottery, and subject to the hotels doing whatever they want to say none are available, even when there are rooms available. I'll take a limited number of confirmed upgrades over unlimited upgrades on availability any day. I'm not looking to get upgraded every time. I'm happy to pay for them most times, as I do today on all of my stays when I don't have an upgrade cert to redeem. So let me occasionally confirm that upgrade at booking time, as a benefit, and I'll pay the rest of the time. But I'm not showing up to a hotel and 'hoping' to get the room I want.

And what sort of upgrade do you get, on availability, with Le Club? Is it just the next category up? With FPC suite certificates, you're typically jumping several categories. You can book the Fairmont room, and skip over various versions of Deluxe and Signature room, sometimes skip past Jr. Suite, and go right to 1 Bed Suites, depending on the property. So it's not just a lotto in terms of whether or not you even get an upgrade, but it's a lotto in terms of what sort of upgrade you will get. Sorry, I'm not playing that game. If I was on some business trip, maybe I wouldn't care so much, and be content to book anything and be happy with whatever I get, but I'm not a business traveller.

I probably would get reasonable use out of point redemptions in place of free nights. The value of my points earned might work out similar, depending on where I would have deployed the free night. Some properties offer more value than others. It was fun trying to strategically plan where to deploy an upgrade and where to deploy a free night to get the most value. Now, with points, Accor might as well just say, "here is your ongoing 8% Platinum member discount code", since that's pretty much all it is. How boring and uncreative! Similar value on paper, perhaps, but not necessarily similar in the customer behaviour and thinking that it motivates.

And dmodemd is correct, that the loss of dining/spa certificates are just a straight loss of value.
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 12:36 pm
  #63  
 
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For me it's pretty clear. I stay at the Fairmont almost every trip because my company uses them as the primary hotel along with the Four Seasons. One of the reasons I always choose Fairmont is because of the platinum program and the benefits. I have been platinum (through the Amex program but still spend a pretty decent amount with Fairmont) for a long time have probably have close to 200 nights total over 8-10 years. I never think of where to go because the Platinum benefits are pretty great.

I also have Accor but the free night certificates and the guaranteed upgrades are the primary benefits I like. I guess if we get 1 last year, that's great but the dismantling of the program is really a shame. I'm sure it will be just a drop in the bucket to Accor but it will shift some patterns for people like me - who will likely just now go to the Four Seasons or where possible, use my LHW membership - which also has a pretty decent free night program.

We had to know this was coming but the dismantling of the program is not great for many of us. Perhaps if 100's of us speak out- they will start to re-think (or they already have all the stats so they know the expected impact plus and minus).
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 1:07 pm
  #64  
 
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I don't think FPC had much say on this at all. I am sure that the execs running the Accors program thinks it is perfect, as they have been responsible for it. Therefore, they would impose it without change to Fairmont. The only issue was really with how to implement the migration. I don't think they thought through the hole they created by having no effective earnings in the first half of the year, only opportunity for status earning (because FPC is back-loaded on rewards). 2017 Platinums should have no reason to stay at Fairmont the first half of the year as far as a rewards program is concerned. I have already set up my Marriott stays and ready to cancel out the Fairmont stays. I can re-visit that for July and beyond but I don't see Accors being better than Marriott/SPG. I gave up Premier Platinum with Marriott to move to Fairmont and will start they year only Gold at Marriott so have to earn my way back (after a soft landing to Platinum this past year).

One correction they should make is to start Accors points earning on 1/1/18, but I bet the systems aren't ready for that. They would have to run this manually outside the system and then post later.
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 1:29 pm
  #65  
 
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Any insight on what happens to FPC Circle membership?
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 3:07 pm
  #66  
 
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Suite upgrades made FPC the best

​​​​​​
Here is why this hurts so much for me. I travel a lot on business and my companies use Fairmont as well as the others so I have some choice in what I book. Suite upgrades let me book my corporate rate and then on select trips I have been able to take my family with me for 5 nights in Major cities across Canada over the years. Would not be allowed to pay for suites at the Fairmont due to corporate policy, so now, my choices on those trips become : don’t go, (unlikely), don’t bring the family, or stay at a much lesser “suite” in something like a residence inn or townbridge suites, where the booking of a suite is comparable in price to a Fairmont room, but out of the downtown core, lacking service or things for the family to do while I work. I suspect the family will just stay home.

We’ll use our certs for this coming year and see how it goes from there, but, have been preparing for this inevitable situation over the last year by racking up points to redeem for suites in other programs. There is a loss to Fairmont of 30-40 nights this year due to program uncertainty and that much again next as the benefits I value most evaporate. In the past I ALWAYS booked Fairmont if there was one at my destination. Lately, that hasn’t been the case.

I have 11 nights booked in a Gold suite over the holidays coming. Something we do yearly even without certificates being usable. Next year it will likely change. Certainty trumps hope on getting a suite, and that is why I choose FPC for the past 10 years. Now I can get the same hope with multiple providers with more choice and locations.

i have truly loved FPC and have awesome memories of so many great Fairmont staff and wonderful surprises in so many places. I feel for those caring people who will be affected by this change as many of us will spend less. Perhaps the properties will more than make up the revenue with an influx of LeClub members. I am uncertain that will be the case, at least here in Canada.

The most likely outcome in the long term is I will stay elsewhere on the 70 or so business nights I book each year and Fairmont can compete for my 10-15 vacation nights a year I spend my own money on. Stiff competition awaits.
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 4:21 pm
  #67  
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Originally Posted by tris06
Wow look who needs to insult.
You really are a piece of work. YOU come in here and accuse people of crying after someone replied to you in a normal manner.

Originally Posted by CanuckFlyHigh
Thank you for providing a perfect example as to why the Accor upgrade benefit is dismal compared to the Fairmont guarantees suite upgrade certificates (upon booking).
Originally Posted by tris06
Other hotel programs have similar levels of benefits compared to Accor so having a big cry looks childish.
Get over it.
I did not insult you and stand by my post entirely. I see you never stayed at a Fairmont or had any status in FPC.
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 6:08 pm
  #68  
 
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Ugh. This is awful. We spend almost $10k per year on Fairmonts. We don't even price compare with other hotels when staying at our "home base" Fairmont. What program is everyone else moving to?
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 7:07 pm
  #69  
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Originally Posted by Admiral Ackbar
You really are a piece of work. YOU come in here and accuse people of crying after someone replied to you in a normal manner.





I did not insult you and stand by my post entirely. I see you never stayed at a Fairmont or had any status in FPC.
I beg to differ most people would find those words directed at someone quite offensive. And at the end of the day opinions are split and also if you had not noticed 30 million people are with LeClub program so its not as useless as you like to claim. I think if you follow the Accor thread you might actually see some commentary on what might be done in the near future. As I have already said Accor and PFC are a good fit business wise as they compliment each others weaknesses and it might be time for you to man up and accept that reality. Will everything be solved today? Maybe not but it will get there eventually and it will do what is best for the business in the long term if it does not then it will go out of business.

By the way you can see people asking to earn points or pre credit status/rewards points with Accor from January to July. But thats just double dipping as you are getting basically all the normal benefits for the year.

If someone thinks spending 6000+ Euro's by the way is normal for a 5 night stay well um actually its not. Its definitely in the 0.1 % of what all people spend at a hotel for a 4/5 night stay if you look at the world of hotels above say 3 stars.

Platinum should be around the 1-2 % of members of a program . Golds maybe make up 4-6% of members and silver would maybe consist of 10-20% of members. This is what Accor will likely aim for and the benefits alined to that level.
With the addition of FPC that will likely mean that Accor may raise standards or an additional benefit or 2 but it won't fundamentally change just for FPC members. Some members will stay some will leave in your case you leave if you want... I bet but for many they will still stay at Accor hotels (This now includes fairmont) more or less in instances.

Accor will also gain more members from other hotel groups (Hyatt and Marriot groups for example) because increasing the North American hotel footprint was for quite a few people one reason to not go with Accor.

In places like Europe/Australia-New Zealand/Asia Accor is the top dog and service as well as benefits are also well
implemented. I have old memberships with other hotel groups but they just don't work for me as they usually don't have the hotels where I do business or go for holidays with my family.

I think I am adding valuable information to counter overly pessimistic comments so don't act like "how dare I post in this thread"... in 6-12 months time this particular forum community will start to shrink off and will be history...

I am personally happy the integration is coming and I am already looking forward to staying at the peace hotel in Shanghai for example and maybe the Savoy Hotel in London.

Last edited by tris06; Dec 13, 2017 at 7:28 pm
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 10:03 pm
  #70  
 
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Seriously tris06, unless you were in the Fairmont Presidents Club program and *actually* experienced the benefits that we enjoyed, that are unfortunately coming to an end, you have NO idea what you're talking about, and are as clueless as the management at Accor HQ. I've been a member of a number of hotel programs at the elite level, and nothing came close to the benefits we had with Fairmont, yes it was that unique. We get that you love the Accor program, and it suits your needs, and you get a few benefits in return, stop the trolling!!
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Old Dec 14, 2017, 7:33 am
  #71  
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Originally Posted by tris06
I beg to differ most people would find those words directed at someone quite offensive..
What I find offensive is a troll who prattles away for paragraphs without answering anything that was actually asked. That acts like what they are saying is the gospel truth and that we are all morons for not agreeing with you.

You skip over how YOU came in to the FAIRMONT forum and insulted people first (how convenient), act holier-than-thou how dare they question my brilliance and also conveniently not address the fact that you have a)never set foot in a Fairmont and b) have no clue what you are talking about except for generalities about member numbers and us disappearing (only thing that is relevant in your post). You don`t know squat.

Enjoy the Ibis Savoy.
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Old Dec 14, 2017, 7:50 am
  #72  
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Actually I am not from the US but I work in an US organization so I do know 3/4 staff who have been or currently are plat members of the Fairmont. One is even a lifetime member. I have already asked for their opinions. And the response I have been given is the suite upgrades are not that great. Also your usage of 5000 Euros for a stay is at the extreme end of spending. Also their experience of using (Fairmont) suite upgrades has been well underwhelming and suites in Asia beat the pants off what a suite is in USA. I have even been told they have been in suites (at Fairmont hotels) which have been basically 1 single rooms but with a hip high partition and that only has a workdesk behind that partition. Also comments were Fairmont needs a good update is no longer considered the top chain in the US unlike 20-30years ago. And they always felt like its stuck in the 1930's and lacking renovation. They have even let suite upgrades go to expire. Now they tend to use the SPG program ( a couple of them) and as well due to being in Asia also the Marco polo program.

So get off your high horse this is what I have been told. I feel you are die hard members who probably have not seen Fairmont lose its top status over the years as I asked members who were not fanatics clinging on and wont look at the facts. I admit Accor Leclub programs problems which shows my open mind about things its only from your mouth that everything is perfect with FPC. But again you seem to ignore any positives that come out of the program. If you think this is trolling please go ahead report me and let them see if they will delete my account. I want you to prove I am trolling.. I challenge you to try it!! Back up your words with action..

And just to back up things 2 of those colleagues are holding doctorates and have been around a long time and are pretty knowledgeable .

Last edited by tris06; Dec 14, 2017 at 7:56 am
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Old Dec 14, 2017, 10:09 am
  #73  
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Originally Posted by tris06
And the response I have been given is the suite upgrades are not that great.
Sorry, but I have to question the competence of your staff. Second-hand information is never as reliable as first-hand. While we rarely bothered with the room upgrades, our suite upgrades have always been fantastic and valuable - certainly moreso than any suite upgrade I ever got in eight years as SPG Platinum.

Originally Posted by tris06
And they always felt like its stuck in the 1930's and lacking renovation.
You are correct that people who prefer sterile glass-and-steel environments will not like Fairmont. But for people who prefer architectural character, it still can't be beat in our experience.
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Old Dec 14, 2017, 11:10 am
  #74  
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I will also give up on Fairmont after this year. I'll keep the memories of many fantastic stays, staff and hotels. I have one more amazing stay to come where I have been pre-upgraded to a penthouse suite on a BRG rate. Fairmont always came through for me when it mattered, and I offered my loyalty in return.

I have no interest whatsoever in the Accor program. I have limited experience but the few times I tried to use them, NO ONE answered the phone lines and I was unable to apply my points to room rates because they were on sale. And I had Platinum status thanks to my Amex Plat card. No thanks.
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Old Dec 14, 2017, 11:24 am
  #75  
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Originally Posted by margarita girl

I have no interest whatsoever in the Accor program. I have limited experience but the few times I tried to use them, NO ONE answered the phone lines and I was unable to apply my points to room rates because they were on sale. And I had Platinum status thanks to my Amex Plat card. No thanks.
The above really is a major distinguishing characteristic. We are used to proper service throughout and Accor just seems incapable to deliver this.
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