AccorHotels Announces Rebranded Loyalty Program, but With Few Details
AccorHotel's Le Club loyalty program has always been a bit of niche program, especially for US-based travelers, as there are just 31 properties across the country. However, it does have some interesting elements, including flat redemption rates of 2,000 points (40 euros) off your stay. On Thursday, the program announced a "disruptive and dramatic shift" (Accor's phrasing), though details are scant for the time being.
Let's start with the name, which will change to "ALL" at some future date. The capitalization is no accident; this is an acronym, standing for Accor Live Limitless. Here's how a press release describes the change:
This new lifestyle loyalty program will recognize, understand, cherish, communicate with and reward guests like never before giving access to "ALL of Accor." It will open doors across a unique and iconic portfolio of over 30 hotel brands as well as an unrivalled collection of bars, restaurants, nightclubs and experiences that "money can't buy."
The press release goes on to highlight "four strategic stakes" that will be addressed to accomplish the above goal:
- Introducing premium status to reward our most loyal members
- Enriched benefits according to our augmented hospitality strategy
- A worldwide connected experience to earn and burn points across the broadest range of brands in the industry and a new digital app delivering value across work, live & play.
- Partnerships and experiences
This fourth and final stake has at least some added information around it, as the program has announced three partnerships:
- AEG: This expanded partnership will include over 60,000 tickets and suites for loyalty members in Latin America, Asia and Europe
- IMG: Starting in 2020, members can enjoy Taste Festivals in London, Paris, Sao Paulo, Hong Kong and Toronto (with more cities to come).
- Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) football club: The new program will become a partner and the jersey sponsor of the renowned French soccer club starting this coming season.
Sadly, that's the extent of the concrete information we know at this point, which leaves many questions unanswered. How will members earn points in the new program? What will happen to existing point balances? Will the new premium status and "enriched benefits" replace or supplement the existing elite status tiers in the program? And most importantly, what does this mean for redemptions?
The above information from the press release contains lofty promises about "rewards" and gaining access to experiences "money can't buy" while providing ways to earn and redeem points across an array of partners. I'd love to see that happen, but until we have more details, there's no way to know how the new "ALL" program will compare to others.
TPG will be at a media event early next month that may shed some light on what this entails, so if you're a loyal Le Club traveler, be sure to check back here.
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