Accor has surveyed ALL members this weekend about possible changes to the guest loyalty program to essentially launch features that their competitors have already had for a while.
The survey popped up when I opened the ALL Accor app, so the results may be skewed toward those most engaged with the program, as I haven’t seen any email invitations so far.
You can access ALL Accor here.
READ MORE: ALL Accor Rate & Bonus Points Offers
1. Transferring Points Between Members
The first part of the survey focused on combining points between accounts, and whether you would do so and why.
Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott all allow members to move points between accounts without fees, and theoretically IHG too if you also have an IHG Business Rewards account.
Moving ALL accounts between Accor accounts isn’t new either, as it is available to ALL Signature members, but it’s likely a manual process.
There was a weird question about redeeming ALL Accor points, based on the frequency.
The most frequent option was within the past 12 months, so I guess they target this survey to those who don’t redeem; but then why use the app for the survey itself, since people with less ALL activity are not likely to even see it.
Wouldn’t pooling make the most sense for those who travel together so that they can redeem using an account with the highest status?
2. Milestone Rewards
Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and IHG all offer some form of Milestone Rewards.
Hyatt’s are the most extensive, and IHG comes as a second. Hilton’s rewards are mostly bonus points, and Marriott’s allows you to choose between bonus elite nights, a free night award, or a charity donation.
Obviously, this would make the most sense if members could choose.
If only there were a paid ALL Accor option to get a higher status…
Oh well. There are SEVERAL.
ALL Accor+ Explorer, ALL Accor+ ibis, and ALL Accor+ Voyager all award bonus elite qualifying nights, as does ALL Signature in Brazil, which also awards 1,000 elite qualifying points monthly at the Absolute level (which we have extensively covered).
This doesn’t even account for Accor’s China program, which you can, at least temporarily, combine with the above-mentioned programs to get past the 30 elite qualifying nights ceiling from these subscription products and reach up to 50 or so nights.
Accor also offers endless bonus elite qualifying night offers.
You can already buy ALL Accor Gold for less than $200, and you will get very close to Platinum by buying the ALL Signature Absolute, and the award points itself pay for it.
Some of these programs also let you convert award points to status points, buy up to the next tier, or renew your current tier.
Conclusion
There is no really concrete benefit beyond status to combine ALL points, as all awards are dynamically priced and each ALL point is worth 2 euro cents.
Accor is very aggressive with points expiry, as they expire sharply 365 days after the last activity. Gone! Accor records a liability for each point on its books, and wiping also reduces the underlying liability.
Allowing transfers between accounts might help active membership numbers, since those with no activity for 12 or so months are considered inactive (80% to 90% of loyalty program members are inactive, and the membership numbers programs release are mostly meaningless).
The main benefit of pooling, IMHO, is for those who travel with someone, and they can pool points under the account with the highest status for tier benefits such as lounge access or breakfast.
These possible Milestone Rewards options may help keep members engaged with the program who won’t reach the next tier, but might reach the next Milestone Rewards option.
I really like how both Hyatt and IHG have structured their Milestone Rewards options, offering genuine, worthwhile choices. Hilton basically just gives bonus points, and Marriott only has 50- and 75-night options.
Let’s hope that Accor comes up with a meaningful selection of Milestone Rewards options.
What would you like to see? Please comment below.