Fairmont President's Club and Le Club AccorHotels to Become One Program in 2018
In December 2015, AccorHotels announced its plan to acquire Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. Including its Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel brands, the FHRI company cost Accor 46.7 million new shares and a cash payment of $840 million. Since the announcement, however, there hadn't been many updates on the loyalty front. Now, almost two years to the date since the original news, the two have announced that Fairmont President's Club will be folded into Le Club AccorHotels, effective July 2, 2018.
If you have status with Fairmont President's Club, your status will be matched to an equivalent level in the Le Club AccorHotels program. Here's what the match looks like:
If you have status with both President's Club and Le Club AccorHotels, there's a more convoluted chart. You can find it here.
Once the programs are merged on July 2, 2018, members will earn at the following levels:
- Classic members earn 25 points per 10 euro
- Silver members earn 31 points per 10 euro
- Gold members earn 37 points per 10 euro
- Platinum members earn 44 points per 10 euro
In TPG's recent analysis of the top 10 best hotel loyalty programs in the world, Le Club AccorHotels finished in the middle of the pack at No. 5. Its high ranking was thanks mostly to the high value of its points at around 2.4 cents apiece.
As reported by View From the Wing, when the merger of the loyalty programs is complete in 2018, Fairmont President's Club elite members will see the elimination of two popular benefits. As part of the Le Club AccorHotels, elites will no longer get guaranteed late checkout, and suite upgrades are no longer a perk. Instead, Gold and Platinum members of Le Club AccorHotels will get an upgrade to the next best room or room category, subject to availability.
Members of both programs are getting plenty of warning with this announcement, as the finalization of the merger and loyalty programs isn't until July. While Fairmont members will be sad to see some of their favorite perks go, the portfolio of the combined program will be larger with more options. You can check this site for full details on the merger and what it means for members of both programs.
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